What is the maximum depth a fire ring can be cause I was given a head for free cause supposedly the fire ring groves were cut to deep. But it has never been shaved before as to my knowledge and the previous owner's so I figured I would shave it and see where that puts me at and I could possibly run a .010 over head gasket. Any advice will be greatly appreciated especially if I can use this head that was given to me

 

I could be wrong, but isn't the head flat? If so, you would still run a standard gasket with a shaved head, it would only be required if you shaved the block.


I think Cummins says .010 max on the head, but I can't see why it would really matter unless you got goofy.

 

OK so I shouldn't run the .010 right? I'm still gonig to get the head shaved for sure long as I can still use it that's mainly cause I want to insure that I will make the best seal possible. I really don't want to blow a head gasket soon as I put the twins on and with about 19* of timing. But do you know the maximum depth the grooves can be?

 

No, don't trust what I say, I am sure someone else will chime in here. I am still a virgin when it comes to head work/ gaskets.........

 

First thing I would do is measure the groove depth to see how much it was cut. You might be able to get the grooves widened and run thicker wire.

You can have the head decked, just be careful about your valve depths, and possibly piston contact. Thicker headgasket will solve that, but at the cost of compression ratio, which means loss of bottom end, and harder starts.

 

Ok thanks but I'm kinda wanting a measurement for depth so I can see where I'm currently at as to what I need to do and Tate that was my reasoning to running the thicker head gasket cause of the possible valve clearance issue. But if someone has a recommended depth and width tht is really what I'm looking for. Please keep the ideal and suggestions coming.

 

My grooves are cut at .039" wide and .029" deep. I used .035" mig welding wire to lay in the groove, and use a straight edge and feeler gauges to measure protrusion. .035" - protrusion = groove depth. If its deeper than it is wide, it will be much harder to measure.

 

Wouldn't you just use that excuse to sink the valves a bit?

 

If you want to get a valve job done, its a great excuse. If you just want to run what you have, then its more of a hassle.

 

Ok thanks yall it turns out that we can actually make use of the head so we are going to port and polish it put new valve seals in and also put good set of 60lbs springs in with titanium retainers and keepers.