i'm currently in the process of the tear down and will be installing the goodies as you can see in the picture. i have noticed that oil is leaking from head gasket under exhaust ports. it's the stock head gasket with 160k on it. my question is has anyone replace the gasket without resurfasing the head? if so is it reliable?

Why wouldn't you just resurface it while it is off instead of worrying about it down the road.

Best way to check is to place a straight edge on the face of the cylinder head and check the clearances with a feeler gauge. Not sure what the specs are off the top of my head, but I'm sure someone here will. If it's above specs than it will have to be resurfaced.

well i didn't have enough money earlier, now i do. just wanted some input since this is the place for j-bodys. thanks.

seems like everything always turns around.

I haved changed my head gasked without resurfaced and no problems, but if you head gasket is broken for overheating maybe resurface is the best choice, if the gasket damage is for old and use, you can only quit the old and put the new w/o problems.
Whatever if you head dont have severe signs of damage you can do it, yes its posible, under your own risk.

there is nothing wrong with my cavi besides oil leaks. i am installing a header secret cams and HO mani. when i pulled exhaust i seen there was a little oil leak comeing from head gasket. it has never been replaced as i know of, so i'm replacing it before the gasket totally goes bad. i did some research on alldatapro.com and if warpage is less than 0.076mm(0.003in.) its fine to reuse. if warpage is between 0.076mm(0.003in.) and 0.25mm(0.010in.) resurface head. if its warped more than 0.25(0.010in.) discard head and find a new one. and mine is fine so i'm not resurfacing it. i should have did some research before posting.