I'm curious to know how many people with 6.5s have had head/ head gasket problems. I'm doing a gasket job for a friend on a 95 6.5 and wondered if anyone knows any tricks/ or "shortcuts" that could speed the process up?

Nothing special, except do BOTH heads -
intake, exh manifolds off,
(easiest) injector pump with attached inj pipes off, (more difficult) remove inj pipes from IP then remove IP from front cover;
water pump, balancer, front cover off;
follow Fel-Pro head gasket instructions, incl replace all head-bolts,
replace timing chain set, incl crank and cam sprockets,
front cover seal,
HD water pump, '97 t-stats and crossover,
check harmonic balancer for rubber deterioration - REPLACE if any

You'll need Permatex purple gasket sticky for timing cover and water pump gaskets, and black RTV for valve cover sealing and other areas as supplemental