I am doing a mild build, my question is, what thickness head gasket would be best to use for this application, minimal squish area, while still keeping the appropriate valve to piston clearance needed. I am PCSing out of Hawaii in 10 months, so head work is waiting until i come back to the mainland.

Twin Cam 88

95" cylinders - PN# - 16546-99A
SE domed pistons (13cc, 10.25:1 compression) - PN# - 22661-99A
Andrews 26A Cams
SE Adjustable push rods

Now i have read the SE head gasket ultimately ends up at .040 after everything is torqued down, i don't want to spend the money for that head gasket because I need to buy a complete gasket kit (primary leaks + I'm changing the tranny sprocket while I'm at it). So could I use a Comtec .040 and still achieve the desired compression (really looking for 10:1, once its all over with), or should I use a .050?

 

OK, I am not the expert on this, but I throw some thoughts out there: I am guessing the 10.25:1 compression is predicated on a .040" head gasket, normal engine builds shoot for a squish of ~ .030" to .035", so a .040" head gasket is a bit conservative depending on your piston deck height(will need to figure this out), but if you use a .030 head gasket the compression will rise to ~ 10.40:1 to 10.45:1 and that is not the direction you wanted to go. Using the .050" head gasket will help with the compression(~10.1:1) but is going further away from a optimal squish clearance.

Sounds like you are going to have to make a compromising choice unless you get some headwork done and the headwork guy can set it up perfectly - but then the problem would be: with headwork you probably would want different cams! Just food for thought...

 

Just to add some more info: to me the "static" compression that everybody likes to use is not nearly as important as "corrected" compression. If you go to the Big Boyz website, there is a Twin Cam Compression Calculator that you can put all your info in and then play with by changing cams, head gasket size, etc. what you really want to do is to come up with a build combo that keeps the corrected compression below 9.3:1 - try to shoot for about 9.2:1, that way you should have a very tune-able ride.

It will probably drive you to choosing a cam that has a later intake closing number. The Andrews 26 has an intake closing of 35 degrees. With your static compression of ~ 10.25:1
the cam you choose will need a later intake closing to keep the corrected compression down. Look at Andrews 31H or Crane 1-6002 and see how it works.