i was told i should replace the headgaskets before i put the turbo on since i already have to take the intake manifold off to fix the oil leak. then i was thinking if i used some thinker head gaskets and while the heads are off have the combustion chambers opened up a little. would this be worth the time/effort in lowering the compression enough to help prolong the stock short block? ill only be running 5psi and with it a FMIC. any thoughts would be greatly appriciated.

 

Thicker head gaskets may work for a short time, but is not a real long term solution.

 

The stock gaskets are already arguably too thick do not go thicker. Porting the heads is always a good idea, not sure how much material you can remove from the chambers or if it would be enough to do much to drop compression. This is going to sound a little lowbuck but I know I have seen articles on cutting valve reliefs in pistons in the block. You won't need valve reliefs but MAYBE you could use them to slightly lower compression along with the chamber work. I have no idea though if the stock pistons are suitable for such treatment though so talk to someone knowledgable with LT1 building first. A couple CCs there and in the chamber might be enough to make a difference.

 

AFR heads? Larger chamber should lower the compression, but $$$. Are you going to lower compression later and/or forge bottom at some time in future? What turbo setup are you going with?

 

I would have to agree. Going cheap = problems down the road 99% of the time. Go with some AFR 195s. They have a up to a 74 cc combustion chamber and flow very well out of the box.

 

well here is the plan as of right now, fix intake leak, put turbo on with 5psi and FMIC, then tune on the safe side and let it self distruct and start building a forged 355 for it. its an STS kit to