Hi all,

I recently had a 440 engine built for my '71 Satellite, and am not entirely satisfied with the way it turned out. Long story short, I think there is too much clearance above the pistons, and I'm not getting good quench. Here are the build details:

late-70's 440 motorhome block, bored .030 over (4.350)
Cast crank, stock stroke 3.75
Stock "LY" connecting rods
Edelbrock Performer RPM heads 60929, 84 cc chambers
SRP 213455 pistons, 6 cc valve reliefs
Mr. Six-Pack cam & lifters
tti headers, full-length, 2" primaries
six pack induction

The block was decked and trued, and pistons are .010 down in the hole
Head gaskets are Victor Reinz, which my builder says are .050 thick (presumably, this is compressed thickness).
This means I have .060 clearance from top of piston to head surface.
Combustion chambers have 84 cc, and piston valve reliefs are 6 cc. This calculates to a c/r of 9.73:1.

My understanding is that I should have about .040 clearance between piston and head for good quench/squish.
If I switch to a head gasket that's .030 compressed thickness, this would give me good quench, and raise my c/r to 10.17
I live in California and the highest octane gas available here is 91.
My question is: does anyone see a problem with changing to a thinner head gasket? That is, no danger of pistons hitting the head? Any other concerns?

I'd appreciate any opinions or suggestions, thanks.

Roger