Head gasket question - 318 build

[Patrick]

I've been waiting for 1.5 months so far for my MOPAR shim gaskets to come in from Jegs and i'm still getting the dreaded "it'll be another 2 weeks" story - apparently there's a major delay from the manufacturer. I was planning on using these thinner gaskets to bump up compression on my stock 318 headed build... but summer is flying by and i want to drive the conv before xmas! :angry3:

I installed a 340 cam in my 318 and refreshed my stock 318 heads (early 70's vintage) by lapping the valves and installing new (cam matched) springs and new keepers/locks.

Here's my question: can i use the stock head gaskets without fear of lost compression or should i just wait for the thinner ones?

 

[66340SEDAN]

You Could Get The Heads Shaved Down A Bit And Use A Stock Gasket. I Would Think Any Machine Shop Has A Re-surfacer Machine!

 

[Patrick]

I could do that but it's all ready to go... and my eventual plan is to redo my 302's and put those on the 318. So i want to use this setup temporarily and just make sure it's not going to be a dog. Believe the 340 cam is really not that radical but what i don't know is how different stock compression ratios where between the 318 and the 340...
Thanks for the feedback!

 

[lead69]

Try looking around for a mr gasket 1121 head gasket set,these are .028 when compressed,they have a 4.140 bore but it is still smaller than the felpro @ 4.180,also the smaller quench are makes the bore size pretty insignificant,only around .02 less compression.

 

[lead69]

You can get them here,http://gearsandrears.com/crengineparts2.html