So today when the weather finally broke, I got a chance to work on Mini a bit.
I took my time and removed the headstud hardware one at a time (working in the torque sequence order) and relubed with the ARP Utra Torque goop they require. As I did so I torqued to an initial torque of 40 ft-lbs. Once they were all freshly lubed and torqued to 40, then I proceeded to step up torque to 60, then 80, then 90, then 100. Did a second check at 100 and a couple had some movement. Finally checked at 100 again and all studs were right. I was very careful to only exert enough force to work up to the torque rating.
While I had the valve cover off, I installed a new gasket, since I've had the cover on and off several times recently.
Following that I checked and refilled my coolant level, draining my overflow back to the radiator. I reinstalled the stant lever-vent 10331 cap which is the vented one (the one with the return valve that flops around). I started the engine and let the coolant come up to temperature and made sure the thermostat was opening properly.
I did not get a chance to test drive it. But after the engine had cycled the fan several times and the heater core was in heat mode, and it seemed like all the air was out, I shut her down and wanted to let her cool. With the cold coolant topped off all the way to the top of the radiator, some obviously burped to the overflow when up to operating temp. I made note of that level (just below the Max line). After I got home a few hours later, I checked the level in the reservoir, and it had drawn the coolant back in almost down to the Min line.
So, for now at least it appears it could be better, maybe fixed. I will give her a test drive tomorrow and then I can see if what I was previously observing is fixed or not.
The expansion tank I ordered came in. I wish there were better descriptions of the sizes of these things. This was for a 95ish intrepid, and it is a bit larger than it appeared in the pic also. I'm not sure I'll have room for it. Might have to look at a couple other ones for a better option. A Saturn Sky expansion tank looks like a decent shape, and has the overflow tube still.