you can ride without a head gasket if you make both surfaces perfectly flat. and I mean perfectly, much flatter than you'll be able to get it. the nasty thing is, even if you do get it perfectly flat, aluminum likes to warp. so it's not gonna stay flat for long.
the teflon tape thing works, just do that. you can deck the cylinder head yourself with a sheet of sandpaper glued to a pane of glass as well if you want to go for that.