Summit sells head gaskets with thickness ranging from .027 to .120.
The engine in question is Zero decked, forged flat top pistons, 60cc heads. What is the ideal gap between the piston and head? I'm not worried about altering my compression with gasket thickness, it's not high enough to matter. I just want what is best for the burn and power production.
A side question is what material is best, for aluminum heads there are flattened wire composite or MLS, well literally hundreds of options.
NA for now and likely a long time.
As close as you can get without hitting. Steel connecting rods? What's your redline going to be?
Very broadly, a "quench" distance of around 0.035" is usually optimum for a typical IC pushrod engine. This gives enough room for rod stretch and stuff and not so much of a gap that you run into detonation issues. I recently built a 460 Ford and ended up using about a .030" thick HG to get around a 0.038 quench, IIRC. Flat top pistons came up to the top of the deck, but the heads had a little gap between the mating surface and where the chamber actually started.
Also, make sure your valves don't crash into your pistons. Check clearances there. I used grease. Others have used play doh.
As for what material is best....that's like a "what oil should I use" discussion. I usually by something mid-price expensive. Figure ~$150 for a set of HG for a V8.
Stock rods, JE forged pistons, 28 oz external balanced crank, aluminum flywheel. For RPM we will see what happens with this cam and AFR 165 heads.
Mild cam.
Heads, this and a fresh surfacing.
REV Competition 1.900 Intake Valves
REV Competition 1.600 Exhaust Valves
FTI PS3 Dual Valve Spring Kit with Locators & Viton Seals
AFR Replacement Valve Guides
Comp Cams Chromemoly Steel Retainers
Manley Hardened & Machined Valve Locks
Disassemble – Clean – Acid Wash Castings
Remove-Replace Manganese Guides – Diamond Hone
Street/Strip Competition Serdi Valve Job
Flat Mill Deck Surfaces for MLS Head Gaskets
Set Spring Pressures and Final Assembly
Bowl Blend and Clean up of Runners & Chambers
So .035 - .040 Quench should be acceptable? Or should I shoot for 0.030 to .035?
In reply to akylekoz :
Anything in that range should be fine. I'd go a little higher, trying to be as close to 0.035 as possible. Just to be conservative.
A basic good fel pro gasket is all you need, I think a whole good Top end kit should be about 50.00.
If you're going to twist that over 6k RPM then I'd be looking at 0.038 - 0.042. You could probably get away with a bit tighter but I wouldn't try it without dyno testing and a willingness to take change the gaskets if it turns out to be too tight..
