MigsD16

I recently bought a rebuild head for my D16Y7 and also had my block resurfaced by .005". I also bought a felt-pro head gasket. My concern is that it is not going to be thick enough. Do I have anything to worry about?

Thank you!

TomCat39

To be able to answer this you have to know what the stock squish and quench area distance is.

The ideal quench is .035-.040". So if the stock quench is on the high end at .040" and you shaved both the head and the block .005", there will be no issue what so ever assuming the felpro has the same identical compressed thickness as the stock head gasket.

If stock is .035" with the above scenario you will be falling just under the ideal and your timing might have to be reduced just a hair to avoid slight detonation but really it's almost no difference at all and likely won't need any kind of adjustment.

The real question you need to find out is if the felpro compresses to the same thickness as the stock gasket. This is where the real problem will lie. If it compresses .010 different than stock, or .015" different from stock it could definitely throw your quench gap far enough out of ideal to be a real issue.

Just shaving the block and head won't be enough of an effect to ruin your quench gap as Honda built it with a little room to play. It's in custom builds that a shaving of .005" could cause challenges. For mostly stock, not so much. The head gasket crushed thickness is going to be your concern.

Bah!!! Brain was not functioning last night. I was adding a decimal spot to the resurface.... The key is still there. Ideal quench is .035-.40". If your shaving total takes you below the lowest ideal quench, you can experience problems.

If both block and head have been shaved .005, then it totals .010 difference and a slightly thicker head gasket will correct for it. If the total shave from both head and block equals .005 and the stock quench is .040, then you still will be in the ideal quench space.

MigsD16

This is very helpful and gave me some good info to research. I was unfamiliar with some of these terms and appreciate your help very much. Thank you!

B20VtecVillain

Would this be the same consideration of one were to use a stock thickness block/head but with a thinner than stock head gasket? I.E. Stock GSR head and block are square but using one of those 2 layer Gaskets (like Mugen) designed to bump compression a bit. I know this thinner head gasket would effect timing slightly, but is it enough to negatively effect anything using stock timing marks?

TomCat39

I would guess it depends on the motor. I know when I stuck the thinner D16Y8 head gasket on my stock D15B7, I had to retard ignition timing because it was detonating pretty bad when I was at high load/high rpm conditions. Even now it pings slightly when hill climbing.

I think it depends on if it takes the quench space below prime distance of .035".