Quote Originally Posted by senator8 View Post
Are you sure Nick? I found this info below on the internet, so it must be true!
Nope, I'm NOT sure, but I've read a few really cool articles on how awesome raised compression is, so I'm just inferring from there (admittedly they were car engine articles).

Quote Originally Posted by No_Style View Post
I would doubt it would cause huge issues other than if you reduce the thickness enough that the static compression was sufficiently high to cause the engine to start detonating rather than burning
Actually the really, really big and immediate risk is fatally whacking the valve with the piston! There's very, very little clearance even at normal head height, and by lowering the gap it is ultra easy to run out of room. It's sure-fire way to completely lunch a motor.

I've read all the YEC manuals about calculating the appropriate head gasket thickness by making a putty and measuring 'squish' values and clearances etc, including some maths I've forgotten from high school, until it went into the 'too hard' basket along with the slotted cam wheels!

Actually, that's not quite true.... measuring the exact head gasket thickness was too hard, so I just ordered the most popular of the thinner sizes (and they come in point oh-five of a thou differences) and ordered that. Then I was gonna just risk the engine (rather than calculating squish values) and hope for the best, when I next (first) take the head off. Which was tentatively scheduled for sometime in this six-month break. Or the 12th (of Never)...