Re: Shaved head? (archive)

Shaving of cylinder heads to raise compression is a lot of work and expense for little gain. In most cases it is not recommended for several reasons: on the chevy V-6, there are two heads, and because of the "V" angle when mounted,if enough has been taken off to be an improvement, there mey be interference problems with the intake manifold. Also modern castings are controlled in the wall-thickness to be very thin, and there is danger of cutting through the walls into the water jacket areas. On overhead cam engines, cutting the head places the head closer to the crankshaft,effectively loosening the timing belt or chain. Again, if enough head material has been removed to be effective, there may not be enough adjustment left in the cam drive tensioner (in the 320 case, it is a "shoe" that rides against the chain, held there by oil pressure).

Bottom line...compression is one of the quickest ways to get more torque out of an engine, but head shaving is not the best way for measureable and reliable gains. For my money, I'ld go with pulling the engine and upgrading the pistons. Of course while its apart you might as well do the bearings, seals, oil pump, etc, etc....!

Don't forget you'll need higher octane fuel, too. My 320 has 11:1 and needs 93 octane or better. it also has a starter from a six-cylinder to turn it against all that compression....

Remember, there are no free lunches.....
Tom

Follow Ups:

Re: Shaved head? Head gasket?? Beave 11:47 6/03/2000 (2)
- Re: Shaved head? Head gasket?? Tom Knowles 06:15 6/04/2000 (1)
  - Thanks for clearing that up guys Alexis 14:09 6/04/2000 (0)

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