Hey guys, put the new top end on last night. Quick advise before I button it all the way up...........
I have a short rod motor, and this cylinder that CT did, has been resurfaced/decked. I first put it together with just one cometic .020" base gasket, and looked to the piston height at TDC. It looked like the edge of the piston was about even with the deck. That had me a little concerned on squish clearance. So, I put a second .020" cometic base gasket, and it appears the piston is now about .020" below the top, with two base gaskets on there (estimating). I am sure it would have worked out with just the one base gasket, since CT did this cyl and head and they provided the gasket set. But, I think I will run the two base gaskets, to be on the safe side, and especially since I am not after max horsepower anyway, and will be running Pump/race gas mix.
My concern is the change to port timing, since I raised the cyl .020" over stock. Is that a big deal? Should I not run the two base gaskets, and instead just put one in and do a solder squish test? (Problem is, I already torqued the head down, and not sure I can reuse the layer head gasket again).
Here is a pic of the piston height with two base gaskets......