355 new build , MLS head gaskets ?

[Jaso74]

Hey guys.

I'm a little worried I won't get the most out of my new build CR wise with 41 thou Felpro head gaskets.
Calc tells me I should be right at around 10:1 with felpro's , making a small assumption here on the deck height as I had it deck skimmed only and haven't started assembly at all to confirm where it is at.

Reading what others have come up with I think I prob be maybe 20 thou down the holes with he slugs. I know ideally would be zero but don' t want to get block re machined and could be better than I think once checked.

Anyway taking some volume away from calc seems I could skoot up to as much as around 10.4 : 1 - ish or there abouts with going the MLS route.
Honestly never done the MLS on cast iron to cast iron and worried me a little there. I'm cleaning up vn heads myself and so all looking well there wasn't getting them skimmed off unless I had to, budget plays a little roll here.
Running baby cam,(4503), figure torque is going to where it is at and holding as much cylinder pressure in as I can is the goal and so I figure the most I can get out of the CR is probably the best effort spent.
Am I crazy or worth the MLS route , copper coat or hylomar and go ?

 

[07GTS]

the MLS dont need any extra coatings as they have a small coating on the outer layers which seals when compressed and heated up to engine temps, for n/a 3 layer MLS is fine and as long as the surface is good and clamping loads are good shouldnt be any issues

 

[Deuce]

Hey guys.

I'm a little worried I won't get the most out of my new build CR wise with 41 thou Felpro head gaskets.
Calc tells me I should be right at around 10:1 with felpro's , making a small assumption here on the deck height as I had it deck skimmed only and haven't started assembly at all to confirm where it is at.

Reading what others have come up with I think I prob be maybe 20 thou down the holes with he slugs. I know ideally would be zero but don' t want to get block re machined and could be better than I think once checked.

Anyway taking some volume away from calc seems I could skoot up to as much as around 10.4 : 1 - ish or there abouts with going the MLS route.
Honestly never done the MLS on cast iron to cast iron and worried me a little there. I'm cleaning up vn heads myself and so all looking well there wasn't getting them skimmed off unless I had to, budget plays a little roll here.
Running baby cam,(4503), figure torque is going to where it is at and holding as much cylinder pressure in as I can is the goal and so I figure the most I can get out of the CR is probably the best effort spent.
Am I crazy or worth the MLS route , copper coat or hylomar and go ?

With a tight budget, and are building for fun (mostly street, and a few closed course events for fun) the compression ratio in high 9's or low 10's with that cam is going to feel good.
Don't overthink it. You have the parts. They will work. It'll drive nice.

If you are feeling competitive. Then get the deck height double checked and do your calculations before selecting head gasket (or skimming heads/ block again)

 

[Jaso74]

With a tight budget, and are building for fun (mostly street, and a few closed course events for fun) the compression ratio in high 9's or low 10's with that cam is going to feel good.
Don't overthink it. You have the parts. They will work. It'll drive nice.

If you are feeling competitive. Then get the deck height double checked and do your calculations before selecting head gasket (or skimming heads/ block again)

Thanks man , great advice. Yep you have it right , just a fun car and probably just over thinking it at the verge of starting to measure and assemble .
cheers

 

[shane_3800]

You can get different thickness gaskets, they just add a plate in the middle.
Best thing to do is assemble it and check deck height with a deck gauge.
Then order the right gasket to get you where you need to be.

 

[Deuce]

You can get different thickness gaskets, they just add a plate in the middle.
Best thing to do is assemble it and check deck height with a deck gauge.
Then order the right gasket to get you where you need to be.

Or do all the measurements and gasket it for 0.040 quench and it is what it is......

 

[shane_3800]

Or do all the measurements and gasket it for 0.040 quench and it is what it is......

Yea so if what he thinks is right and the pistons are 20 down the hole, well then he needs the thinnest gasket they make, which from memory is 29 thou, I could be wrong.

 

[Deuce]

Yea so if what he thinks is right and the pistons are 20 down the hole, well then he needs the thinnest gasket they make, which from memory is 29 thou, I could be wrong.

Pretty sure cometic is 27thou thinnest.
But yeah, if he's 20 down, run the 27 gasket and bolt it together.

 

[gtrboyy]

You wont know if it's zero deck height untill put pistons in then if it dish in pistons or valve reliefs etc many variables can affect cr ratio.

Doesn't seem like a big cam for 355 capacity so as long as it's near 9.5 I wouldn't worry about it too much as banana intake will be next limitation.

If it ends up being lower than expect look at cometic headgaskets.

Expect pistons to be down the bore like most & if just budget streeter dont really want to pay twice to get block decked again or heads skimmed more which might mean intake machined etc etc

 

[Jaso74]

Good news , well I think so anyway, calc says 10.14: 1 .
Got bearing clearances all measured and crank installed. I had to fit up a piston and see where it sat, 15 thousandth's down the hole giving 10.14 to 1 CR as per calculator , that's with 40 thousandth's Felpro head gasket compressed figure and 5cc valve relief flat tops.
That will do me !
Thanks for help/info/ideas .