1976 Liquifire head

[harleysportster]

I am in the process of rebuilding a 1976 440 Liquifire engine. I discovered that the head needs shaved, there is a gap of around 0.003 inch or so around the outside edges. What is the maximum that these heads can be shaved without increasing the compression beyond design specs.
thanks,

[400brian]

Mill it flat and see how much it raises the compression...what could go wrong?

[harleysportster]

I would think it could handle one round of milling.

[lwb140]

race gas? just sayin ,ive heard the 76 440 l/f had the greatest top end of any deere sled ... wade

[JDT]

I recall a topic about the 76-77 LF requiring premium only fuel.

[JDGuy]

Pat: As you probably already know, the 76LF had a compression ratio of 7.9 and 92 leaded octane was recommended. 77-78LF had a compression ratio of 6.7 and 88 min octane was recommended. I think the ratio change was via the cylinder head, leastwise different part numbers. Deere had a ratio reduction kit for the 76LF, and if I remember right, it was a cylinder to crankcase gasket. This occurred out of concern during the fuel transition period when no-lead premium was suspect, rightly or wrongly? Others here probably have a better memory of it than I do.

[KamJD600]

if compression gets too high you could always have a thicker head gasket made

[harleysportster]

0.006 was removed from the head to straighten it out and 0.003 was removed from the top of the block as well. After essemby, the compresssion is up to 155 psi, but that could be from well oiled cylinders. We'll see how it runs.

[lwb140]

great you got it all together anxious to hear about it wade