My From Start to Finish 6.0L Build

[RAMurphy]

Found the oil pan I wanted on Summit and like I always do, I took the time and found it $100 cheaper on Amazon. Called Summit and they matched they beat the price by one dollar. Still free shipping but a little slower by a day or two. Not in a hurry so Summit got my money.

 

[iamdub]

Found the oil pan I wanted on Summit and like I always do, I took the time and found it $100 cheaper on Amazon. Called Summit and they matched they beat the price by one dollar. Still free shipping but a little slower by a day or two. Not in a hurry so Summit got my money.

A factory pan?

 

[RAMurphy]

I wouldn't go thicker than stock gasket and especially not .041" thicker. I'd go slightly thinner if the piston height allows and that 10.5 is nice. But, it depends on the rotating assembly, pistons, etc. I doubt you'll have pistons coming outta the hole .055" to where .092" gaskets would yield a good quench height.

@iamdub I wanted to reach out to you earlier. I did measure the distance the high end portion of my pistons come outta the hole and it measured exactly .042". As a point of reference pictures of the piston's are on page 15 of my build. Your thoughts on gasket thickness based on this information?

 

[RAMurphy]

A factory pan?

No. Hard to find and quite costly. I do have a few phone calls out to a couple pick and pulls - but they tend to keep them with the engine. It's a Dorman. It is a hunk of metal so I'm not too concerned. However, if I don't like the quality, then I will swap it out with the pan on my current engine when I pull it.

 

[RAMurphy]

If the rotating assembly is all stock specs, then the pistons should be out of the hole a few thou, like .004" - .008" at TDC. This always varies between builds (even from the factory) and even seems to always vary between cylinders. Typically, the corner cylinders (numbers 1, 2, 7 and 8) will be more out of the hole than the center ones (numbers 3, 4, 5 and 6). Always measure your assembled one. You'll need a head gasket at least about .037" more than the highest piston, just to give you rough figures.

I've been reading through my build thread and came across this response from you. And I just now learned how to include additional quotes in a thread. Which I will do in the future.

 

[iamdub]

No. Hard to find and quite costly. I do have a few phone calls out to a couple pick and pulls - but they tend to keep them with the engine. It's a Dorman. It is a hunk of metal so I'm not too concerned. However, if I don't like the quality, then I will swap it out with the pan on my current engine when I pull it.

But, a cast, factory-style pan, yeah? On a daily driver, I'm not a fan of the aftermarket stamped and/or fabricated sheet metal pans.

 

[iamdub]

@iamdub I wanted to reach out to you earlier. I did measure the distance the high end portion of my pistons come outta the hole and it measured exactly .042". As a point of reference pictures of the piston's are on page 15 of my build.

I really hope you mean .0042", as in a hair over four thousandths! The stock head gasket is about .052" compressed, so .042" means you'd have about .010" quench. Never mind PTV clearance! You need around .037" minimum quench for safety. If that wasn't a typo, then you're looking at needing around a .079" thick gasket!

Confirm the piston height at TDC. Also, did all the pistons measure the same?

Your thoughts on gasket thickness based on this information?

All my previous ramblings are in reference to stock dimensions. Still, .010" quench is too tight for anything, if your .042" is accurate. Because of the pistons you have, I'd ask TSP what they'd recommend for gasket thickness. They're gonna need to know what heads you have and their specs (casting, chamber volume, any shaving, etc.), your cam specs, your intended CR and quench preferences (I'd aim for as close to .037" as reasonably possible). Ideally, you can satisfy all with a stock gasket as it'd be the cheapest. I think Fel-Pro offers thinner MLS gaskets for not so much more cost as stock gaskets. I wish I had known this when I ordered my Cometics.

 

[RAMurphy]

But, a cast, factory-style pan, yeah? On a daily driver, I'm not a fan of the aftermarket stamped and/or fabricated sheet metal pans.

Yes, it is a cast, factory-style pan. Concur about the other types of pans.

 

[RAMurphy]

I really hope you mean .0042", as in a hair over four thousandths! The stock head gasket is about .052" compressed, so .042" means you'd have about .010" quench. Never mind PTV clearance! You need around .037" minimum quench for safety. If that wasn't a typo, then you're looking at needing around a .079" thick gasket!

Confirm the piston height at TDC. Also, did all the pistons measure the same?




All my previous ramblings are in reference to stock dimensions. Still, .010" quench is too tight for anything, if your .042" is accurate. Because of the pistons you have, I'd ask TSP what they'd recommend for gasket thickness. They're gonna need to know what heads you have and their specs (casting, chamber volume, any shaving, etc.), your cam specs, your intended CR and quench preferences (I'd aim for as close to .037" as reasonably possible). Ideally, you can satisfy all with a stock gasket as it'd be the cheapest. I think Fel-Pro offers thinner MLS gaskets for not so much more cost as stock gaskets. I wish I had known this when I ordered my Cometics.

Thank you for the timely and quick response. I'm learning a lot from this build. I will doublecheck my numbers and update as required - but I'm pretty sure it is a typo - now I'm second guessing myself. Don't have my notes in front of me. Pretty sure they were all pretty close with the middle set of pistons so slightly less. I was going to reach out to TSP because I'm either going to use a set of their heads, a set of trick flow heads or 243 heads.

 

[RAMurphy]

I really hope you mean .0042", as in a hair over four thousandths! The stock head gasket is about .052" compressed, so .042" means you'd have about .010" quench. Never mind PTV clearance! You need around .037" minimum quench for safety. If that wasn't a typo, then you're looking at needing around a .079" thick gasket!

Confirm the piston height at TDC. Also, did all the pistons measure the same?




All my previous ramblings are in reference to stock dimensions. Still, .010" quench is too tight for anything, if your .042" is accurate. Because of the pistons you have, I'd ask TSP what they'd recommend for gasket thickness. They're gonna need to know what heads you have and their specs (casting, chamber volume, any shaving, etc.), your cam specs, your intended CR and quench preferences (I'd aim for as close to .037" as reasonably possible). Ideally, you can satisfy all with a stock gasket as it'd be the cheapest. I think Fel-Pro offers thinner MLS gaskets for not so much more cost as stock gaskets. I wish I had known this when I ordered my Cometics

I talked to TSP this morning and I learned that I was measuring the wrong spot on the piston to achieve the correct tolerance number. I'm going to try and explain this so it makes sense. As stated in an earlier post my pistons from a "net volume (-2.00)" are equivalent to a "flat" piston perspective. However, they do have valve relief and as such a section that is "raised" to compensate from a volume perspective. To measure the amount the piston comes out of the bore, I need to measure at the edge of the piston or the flat section on the other side of the valve relief - not the raised section. That would be important as I select the heads I use but based on my discussion with TSP this will not be an issue with the possible heads I may use. TSP also stated that once I choose the heads they would help me choose the head gasket to achieve the proper quench and compression ratio I require. This company and the customer support is first rate. Based on that info I rechecked and the largest number was just short of .001.



I was measuring where the Texas Speed logo is printed.