I am in the process of building a ZZ430 clone engine. In case you are not familiar, this was simply a limited edition engine built by Chevrolet I believe over 10 years ago. It was simply a ZZ4 shortblock with Fast Burnaluminum heads, LT4 hotcam and 1.6 Roller Rockers. Anyhow, I have the ZZ4 short block and am getting ready to bolt on the heads. I am going with the GM performance headgaskets. But I have two choices: 10105117 or 12557236. Now the ZZ430 apparently came with the 12557236gasketswhich are 0.051" compressed thickness. The ZZ4 crate engine pistondeck height is apparently .025 which would net me a quench of 0.076 correct??? I would assume this is far from ideal quench goal of around .040? Anyhow the 10105117 gasketsare 0.028" compressed thickness. I would assume this would net me a quench of .053 which would not be perfect but much closer. Am I looking at this all wrong??? I want to use the thinner gasketsif I can get away with it. I do have 93 octane out here so I have no issues using that all the time. I would assume that my engine is similar to the new ZZ5 crate engines which use the thicker 12557236 headgasketsand are 9.72:1 compression. So I would imagine I would have no problem using the 10105117 gasket depending on how much it bumps compression??? Any help would be appreciated. I'm ready to bolt on the heads but need to make sure before I assemble. Thanks everyone in advance!
Need help from Chevy Small Block gurus. Building a ZZ430 clone. Question about quench, compression
- Thread starter V6UnderPressure
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The thinner head gaskets will give you a better quench assuming you measured the piston deck height correctly. Go with the thinner gasket.
I'd measure your actual deck height clearance first and foremost. Chances are the thinner gasket will be the one you want. Difference in compression between the two will be around 0.5:1. Make sure you clay or putty test clearance before actually running it.
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