Are these precup cracks normal?

[Niall]

Cheers guys, good to know it's usable. It's not getting skimmed as it's from a known good engine which was running fine. If it wasn't for money and time constraints, I'd get it done anyway... But that's not the case.

Shop around dood...

Its just not worth NOT doing.

Otherwise it goes wrong and you end up stripping it down, skimming it anyway and getting another set of headbolts and HG

Sorry but i don't 100% agree with this. Whats the point in skimming it if you check the face is flat and its ok? Can be done fairly easily with a proper straight edge and is quite common practice.