shaving a head

[allmotorlebaron]

how much could i shave off a head without having to worry about a shorter timing belt ??

[pmcnamara]

.030

[vntned]

x2

The timing belt starts getting slack much more then that.

[allmotorlebaron]

should i just buy the shorter belt or tensioner and do more or will i notice a diffrence with just the .030 ???

[tryingbe]

Good luck finding a shorter belt.

[vntned]

What all are you doing? Just raising the compression isnt gonna make a huge difference w/o the supporting mods,

[allmotor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vntned What all are you doing? Just raising the compression isnt gonna make a huge difference w/o the supporting mods,

you'd be amazed how peppy a stock tbi gets with .040 off the head and redegree the cam (about 3° advance). you can go about .060" off the head w/o needing a shorter belt. there are other options like a larger tensioner pulley or relocate the tensioner puller. also remember when you mill the head you retard cam timing, so you need to accomidate for that.

there are sources for the shorter belt both round and square tooth. if you get a Gates belt catalog that has all the pitch and crucial dimensions, you can find another application that is one tooth shorter.

[vntned]

Allmotor, How far off does it throw your timing if you cut .030'' off. Was it 2 degrees retarded?

[allmotor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vntned Allmotor, How far off does it throw your timing if you cut .030'' off. Was it 2 degrees retarded?

pretty close to that. I'd advance the cam 2° at .030. with the degree wheel, I'd find some variance as much as 3°. but even at .030" advancing 2° works just fine.

[allmotorlebaron]

were could i get a larger tensioner ???

[allmotor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by allmotorlebaron were could i get a larger tensioner ???

MP use to list one. I wonder if there isn't some other brand car a guy could use?

back in my chevy vega days, the water pump slides to tension the belt. but when I milled the head, there wasn't enough travel, so I used a 2.2 tensioner on the belt. worked super.

[pmcnamara]

You can use a stock belt off a 1983 Volvo 240. Its only 3/4" wide instead of 1", but it works just fine.

[pmcnamara]

Quote:

Originally Posted by allmotor MP use to list one.

Mike, check your PMs..

[lebaron dude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmcnamara Mike, check your PMs..

If you know the part number could you also post it here. I'm also interested shaving some off the head and getting some more performance this next rebuild.

Thanks!

[88jbody]

my head was shaved 18 thous when I had it rebuilt, and had been shaved at least once before and retarded my cam about 2deg. and the stock tensioner just has enough travel for that, I think another 4thous off the head and I would have to find a bigger tensioner pulley