[Motorhead]

I'd like to bump my compression up a bit when I swap my ported heads on, but I'd have to shave the heads a ton for even a slight gain in compression. I remember reading a magazine article where they installed a head gasket with a compressed thickness of only .015". If I could get a head gasket of that thickness for my engine, it would shave around 8ccs off my combustion chamber volume, and also bring the quench down to around .055" (I'm pretty sure the pistons I'm running are around -.030 deck height). This would put me up to around 8.5:1 compression instead of the miserable 8:1 I'm running right now. Not much of a gain, but better than none at all.

So back to my question; does anyone make a thin head gasket for the 460? Also, is there any disadvantage to running a thinner head gasket?

 

[Troy Boswell]

The compression gain would be nice, but there is one thing to consider. If this is a daily driver, will the thinner gaskets be as forgiving as a thicker one? Longevity could be an issue to discuss with somebody more knowledgeable than I. More compression is good. You just don't want to have to change head gaskets every 6 months!! Good luck.

 

[Motorhead]

That is my concern as well. The only problem I see with a thinner gasket is if the heads and/or block were a little warped, the thinner gasket would probably blow out easier. But maybe there's other factors like heat expansion that I'm not considering.

 

[Mach1Morgan]

Thin steel shim head gaskets are common for SBC engines and are used often. There is rarly a problem with them. If the block and heads are square and you don't get the engine into heavy detonation, they should work fine.

 

[Motorhead]

Mach1Morgan: do you know who makes those type gaskets? I can't find them anywhere for a 460.

 

[DblADigger]

COMETIC will make them for you. They are expensive but lots cheaper than decking the block. They have a website.