Let me clarify a bit. I have had a turn down on the end of the driver side header to keep the exhaust from blowing directly on the shifter cable. This turn down has caught several times when I was backing up, this was not the first time. We removed the turn down and realized the header on that side was down about 2 inches. We never hit it very hard, always while slowly backing up but this time it caught on the trailer. We were able to bend it back even with the right side.
So when you so check the engine, what exactly would you be looking for? A leaking header gasket? Broken header? A broken header bolt?
I don’t know what else to check. From what I can see there is no real damage but I dont know what I dont know.

As for slowing down I feel like I am taking this much more patiently and being a lot more careful than when I initially built the car 20 years ago. I am trying not to take any shortcuts with safety, and I want to continue to move forward. My short term goal is a consistent 7.0 car and we are not close by results than I was 11 years ago. Still I am not discouraged and continue to try to improve each week. Like everyone else at some point the budget will naturally slow me down!