[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by b-man

I’ve taken a few all original 455 engines apart and all were between zero and..005” in the hole. Not saying they all were but that’s what I’ve seen.

My 421 HO was built with .045” Butler head gaskets and the pistons .007” to .008 above the deck.

Currently waiting for my 2276cc air cooled VW bus engine to be delivered, pistons are between .038” and .041” below the top of the cylinder, they don’t have a head gasket.

You should be shooting for .040” no matter what, it makes a difference in power and efficiency.

My son and I just finished his 2276. His was .020 above deck which ends up being a good thing. I can shim it where I wanted setting quench and compression, and I typically end up using a head gasket in these engines because of the compression and HP we shoot for. Gasket is just a copper ring. Shims are steel