I am in the process of machining my 350 sbc block and am wondering if it is worth it, performance wise to zero deck it (take .025 off). I know it gives you a better quench effect and decreases the size of your combustion chamber but how much more power is it worth if instead I just put a thinner gasket. Most big high performance engines I see are 0.000 decked. Is it a matter of a few horsepower or just better for the life of the engine (less strain on rotating assembly)? I can have it done for about a $100 is it worth it? Thanks for any replies.


Street/Strip (mainly street)
68 Camaro

355ci
10:1
solid cam XE 282S
I'll be shifting at 6500rpm
Ported S/R torqers 2.02/1.6

It is probably worth a little power as it keeps the air/fuel from bouncing off the cylinder walls.

For the ultimate some will deck to a point where the pistons are sticking out of the block a bit.

The majority of street users will deck to a height of 9.010 and then use a thinner gasket.That way you can still machine the block in case something should happen to the mounting surface.

You would be just as well off to run a .025 deck height and use a .015 gasket. You want the quench area to be around .035-.045...doesn't matter how you achieve it.

Or just knock off a little & run a cheap ($8) OEM Chevy gasket (.026").