[olddog]

If the torque on the other head never changed, why was the gasket leaking. Too high a pressure on the pressure test? Maybe.

I think you said that you put the heads on, but someone else assembled the short block. I have had builders claim they have never seen a new block that everything was in spec. Were the decks checked? I think I would give them a good look over. Straight edge and feeler gauges plus a look for scratches and what not.

You said you would have a kiss cut on the heads. Won't hurt anything and may help.

On the head studs, it would be interesting to screw a few in by finger and make sure they don't stop at the point where the bolts ended. If they go right in, the bolts never damaged them. I would still run the tap through them as recommended.

PS
If there is a big step where the bolts ended, you might want to run a regular tap past that point first to blend the step. Then run the bottom tap.