Accidentally forgot to install washers with new cylinder head bolts

[serega12]

Well, you've come to the right place (seeing it's your first post and all). Now let's wait for one of these guys that just rebuilt their motors to chime in...

[avguy]

First of all, a tip of the hat to you for giving us the real deal, and not some story about it being someone else's fault for distracting you. We've all done stuff like this, and know how you feel . Next, a disclaimer that I've (fortunately) never had to do a head gasket myself. Timing belts, water pumps, radiators, etc. but no HG. So what I'm passing along to you here is second-hand information.
A related flavor of this came up on a Civic forum that I've spent lots of time on. A guy doing his first HG didn't check for and remove coolant from the bolt holes in the block. Very logical, once you think about it, that if too much coolant is left in the holes, it can prevent one or more bolts from properly seating all the way - another one of the gotchas that good pros know and most of the rest of us don't (the first time anyway). In response to that, one very experienced professional mechanic, who is a frequent poster on that forum, stated that bolts could be successfully removed and replaced individually Frankly, I was very surprised to read that, given how fussy the torque specs for head bolts are. But who am I to question someone who has done this work for so many years, with so much accumulated experience.
So, you can factor that in with any other advice you may get. Good luck with it any case!