Deck hieght

[NewJerseyBusa]

can ne 1 explain how to check deck hieght or valve clearence? iam interested in shaving my cylinder block.  Thanks

[conrad]

Put small balls of plumbers putty in the pockets(to measure piston to valve).

Sounds like what you are worried about is Piston to head since you are wanting to mill, you will have to play with your cam settings once you mill it to get proper clearance.  You just put the putty on the flat portion between the pockets, tighten the head down and spin the motor over.  You don't have to have the rings on to get your measurement so it will be easier to put the cylinder down on your pistons just to check the clearance.  Make sure if you don't have the rings on you put the putty in the front and back and measure both, and average them out because most likely the piston will tilt a little forward or backwards without the rings in there.

[spdingtkts]

For the deck height I tape a piece of solder across the top of the piston that goes all the way out to the outer edge. Then I reinstall the head and head gasket and torque it to spec. Once it is together I turn the engine over several times and then take it apart and measure both ends on the solder (front & rear). I take the two measurements and add them together and then divide by two and use that number.

For piston to valve clearance I install a soft spring, like something you could pick up at a hardware store, in place of the valve spring. I set the valve lash to what I would run. Then I install the camshafts, tourque down the cams to specs and degree the cams to what cam timing I want to run. Then I turn the engine over and push down on the bucket with the dial indicator on it to see what I have. Sometimes I will advance/retard the cam timing to be sure that if I want to play around with cam timing I still have room to do that too.

When selecting the spring you want to get something with some tension to it. If you get too light a spring the pressure from the indicator will hold the valve open.