Thickness of Head Gasket !?

[yoh!!!]

Hi,

A deck height of 1.25 +/- 0.25 mm is what most people recomend(for 2.0 l) ...
... is this recomendation valid for an engine using the head gasket or not???
What is the thickness of a used (compressed) 2.0 l Head Gasket???
If I do not want to use this gasket, but want to maintain the compression ratio of my engine, would I need to put a shim in the thickness of this head gasket between the cylinder and case???

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The numbers I've seen have been from 0.040" to 0.060", depending on who is talking. Context has led me to believe they are talking without head gaskets.

Go to the "914 tech specs" section of our website, and download Jim Thorusen's 914 Compression Ratio spreadsheet. You can plug the numbers there to check compression ratios.

Note that small changes in volume have large changes in copmression ratio. So it is a Very Good Thing to carefully measure all of these volumes yourself (e.g., piston dish, combustion chamber, etc.) so you get good numbers. Don't rely on someone else saying "the dish is 5cc", because yours may not be...

--DD

[DSPTurtle]

What is the proper way to "cc" the chambers and dishes? Does one use a syringe? If so, where can you get them?

[yoh!!!]

Hmm, I have seen pics of a tool that someone build...
It is basicaly a plexiglass disc in the size of cilinder head sealing surface, with a hole drilled in the center in the size of a syringe tip (maybe an other small hole for releasing air might be a good idea)...

Insert the disk and a spark plug in the cylinder head and fill oil or some other liquide in the chamber untill it fills out the whole space under the disk...

The syringe you can probably get at a pharmacy... (or your local drug dealer)

Oh... by the way what is the thickness of a used head gasket???