Head Gasket Question
 

How much crush should a head gasket have.I am using a Fel-Pro head gasket for my Oldsmobile.The book says it should be .040 but when I measured it I come up with .045.So I thought when I torqued the head down to spec it would be .040.But it wasn't, it was .045. So I checked the bolt length, and thread engagement.I chased all the threads with a bottoming tap and reassembled and checked again, the same thing .045.So what am I doing wrong.

Re: Head Gasket Question
 

Your probably not doing anything wrong. You just have a head gasket that crushes to .045
So you either have a .005" cusion and you go to sleep knowing teardown will be a breaze or you find another brand of gasket. Often times it takes finding a set of OEM gaskets.
Don't forget, your deck height can be adjusted to the gasket thickness (as it deviates from NHRA specs).