I believe the Impala SS gaskets are 0.027". I've heard that optimal quench in around .040". So he should be able to go a little thicker on the gaskets (?). Still, the real question is whether or not 12.3:1 is doable with the cam he's running ???

 

where did you hear that?

 

Ya I'm going to put a thicker gasket on it. I think I'll get alittle more out of it by fixing this.

 

Like many other pieces of random knowledge, I forget the source. Please correct me if I am mistaken.

 

Depends on the setup but under .030" can be done but up to about .045" quench is all I would want to see.

 

I've seen it as tight as 0.027", but everything needs to be spot-on. My new engine is right at 0.033" and similar to what was mentioned above, I've also been told by others that 0.040" is the upper limit you should shoot for.

 

I have a question why tear the motor down to replace the head gasket if Ed Wright already tuned the current setup to run on pump gas? Even if it is at 13:1 or whatever the dyno numbers were done with what 91 octane correct? Now unless you were getting detonation or something or he wasn't able to tune it to run on pump gas then I could see changing the head gaskets.

 

Question: is it the case that, in an ideal world, quench area would be zero? i.e., in the same sense that, according to the physics, it would be ideal to have an infinitely long connecting rod . . .

 

. . . perhaps that question would better belong in the "advanced" tech section. Getting a little off-topic.

 

Well there are instances when the quench is zero. The rod stretches, the piston expands the block expands due to heat etc...

And no it's not ideal to have and infinitely long rod

 

I wish there was a way to know my compression for sure without tearing the heads off. SStrokerAce what would you do? Ed said on the last run everything was fine. I believe that lowering the compression would improve my quench therefore resulting in more power. I was also lead to believe that the compression being as high as it is for the cam size is to high and lowering it would help. I need a defanant answer as what to do. I figured a gallon or two of some 100 octane in some premium would be a good bet and to leave things as they are. You know the cam specs what compression should I run. I believe there is more in it help me out.

 

dropping SCR by increasing gasket thickness and improving quench? Did I miss something?

 

What is this 91 octane that you speak of?! 87 / 89 / 93 / 100(unleaded) is what we have here... Unless you find a gas station with 5 fuel lines, then there is 87 / 89 / 90 / 92 / 93 something stupid like that.

 

Some states (like Kalifornia) only have as high as 91 octane at the pump - that's our supreme unleaded.

 

Yep, 91 is all we have here in Kansas

However, so far so good with my 11.8 to 1 motor