Okay guys, looking for a bit of headgasket advice, which I've done before, but maybe slightly more in depth this time. I bought a built motor earlier this year from a private seller (not a shop) that wasn't finished being assembled, and after many delays, picked it up with the head off, to have that finished myself. Now, thousands later, in the cost in the motor, having it reassembled, and parts that were not there (that were supposed to be), I've run into a big issue.

Worth noting quickly that the seller will take no responsibility for this, and the shop where he had the block work done has no record of any possible name it might have been under, so getting my money back is gonzo, and not a realistic option.

Okay now the problem, the motor is a 10:1 compression motor with CP pistons, and Darton dry flanged sleeves, and has been decked too far. Instead of coming out of the block 0.040", they are at 0.064". I believe the head has been slightly decked too, but I have yet to get an accurate measurement. Let's assume 0.002", for shits and giggles.

Now this ridiculous deck issue means the OEM head gasket is out of the question. I will be using ARP head studs with whichever gasket, my builder is fully competent torquing them 110% correctly. However, this leaves me stuck with aftermarket gaskets, namely cometic, that I do not trust not to fail with the forced induction this motor is built for. It will be driven n/a for roughly the next year probably, then either more likely supercharged, or turbocharged once I have the money to do it as I want. Goals were 410-450 hp, preferable supercharged.

Okay so what are my options? Bear in mind, I don't have enough money left for this stupid thing to redo the block with a new one, or just "buy another motor from Honda" like some people seem to causally recommend.

- I could disassemble everything again, and machine the pistons down roughly 0.024", but per Wazdii's piston comparison thread, which refers to the CP's top thickness as "borderline", I'm not sure if that's a safe idea, milling the piston to a point where it is too thin.

- I could always hope the thicker cometic gasket will not fail? Doesn't mean I believe it but eh. This needs to be RELATIVELY RELIABLE. As in 20,000+ miles. A 5k head gasket is useless to me.

- I could attempt to go on a quest to find a set of full blown head studs with the assumption they will hold the thicker gasket better than the ARP's. Don't really know how to calculate the head lifting, but if I could calculate it, I could prove/disprove this idea.

- so. basically, my question is, what do I do? I feel that I have a motor that is stuck at a lower compression forever that is unable to handle the boost it is built for with a thicker head gasket.

 

Your motor looks very good I would clay the top top of the piston install the head rotate the engine and check the valve clearance.

 

Clearance was checked before we realized the timing cover wasn't decked with the block, and you could visibly see the difference. At this point, crank already could not be turned with factory gaskst, when head was off, we measured piston was already 0.062" out of the block at this point. But we had to skim the timing cover to true it up, bringing me to the 0.064" I mentioned.