I keep hearing the ideal quench is between .035-.045 but I have more than that right now. I have confirmed during trial assembly the my pistons are all down in the hole from .024-.026 and I have Fel-Pro #8364PT head gaskets that came with the SB400 kit I bought. This puts my quench at about .065, will this aggravate detonation problems or should I be looking for a thinner set of head gaskets say around .015-.020 to get the quech measurement down some? Any reccomendations on a good head gasket to use??

Sure, use the Fel-Pro # 1094, .015" thick, rubber coated steel shim headgasket.

I have used the .022" thick steel shims several times and even on my 406 motor by installing them on my bare block and reaching up and scribing where they were too small and then taking a 1/4" drill with a stone in it and relieving the shims in those spots!! Worked fine for me!!!

Of course, I painted them real good with either Copper-Cote or aluminum paint, don't remember which now??

pdq67

Tom - here's some real good reading for you on quench...

http://www.kb-silvolite.com/page05.htm

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/94138/

Thx PDQ and DJD!! Just finished reading both articles and have a better understanding of why the quencharea is so important :D !

Awesome reads, thanks guys