I figure if I can spend an extra 30-45 minutes cleaning it up, it's worth not jacking with it again. I would probably have been more comfortable with less prep if I wasn't using a steel gasket, but I want to keep every bit of compression I can in this engine. I was also not comfortable using a scotchbrite pad from a loose abrasives standpoint. I need to research that option more, since it seems pretty common practice. There must be some job-specific parts that I just don't know about, but everything I have on hand is for bodywork and dumps abrasive material like crazy.

The file operation worked pretty well, I think. Shows how crappy the factory fly-cut was on the deck surface in the beginning, but the file got rid of the high spots of the print. Can still see the print, but it won't catch a nail now.
77_440_Gasket_File-01 by clair_davis, on Flickr

All of the rust around the water ports is smooth now, too.
77_440_Gasket_File-02 by clair_davis, on Flickr