Adverse Effects Of Copper Head Gasket for Street Use?

[Guest SBZ]

My DCR is very low right now with my new set-up, Fel-Pro has a .015

compressed thickness head gasket which is not copper. But in Summit

I found a copper head gasket that shows to have a .000 compression

thickness how ever that works I have no idea. Right now my cranking compression is about 150psi ! Are there any bad things about running copper head gaskets at all. The engine is a 355 (.030) 64cc head

with a .032 head gasket, flat top pistons.

I have read all the really cool eye opening DCR topics and posts on here and they really thought me a lot I which I had not known when I built this motor. But none of the DCR calculators I tried would work for me. If anyone knows of a good dcr calculator please post it. Thanks sorry for the long million question topic.

[katman]

I've had problems sealing the water jackets on some of my race engines. Some engines worked fine, others nope. Regardless I wouldn't consider one on the street.

[Pyro]

I have used them on the street without any problems. I painted both sides of the gasket with silver paint right before installing them.

 

If you use the 0.015" thick head gasket you will reduce the head combustion chamber by 5 cc as compared to a regular 0.040" thick gasket, which is a good amount.

 

How big is your cam? Where is the intake centerline installed at? More cam advance will increase cranking compression (earlier intake valve closing).

 

As rpms increase so will the cylinder pressure when using a big cam (cylinder filling aided by rpm).

 

Or you should use a cam that is more "intense". Quicker valve lifts and closings will increase cranking pressures while retaining the same duration at 0.050" lift. Go solid cam!

 

I think you are running about 10.3:1 cr with your current set up assuming

355 cid, 8cc head gasket (0.040"), piston in the bore 0.020", and 2 cc valve reliefs in the pistons. If you changed to a 0.015" gasket (3cc) then your compression would rise to 10.7 cr.

 

It sounds like you are using a 300 duration cam with soft ramps.