Head Spacer Shims

[rasmussen316]

Ok.... I am only posting this as more of a question. I recently took the head of a 91 that had a blown head gasket. The previous owners had driving without a water pump working or a thermostat for some time. The Machine shop took approximately .036 of an inch of. Jon (my machine shop guy) took my to get a head spacer shim. I called St. Louis and should have it on Tuesday. So I guess it question.... Have you used one of these before? Do you have any installation tips ( every motor is different) ? Finally have you had success with them? Just so we don't fall into a three day discussion on reman heads, I know they are available but i like to reuse and recycle as much of one of these fine cars as possible. I want it to continue its struggle down the road with the least amount of mods.

[bravekozak]

Forget the shim. As long as the valves don't hit the piston head, get a high torque starter, fill up with super high test gas and enjoy the extra power from having high compression. (I was just kidding about the starter.)

Just put some plasticene on top of the cylinder head where the valves would open and lightly bolt on the head with the head gasket, turn the engine over twice by hand, open it up and see how much clearance you have left. Good luck.