jonlabree Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Open question to Barney, Jim, or anyonr with the knowledge.How much can you mill off of a stock head before it will interfer with the pushrods and rocker arms?Jon.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2seater Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Jon, I don't know about the milling question, deck thickness and such, but are you looking for more compression? My best guess would be to check the available internal lifter travel before it bottoms out? I don't know if feasible to shim the rockers up due to the design of mine but yours may be different? The reason I asked about compression is the possibility of changing pistons. Believe it or not, the Ford 3.8 was loosely based on the Buick design. The bore/stroke relationship is slightly different but standard bore Ford pistons should fit a slightly overbored Buick and are available with a smaller dish or flat top, compression height correct and the pin diameter is even correct for my LN3. I have considered building a dedicated E85 engine with much higher compression, maybe 12:1 or so, hence the investigation. Maybe useless info., but you can always discard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handmedownreatta Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 be aware on a v style engine if you mill the heads a lot you also have to mill the intake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nittany Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Jon,Check out ZZPerformance and then click on the Grand Prix link. They are in Wyoming, Michigan and come highly recommended. Apparently these guys have played with all sorts of performance modifications to the 3800. Given what you have already accomplished with your Reatta GS, I'm not positive that they can help but I'd bet a dollar on them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 I don't claim to know much about engines and was glad to see 2seater post. He has been working on his "special" 3800 for some time and may be the most knowledgeable person on this forum on the "insides" of the 3800 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonlabree Posted July 15, 2011 Author Share Posted July 15, 2011 How about head gaskets. I understand there are different thickness. Any one know anything about them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2seater Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 I have only used the GM headgaskets after I discovered the Fel Pros' had too large a bore diameter, which would cause a loss of compression. I never investigated further to see if a steel shim gasket (thinner) was available. I suspect Cometic, Victor Reinz et al. could make you a custom set. ZZP and maybe Dr.J's may have something as was suggested earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wht89reatta Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 just a question, seeing as ive already had a pair of heads milled .020" will i need to have the intake shaved as well or should it match up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handmedownreatta Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 just a question, seeing as ive already had a pair of heads milled .020" will i need to have the intake shaved as well or should it match up? id call and ask the guy that milled your heads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonlabree Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 .020 is so small there is no need to worry about the intake manifold.Anything up to .050 is safe.I would like to know just how much you can remove in total. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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