milling, decking 196 block/head

[grendel_cave]

My 196 block should be done at the machine shop either at the end of this week or the beginning of next. I was planning on milling/decking the block and head, but I'm not sure to what extent. My intention was to tweak the engine some (producing as much torque and h.p.) as I can without shortening the longevity of the engine or raising the compression ratio so high I would have to run premium fuel. It is a '67 or '68 block (head set up for flat top pistons) and I'm concerned about taking too much off the head and I don't want to have to run with non-stock pushrods. Any suggestions as to how much to take off? Thanks. ~aaron

 

[Michael Mayben]

I would only have the machine shop "surface" the head and block enough to clean the gasket surfaces and restore 'em to square and true. And in many cases that can be a fairly significant amount depending upon how corroded the flats are going in.

Hopefully that would be in the area of no more than a "average" 0.010" to be removed, otherwise the lifter "preload" and pushrod length becomes problematic.