Triumph Repair: Spitfire 1500 Engine Rebuild Questions, blown head gasket, head gaskets

Question
I have a 78 Spit 1500 with flat top pistons, a Kent Cam (slightly hotter than stock, but not a race came) and dual Weber 40 DCOE carbs.  I recently pulled the motor due to an oil leak at the rear (I'll ask about that in another question) and decided to tear the whole thing down and check on things overall.  The first thing I discovered is that I had a blown head gasket (the front and read pistons were "white" and were the valves due to antifreeze washing them I suspect).   Anyway, my question is, when I put this can back together, do I use a stock head gasket or do they make special head gaskets for when you have flat top pistons?  Also, to what value do I torque the head?   Just use the book values, or do they need to be torqued more due to higher compression?

Answer
Cy,

If you're just using the "stock" 9:1 flat tops the standard head gasket should be ok.  If you want to upgrade, there are competition head gaskets available.

One quick check turned on at Moss Motors (www.mossmotors.com) although I'm sure many other vendors can supply it.  

As to torquing... if you go with a competition gasket the vendor should be able to provide the specs.  As it'll be a function of the alloy used it can vary.

Also, you'll want want to have the cylinder head checked for warpage.


Cheers,

Jim