Guys,
I’m finally getting around to final assembly and I was measuring deck heights today of my rebuilt short block. What I found is the passenger side is all about .016-.017 out of the hole (block was decked) but the driver side appears somewhat off. I’m measuring .018, .019, 020 and .022 from the front to the back with an average of .020 across that side. This seems way off to me at an average +-.004!!!

That said my questions:

Should I be a bit upset with my machinist or is this reasonable??

More importantly,,, how should I handle quench?

Driver side: I ordered and received .060 gaskets based on the one hole at .022 out, which leaves me with a .038 quench with forged pistons (.004) clearance). Please keep in mind that when I measure rock on the piston I can get it up to about .030 out of the hole and down to about .013 out of the hole. It’s a bit tight on the .022 hole,,, but better on the .018 hole. Averages about .040.

Passenger side: All of the pistons are about .016-.017 out of the hole. Which means there is about a .004 average difference in deck heights between the driver and passenger side. Using the .060 Cometic that leaves a quench of about .044,,, if I go to a GM MLS gasket (.054 correct??) I get a quench of about .038 which is closer overall to the driver side using the .060 gasket.

My question,,, should I run different gaskets on either side of the motor to try to get these numbers closer side to side?????

Here are the rest of the particulars:

3.905 JE Pistons -2 CC flycuts
TSP LS6 Heads milled to 61 CCs
TR 228 cam

DCR – With .060 Cometic

Driver 8.49 – Quench Avg - .040, Min .038
Passenger 8.41 – Quench Avg - .044

DCR – With .054 GM MLS

Driver 8.62 – Quench Avg .034 Min .032
Passenger 8.53 – Quench Avg - .038


Thanks!!!!