I plan to run a mid 230's duration cam with some 64cc TFS heads.

Will I be safe running a cam that size with a .030 head gasket and NO milling on the heads?

I figured if I ran a thinner gasket I could avoid milling the heads.

 

Why do you think that?

 

I can always change gaskets in the future. Once the heads are milled its a done deal.

 

you need to figure what your quench will be. measure your deck height, i think most stock LS1s were in the -.006 range which would give you a .024 quench with a .030 gasket that is TIGHT. Too damn tight really. That is, unless you like your pistons slapping the heads at high rpm... I'd run .040 gasket, which will put you in the safe zone. .035-.045 is what I have been told is a good quench range to shoot for.

the reason it is better to add compression by milling the heads is that does not affect your quench distance. Slapping in a thicker or thinner head gasket to change compression is the WRONG way to do it ( unless you have some room to play with your quench.) Like say I was on the tight side at .035 and I wanted to decrease my compression a touch, I could go to a .010 thicker gasket for a .045 quench. However there is no free lunch, running the .035 quench was probably better than the .045 quench as far as running pump gas in a high compression motor, even though my compression was higher overall. The best way to achieve the desired compression is to just do your homework, check the numbers and then check them again. Then check them again. Then you can make sure you get the compression you want, the proper quench distance and a safe dcr so you can run pump gas. With all that said though, if I was gonna pull the heads off an otherwise stock motor I would definately use .040 gaskets provided the deck height is something equal to or less than -.006-7 (less than meaning towards 0, not away from in the negative direction)

 

.03 is hella tight,
.006-.010 out is pretty common, for stock motors,
although i have measured a 98' block with .016 out

 

.016 out? damn... then hell no. no .040 gasket for me on that motor. In that case I'd just run the damn stock GM MLS gasket at .051, cheaper too.

 

thats what im sayin'
i stick to 6.0 mls gaskets, 4.04 bore, .055 compressed, 11.56cc volume
cant beat that, and at less than 100$ per pair

 

goofy *** GM... too much deck height variance. I now have a theory that the reason why some f-bodys just run quicker than other stock for stock is they happen to have a deck height that causes the quench to fall into line, and up the CR a touch and it just makes everything jive better. Because with a short deck height, having a 50 something gasket thickness is gonna put it on the loose side, but if you have the .051 gasket on the car with the damn .016 deck then it will be rockin.