AND for the record bub. Pulled head off and obvious compression leak into coolant port was found. On left cylinder. After further inspection, cylinder head itself was flat, except for a small raised portion right between a coolant passage and the combustion chamber. Half ass machine shop in town. SO in other words, if the piston is above all the ports in the cylinder, and the rings are healthy to pass a leakdown test, then the pressure will infact stay held in the cooling system. Bought a cool head. Problem solved