Joe, I've seen a report that the Intek/Vanguard (i.e. large OHV) Briggs engines have a design fault: the bore is too close to the pushrod space, and the gasket is prone to blowing in between the two. This would happen more easily than you may expect, since the OHV engines are high compression (8:1, where the side valve engines were 6:1). See here:

http://www.fixya.com/support/t1910391-14_5hp_b_s_ohv_looses_powes_blows

I hadn't regarded it as a credible report, but it is starting to look plausible now. Redeye, thanks for giving us that outcome, it makes this thread a more useful one in the archive. We'll see if more people report blown head gaskets with Intek/Vanguard engines, over time. Most of the reports we see here are on older, side valve engines - we haven't had many cases yet with the OHV engines. Head gasket problems do occur with the side valve engines, but nearly always due to assembly errors.

I'll close this thread.