I took my whole exhaust system off yesterday to wire brush rust off it to get it powdercoated.
anyways i know that you are always supposed to use new gaskets on the headers but the existing
ones are so caked into the head that i cannot get them out, also i dont want to start picking
at them hard and get some material down into the cylinders.
Should i just reuse the gaskets that are there or should i try to dig them out for new ones.

Thanks

 

I'm guessing that you found it not too difficult to remove the exhaust. If they look to be in good condition, then I'd reuse them. Keeping in mind though that you may have issues and you'd have to replace them anyway.

As for Powdercoating, are you talking about the entire exhaust ? Standard powdercoating is baked in an oven at around 200c. Your headder temp will be around 1000 degrees f while you're riding. I think you should consider something like this.
http://www.jet-hot.com/colorchart.html

 

ive done that with a bunch of motors ive worked on, be it golf carts or snowmobiles or lawnmowers...i just got some of the copper high temp silicone and use it on top of old gaskets. as long as there wasnt a leak before the old gaskets, it should be ok. just be careful with it, cause it can get messy