[Tom Vaught]

Originally Posted by quick67bird

Thanks for responding Tom. I know you are a guru on this. What about adding Cometics .120 or .200 gaskets or will that be detrimental to quench? Will that compression and E85 be ok?

*** You are welcome! Adding thick gaskets will be detrimental for quench.
The .120" gasket with a piston configuration for 11.5 to 1 compression ratio will put you right into a high probability for unstable combustion.
The .200" gasket with a piston configuration for 11.5 to 1 compression ratio will put you right into a high probability for failing the head gasket with any boost at all. Not a good idea for either proposal. The best deal is to remove the pistons, get the right pistons for the application, and move on with the project.


I know the new LT1 Corvettes are at 11.5-1 and I have seen a lot of those guys boosting those engines. How are they getting away with that? I know it seems like those engines would not work with boost. I have one of the new Corvettes and have resisted a supercharger because of how high the compression ratio is.

*****Anyone who is boosting the new Corvettes is using methanol injection, E-85 fuel, and are running very low boost, less than 10 psi as the injectors/computer will not be happy trying to fuel the engine properly. The car is a beautiful vehicle and basically you are screwing up all of the factory engineering knowledge messing with it.

Thanks for all you help Tom in answering my silly questions, but I do want to learn.

*****You are not asking silly questions, you are asking the right questions before you tear into the project. I have a few questions too:

1) What are your actual goals for the project?
2) What is your budget to do the project properly? Pistons, different calibration, different fuel system, Fabrication work to properly mount the boost system under the hood. Upgrades to the other components once you start tearing up parts with the boosted power.

Hope this helps.

Tom V.