Brent, I went back and read the JJ thread and in it you purchased a set of aluminum rod for JJ and said you were going to install them. That's why I remembered that.

I'm now curious as to the deck height and head gasket you used. When I bought the adapter and TR, I asked you what deck height you used on it (for reference on gasket fit) and if it was your normally std 10.150 DH and you said, yes. Did you also use the 1020 head gasket that you use a lot?

In Brent's defense, my 361 Edsel block was off .018 across the deck and cleaned up at 10.172. It had the same quench as a '58 352 but the heads had no evidence of contact of any sort and would have had a min quench of .038.

But, Ford would NOT have release a engine with a nominal .036 quench if it would not be enough, period. 5 yrs later they built a all aluminum SBF, reliable enough to finish the Indy 500.

Now, if Ross's engine, that had a deck height of 10.155, had been assembled with a nominal .036 quench, It could not have left the assembly line so, it would have never made it to the street.

Last, it is my recollection (please correct me, if I'm wrong) that the the engine that Brent ran .035 quench on, was his JJ, 352 and he had aluminum rods in it (most high strength alum expands at 3 times the rate of steel). It didn't make any noise and didn't hurt anything, either.

How are you gauging the head gasket thickness and what head gaskets will do you have?

My Sept, '57 dated 361 Edsel block was off .016 front to back on one side, about .012 on the other and both were higher than 10.17. I had it decked to clean up both sides and it came out @ 10.172.

What I'm doing isn't cheap, I'm doing it for reduced rotating weight.

I'm doing that, ask we speak but, offset grinding it to SBC journals, as well.

You will have to have the snout turned down from 1 3/4 to 1 3/8. The center in the snout will not be on center of the main bearing, so it will have to be recut first. A machine shop will charge you about 3.5 hr labor to turn it and recut the keyways. I do that part myself. You will then have to open the flywheel to the FT diameter. Add another hr for that.

Offset grinding it costs a additional $600, including bearings.

Jay can I get my set with 5/16 valve guilds?