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Re: Spider cylinder head height?



At 04:30 AM 11/21/02 +0000, you wrote:

       It is always good to measure valve to piston clearance.  Put modeling
clay on the piston tops, assemble the engine, time the cams, gently turn it
over a couple of turns, take the head back off and measure the clearances.

Ciao,
Russ Neely
I've been following this cylinder head height thread with some interest, being in the middle of a rebuild, and after having had the good ol' boy machinist I'm trying to train to take too much off when all I needed was a "cleanup" (now 111.6mmm).

Doesn't the method suggested above ruin the head gasket, e.g., after assembling (and I assume torquing) the head gasket, it will have been compressed and be unusable for the final rebuild for a running engine? I thought head gaskets can only be used (torqued) once? The alternative I've heard is to run a piece of thick lead soder through the spark plug hole positioning it such that it is between the piston crown and the valve, rotating the engine, then pull out the soder and measure its thickness where it was squeezed between the crown and valve. What are acceptable clearances? Which valve is more likely to have clearance problems - exhaust or intake? Assume 1750 w/stock valves, 11mm intake, 10 mm exhaust cams, tight valve lash ~.014-.016..

THanks. Good digest topic! ///kct, Powell, TN (perpetually behind on threads)
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