Quench clearance, a little help here?

What's up guys, here I go with more questions about my engine build.

So as some of you may know, my engine is so close to being done & fired up, but before I do that I want to get some things cleared up since I'm losing sleep trying to decide what to do....now I know that "quench" is as
essential as it gets on an n/a motor..

So my engine is "zero decked", & my combo puts me at 9.83:1 scr & 8.6 dcr with .038 thickness gaskets.
BUT, I currently have a pair of Cometic mls gaskets .051 thickness which put me at 9.6scr & 8.4dcr..

So my question to you guys would basically be: should Igo with a more extreme dcr with tighter quench, or a lower dcr & more quench clearance? I know 35-45 quench clearance is ideal, so how much difference would .006" make?

Which option would you guys go with? It will be run on 91 octane at all times...

.038 is a little tight on anything with a large bore, the lower side of the range you have given is for typical small blocks IMO. I'd get some .042 Felpros and run it.

Ok, good to know, I was kinda skeptical since I have actually seen cases where the piston "kissed" the head.
I guess I'll go with some .041"s since they're readily available.
Thanks for the help!

Dave offers a good point as to the bigger bore issues and piston rock. I too believe if the deck/piston measurement is done correctly the distance between the piston and cylinder head will be satisfied. Another check should be performed of the valve (depth & radial) clearance as well. I suppose if a piston is exposed to long service intervals and/or numerous high engine speeds the piston skirt/cylinder wall dimension can increase with wear. Also a piston with less integrity may deform and add to the piston/cylinder head problem. One area I do believe in is the tighter quench will assist with detonation control. Switching from (I assume) a steel shim gasket to a composite or visa versa, the cylinder head and block mating surface may require different textures for quality gasket sealing.

Just another opinion,
Dave.

Reading this has got me thinking where would one start measuring at to figure out what thickness gasket to use to get quench at its best

Always measure on the center line of the wrist pin. As Dave and Dave have said your .041 Felpro is hard to beat.

Can you do that with the pistons in you would have to know center of worst pin to top of piston witch I think the pistons have a number stamped on top maybe look that up and see what the specs are

Thanks for all the info I just got this thing apart and I have a lot of irons in the fire on info. But I'm going to get it together right this time