legacycentral bbs

okay i'm trying to do a super el cheapo engine build with a stock 22t shortblock and ej25d heads. i've searched to no avail and have two questions that i need answered.

my first concern is compression ratio. i know with the stock head gaskets the compression comes in the low 7's. i would like at least close to 8.0:1. i've heard of some running thinner head gaskets to achieve this. i was thinking of running a .030" gasket to keep compression in the sweet spot. the possible problem with this is that supposedly the pistons protrude about .020" out of the block. this would only leave .010" between the pistons and heads. of course i worry about the valves. does anyone have experience with thinner gaskets, particularly on this setup?

second question is simpler and probably quite stupid. after searching for cometic gaskets around the net i found that any thinner gaskets (particularly .030") seem to be either for the 2.0 or the 2.5. i was wondering if using the larger bore gasket from a 2.5 is possible. it's about 100mm as opposed to 98mm for our 2.2. just a dumb after thought.


sorry for the novel, but any help would be much appreciated. thanks.

The pistons on your 22T block protrude above the deck by at least .010", hence not being able to find thinner headgaskets. Stick with the .051 Cometics. I know you don't want to hear it, but the Wiseco pistons loose a bunch of dish to get your compression to about 8:1.


Otherwise, you are shit out of luck, in a budget build sense.

yeah i suppose you can't have it all in a budget build. i considered wiseco's but if im going there i may as well go all the way with a complete rebuild including new rods and bearings.

thinner gaskets seems like they will work so long as i measure for piston to valve clearance. i think a .040" gasket may just work and it would keep me in the high 7's at least. we'll see. thanks for the input.