I am building a 340 stroker and the block is at the machine shop. While talking with the owner (of Standard Machine in Glendale, Az) we started talking about deck height and quench. Originally I was going to just zero deck the pistons and run a 0.035 gasket. Roger (the owner) then said that he would not go smaller than 0.050 quench on Chryslers because of the long rods. What do you guys think? He said that to get me the compression I wanted he would put on a 0.040 gasket, put the pistons 0.010 down the hole, and mill the heads to bring the CR up.

If it makes any difference, the rods I am using are these:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SCA-26123/

And the pistons are Diamond 51412's. The heads are Performer RPM's. The motor is for a street car that will see the strip 12 times a year.

????!

Dan (DRAM) clued me in to the Mopar Performance "white" gaskets that are .028, that would give you .038 which would put you right in the .035-.040 "sweet spot".

sorry i don't recall the number but their teflon coated.

Anybody else have an opinion?

Tighter is better, .050 is on the large and less effective end of the spectrum. I aim for .035-.040.

My 408 is at .041".

My 408 is at .039.

Don't listen to Roger. My 360 is at about .033-.035 depending on which cylinder you check. Hyper pistons with .0025" piston to bore clearance. This thing was in a pickup truck and it was almost impossible to detonate. I ran it on 85 octane gasoline a few times and it didn't care. Finally got it to detonate in 100+ degree heat, pulling my challenger and the back was full of household stuff, up a hill in 4th and lugging it at 1800 rpm. I'd say zero deck to .004 out.

I've run them as tight as .028" before with Hypo pistions (.002 piston to wall clearance ), but I didn't run over 6200 with that motor. Now running at .034" with present motor. Tighter is better, but as previously said - in another thread - too tight and your dead - Fred!

.040 seems to be safe with all steel rod combos and works good for quench