Pinto Car Club of America

How can I tell if the head has been decked too many times?

How can I tell if the block has been decked too many times?

I'm not for sure about the 2.0, but my 2.3 was decked to "0" deck hieght, the head was milled down to the intake bolt threads (I believe it was around .120) I used domed top pistons, pulled 14:1 compression and had to INDEX the spark plugs or yes they will hit the piston. I also used short tip plugs, the factory spec plugs hit everything no matter what.

  On a 2.3, thats the farthest you can deck a block & head. Is a 2.0 simular?

I am not sure how much it can be decked... however I do have pictures this time.

I have noticed that the head has been decked at an angle it appears... the exhaust manifold bolt hole pattern is different from to back of the head... at the front of the head, there is .187 distance from the deck to the exhaust bolt hole and at the back of the head there is .097 distance from the deck to the exhaust bolt hole.

I assume that these distances should be the same if the head was decked evenly from front to back?

Will this cause much of a problem?

I assume the comperssion difference will be negligible?

what were the plugs that you used?

I would measure from the deck  to the valve cover gasket surface to see if the head was cut at an angle. 
I don't see how a head would work if it was cut at an angle from front to rear.  That would make the cam pulley run at an angle to the belt, and I would think you would have to replace cam belts and belt guides often.

cool... you are right, the deck height measures within .002 from front to back... measuring from the bottom deck to the top deck

so do you think it is ok to continue using thie head?