Piston to head clearance question

[Choppacam5]

Hey guys, brand new around here! So i am going to buy a big valve head with the deck shaved .020 of an inch. I got a 224 non hemi with a forged EC rod, flat top, and 265 hot cam with 22lb springs. I am flush with my deck height as of now, so I was running a .030 thick gasket and it was perfect. But now with a shaved deck head, im wondering if i will need a thicker head gasket or not. Thanks guys

 

[Hellion]

If you're flush, you can run any kind of gasket...right?

Where are you right now?

 

[Choppacam5]

If you're flush, you can run any kind of gasket...right?

Where are you right now?

if i am flush that means that my piston to head clearance IS the thickness of the gasket, so idk if shaving does anything to that

 

[panchothedog]

You say a shaved deck head. That makes absolutely no sense. A shaved deck is when material is removed from the top of the engine block, which would put the piston .020" above the deck if it were flush before shaving. A shaved head,
( a milled head is the proper term ) will make the combustion chamber smaller which will raise the compression ratio ( more power ) but the mating surface of the cylinder head is no closer to the top of the piston than before. So your current head gasket is O K. .030" is the minimum. FWIW, you can safely mill a stock predator head as much as .065" and then use a .042" fire ring gasket. In the end you will have a higher compression ratio and a little more of a safety margin on the
.030" clearance rule. Your trick head may be different. I would ask the vendor if I were you.

 

[Edwin Spangler]

Ohhhh, "deck"... I was about to agree, makes no sense.

 

[Denny]

I have a small deck.

 

[65ShelbyClone]

Milling the head also decreases piston-to-valve clearance.

 

[panchothedog]

Milling the head also decreases piston-to-valve clearance.

Yes it does. But with a .265" lift cam he still has tons of room.