Head Gasket selection

[Crimson Thunder]

I'm finally about to start my top end rebuild on my Corvette.(one more small obstacle to overcome) I currently have GM crate motor #12356644 (300 HP) in the car now. It has 9.1:1 compression with 64cc heads #14096217. I am replacing those heads with a set of pre-eliminator AFR 195 heads which also have 64cc chambers. AFR recommends Fel Pro #1003 head gaskets with a .041 compressed thickness. I am looking for something a little thinner that still is compatible with aluminum heads( i have no idea what gasket is in there now, i hope it is more than just a steel shim).
Do you guys have any recommendations on which gasket to use? Thanks in advance.. Craig

 

[glen242]

If it were me, I would wait until I had the heads off and then check things like how far down the hole the pistons are, and the other dimensions needed to use a static CR program.

Checking dimensions yourself, is the only way to go.

After you run the numbers, then you can decide on head gasket thickness.

 

[Crimson Thunder]

Thanks Glen,I was thinking about starting the tear down this weekend to see what I have in there before ordering the side pipes and cam. I'm just trying to do as much research as possible. My biggest fear is that there is just a steel shim in there and i'm going to loose some CR regardless.

 

[wallyknoch]

The best gaskets for aluminum heads are copper and probably available in different thicknesses...I believe McCord was the supplier of the copper gaskets that were used on the L88 heads...they were the shim gaskets to keep the compression up....But I would say that Felpro 7733PT2 are soft enought to not mark up aluminum...1003`s have a large stainless fire ring if I recall that can mark up aluminum....