How Much Can You Shave Off Of A Cylinder Head

[vegassatellite]

Ive got a 98 Frontier with the KA24DE block. Head was warped, block wasn't at all. Took the head to my friend's machine shop. He had to grind the head to make it flat. To get it flat within .001 across the entire bottom, at some points, as much as .028 had to be ground off. My concern is that this might be too much. How much deck height is ok for this head and does this present any over-compression or clearance issues? The head has never been been taken off the vehicle before as I'm the original owner and know the service history on my vehicle so I know its not been through resurfacing before.

I don't do customization or performance modifications so there are no aftermarket parts and this would be considered a stock truck. Heck, there ain't even power steering. Just trying to get more life out of my truck.

[liquid_cool]

if you have a set of fila guages..you can see how much your buddy trimmed off for ya..its not much in reality..but it will make a compretion difference...he should be able to tabulate the difference for you thou..ask him if he can for ya..

[vegassatellite]

In some places he shaved off less than 1/1000th of an inch (0.001) and other places as much as 28/1000ths of an inch (0.028). Feeler gauge wont do anything since the bottom of the head is completely flat within 1/1000ths of an inch so even measuring with a true straight edge, I'm not getting a 0.001" feeler gauge under it. He works with machines that can provide accuracy within 0.0001". I just need to know if the deck height is too short or if there's over-compression issues possible.

[motoman399]

i had this same problem. my engine got REALLY hot. sounds like yours did too.. i took it to the machine shop and they said they would have to clamp it down with shims under the warped spots and bake it in and oven for 6 hours and let it cool over night and it would find its original place. then they would flatten it on the machine. he said if they flatten it how it is then the cam journals wouldnt be straight.

also im sure you now would have different compression in all cylinders. im sure that .028 compared to .001 has a big difference on compression.

i would say source a new head. (my opinion) maybe you can call around to some shops and ask. good luck