Today I got on with the heads. The cylinders came first, and affect head clearance and compression measurements by way of the copper gasket that goes between the case and cylinder. The Harry Pellow book has a reference table suggesting 3-6 shims (of .008-.01 inch thickness each) as a starting point for those using Japanese 1720 big bore kits. So I started with a single 1mm (.04 inch) shim.
Measure today included deck height. It is not as straight forward as some people might think. I guess with flat top pistons, it is less confusing. With domed pistons, it is easy to confuse the quench clearance with the deck height. Clearance often being measured with clay or solder.
Here an example of deck height, as described by someone that has done tech articles for the registry.
Using the nicely done Top End Tool and a digital caliper, I was able to get some consistency in readings with patience. We’ll plug these in with the results from cc’ing the heads to get some compression calcs.
