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  • 1965 - 1973 Classic Mustangs -General/Talk-
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Piston to Head Clearance

  • Thread starter Thread starter fasttback
  • Start date Start date Jan 20, 2007

fasttback

New Member
Apr 16, 2005
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Northern CA
Jan 20, 2007
#1
  • Jan 20, 2007
  • #1
Today I was measuring my piston to head clearance because it looked like some pistons protruded a little. The block was decked (according to the po). Some of the pistons measured higher on one side of the bore than the other, but was not consistent from one piston to the next (per side). So I'm ruling out the deck being decked incorrectly.

Can the pistons be a little cocked in the cylinder? I have floating piston pins. Will they "center" themselves after running the motor?

Measuring the center of the pistons to the deck gave more consistent results, but protruded about 0.005 above the deck.
 

rbohm

Founding Member
Apr 12, 2002
6,698
550
204
tucson,az
Jan 21, 2007
#2
  • Jan 21, 2007
  • #2
if the pistons are only .005 above the block deck, the only problem you are going to have is a compression ratio that might be slightly high, unless you dont use a head gasket. remember that the compressed thickness of the average head gasket is .048-.053".
 

classic boost

Founding Member
Feb 3, 1999
709
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0
canton, oh
Jan 21, 2007
#3
  • Jan 21, 2007
  • #3
yes, the pistons 'rock' in the bore. measure from the front or back of the piston (above the pin).
 
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