How much can you shave a 280ZX Turbo head?

[Marty Rogan]

The head gasket on the race car blew recently (280ZX turbo engine with P90 head).

The previous owner told me that he had this head heat straightend and decked .008 -.010.

How far can you shave these heads before you have to use cam tower shims?

I have a machine shop checking out the head right now. I suspect they are going to want to shave it a bit to be sure its flat.

Thanks,

Marty

[Diseazd]

Marty.....We used to shave our E 31 heads .015" with no mods and no problem. The "How to Modify" book says you can shave up to .050" off any of the L series heads with stock pistons, but must then modify the chain guides and possibly the tensioner to take up the slack in the chain. Cam tower shims would make the guide and tensioner mods unnecessary.

[Diseazd]

Marty.....I e-mailed the Z Doc in Roanoke......He said the factory says .020, but he has shaved up to .040 to .050 with no serious problems (whatever that means). Guy