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head gasket squish

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Old May 16, 2010 | 11:02 AM
  #1  
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Default head gasket squish

I have a pair of new head gaskets that measure .032. How much is the squish usually on a pair of gaskets. The material is combination of metal and fiber. These are the standard head gaskets we use in the Marine Vortec engines. I know they are thinner than stock gaskets and most Fel-pro also. Al
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Old May 16, 2010 | 02:50 PM
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I believe the head gasket specs should give you the actual compressed thickness. So...when you say the new head gaskets "measure" .032 do you mean that you used a micrometer to measure the gasket or is that what it says on the item description?
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Old May 16, 2010 | 02:51 PM
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okay? the head bolts need to be torqued down to factory specs or the gasket or engine specs depending on your set up.. not sure why you need the "squish" factor..
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Old May 16, 2010 | 03:28 PM
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You need to worry about piston to cylinder head clearance, keep it to at least 0.040" minimum clearance and under 0.060" maximum for best performance. You need to measure how far your pistons are below the deck surface when they are at top dead center to determine what gasket thickness to run.

Most older C3 Vettes came with 0.018" thick steel shim head gaskets with the pistons 0.025" below the deck when they left the factory but, it is a common practice for machine shops to "zero deck" a cylinder block to a 9.00" deck heigth which is 0.025" cut off the top of a cylinder block.
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Old May 16, 2010 | 04:55 PM
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That is something alot of people dont realize, once you remove the stock .018 steel shim gasket and replace it with a standard .036 Felpro (without any deck machining), you lose almost 1/2 point in compression..
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Old May 16, 2010 | 07:41 PM
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These are the head gaskets we use commonly in the marine business. I just measured the gasket with a micrometer. Most Fel-pro head gaskets measure .038 to .045 We also have a "tin" gasket which measure around .020. We have had some issues using the "tin" gasket on the Vortec heads, this is why we now use the combination tin and fiber which measures at .032. When you look at many of the head gaskets available, they all state the squished specs. I was just wondering. Al
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Old May 17, 2010 | 11:44 AM
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GM has two gaskets similar to what you describe.

10105117 is Not graphite-coated

14096405 IS graphite-coated

both about 0.028" Compressed w/about 5.8cc volume

FYI, felpro offers p/n 1094 ... rubber-coated thin steel shim about 0.015" Compressed & 3.2cc volume ... the rubber helps it seal ... does real well w/ iron blocks & heads.

all above are for 302, 327 & 350 blocks ... NOT 400
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Old May 17, 2010 | 11:55 AM
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alswagg:
also ... maybe you might know

I have gotten MARINE INTAKE gaskets from GM for 4.3L v6 iron vortec ... they have a thick aluminum base w/ green silastic rubber cast-molded around port openings ... instead of thick hard-plastic base as found on truck motors.

But I have not been able to locate a similar gasket for 5.7L v8 iron vortec.

Do you have a GM, mercruiser etc p/n for aluminum-green int gasket for 5.7L v8 iron vortec?
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Old May 17, 2010 | 02:05 PM
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Jackson, the Mercruiser part number for the intake gasket set is: 27-807473A1 GASKET SET, Intake Manifold Although I do not believe this to be a metal framed gasket, but plastic frame. I know fel-pro make a metel framed rubber seal gasket for the vortec, though. I do not have the part number for the Fel-pro. Sorry. Al
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