Seems like the right place. The small line from the intake that snakes around the back side of the head connects to a tee on the exhaust side of the engine, into 'normal' sized heater hose.
Blowing head gaskets would be caused by bad surfaces on the head / block, over pressure from a turbo, overheating, incorrect torque on the head bolts, gasket installed improperly - reversed or upside down, goop/RTV/sealer put on the gasket where it is not required, and maybe more...
I would check the head and block surfaces for straightness using a steel straightedge. I would inspect the surfaces for any remaining gasket from previous installs. I would make sure that I am torquing the bolts in proper sequence, and taking the torque up in steps of 20-30 ft/lb.
I would also make sure that the alignment dowels are still in the block so that the block, head and gasket are properly aligned. The alignment dowels are actually little cylinders that fit into drilled recesses in the block and head. The hole for two head bolts has an extra bore pass made that is larger than than the threads which allows the cylinder to fit into the recess in both the head and block, and keep them aligned.
tom