How much can you shave a 2.4 head?

Have a question about how to make horsepower going the all motor route, here's where to ask it.
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1stGener
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How much can you shave a 2.4 head?

Post by 1stGener » Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:11 pm

My nephew is building a 2.4 that is mostly stock bottom end, brand new and fresh but still basically stock. He was interested in shaving his head to bump the compression up and putting some crane 16s or 18s in it...How much could he mill it and be safe? How much would it bump his compression up too? What cam would you run in it? He is going to have all bolt on's..including long header and modified intake...he is having the head ported too...thanks guys
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DOHCRT
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Post by DOHCRT » Wed Mar 07, 2007 9:37 pm

I would not recommend shaving the head just to gain compression. This should only be done if the heads surface is warped, and only the minimum amount should be shaved. This goes for all OHC engines. What people don't take into account is that when you mill the head, you are changing the distance between the cam and the crank. This affects valve timing. Even with the timing belt installed perfectly, the change in distance will cause the valve timing to be slightly retarded. If you still want to shave the head, it would be wise to invest in a set of cam gears to give you the ability to advance camshaft timing to compensate for the difference.

Personally, I would invest money on pistons that would yield a higher compression.
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Post by 1fast2liter » Wed Mar 07, 2007 10:47 pm

x2
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Post by chipdogg » Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:39 pm

There's nothing wrong with shaving a head for compression, lots of guys do it to gain some cheap power. I know plenty of people that have shaved heads for only this purpose. Head shaving + cam gears would be hella cheaper than buying pistons and rods. Plus you can still tune cam gears for more power. That's the route I'm going first...
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99greendohc
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Post by 99greendohc » Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:42 am

yea chips right.. lots of people have milled heads..

my setup is 0.30 milled head, 3angle valve job, crane 18s, pt valvetrain
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Post by chipdogg » Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:51 am

I think you mean .030" Derrick :wink:
'97 black ACR coupe- #3 - Scrappy
'96 black coupe- #4
'97 magenta coupe- #10 - 13.379 @ 101.07 mph
'04 SXT mtx - #45 - GF's DD
'96 ACR
'95 Astro Van
'11 Chevy Express
'02 atx - #48
'98 Intense Blue R/T - #49
'04 SRT-4 - #50
'99 Intense Blue R/T - #51

52 and counting, when will it stop?

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DOHCRT
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Post by DOHCRT » Sat Mar 17, 2007 4:10 pm

I'm not saying you cant mill the head. The head can be milled to the maximum amount allowable by the manufacturer. There is a lot of engineering that goes into these designs and specifications. If you think you know more than the engineers who designed the head, then by all means do what you want. Other things besides maximum horsepower need to be considered when modifying an engine. Sure, you may gain some power, but what else have you affected? Just because other people do it, doesn't mean its good. I could go on about combustion efficiency and other things, but obviously nobody cares.

Bottom line is that you can mill the head as long as you keep it within tolerances and make other modifications to fine tune the valvetrain.
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javier rt
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Post by javier rt » Wed Jul 07, 2010 1:34 pm

actually my car has 12:5 pistons with a the head decked out .40mlm never had a problem my friend had his head decked 80mlm and never had a problem. although timing is very important.

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Post by JeffB#2 » Wed Jul 07, 2010 7:54 pm

What you shouldn't do is mill a warped OHC head to make it flat again. When you bolt it back onto a block, the cam journals are no longer aligned unless you had the journals line honed AFTER shaving it.

Take a known warped head sitting on a bench and bolt a cam into it. Chances are that the cam will not turn. Now shave that head, bolt it down to a block and see if the cam turns. I betcha it won't. Ask your machinist.
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Post by neon=ferrari » Mon Jan 16, 2012 3:43 pm

yup don't shave the head with out cam gears and bigger idler because it will change the timing and loosen the belt. when my race cars head was shaved 30" and the block was shaved 60" the belt loosened up and slipped on the first start and oops we need to build another motor.
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Post by Ianguilly » Mon Jan 16, 2012 9:48 pm

Ummm dead thread bump....
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Post by robert 'bob' paulson » Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:46 pm

Ianguilly wrote:Ummm dead thread bump....
maybe he figured because it was already bumped once with a three year span that the year and a half span he bumped it from was nothing.

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Post by 1genRTturbo » Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:20 pm

still funny to watch. oh wait, china spam time....
that very helpful, keep up.
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