Measuring the deck height

[Andir]

Is there anyway anyone knows to measure the deck height of a bare block ?

[Kennedy]

I leave this to the machine shop, but to start, I would think that you would need a mandrel to clamp into the mains and establish crankshaft centerline...

[Robyn]

deck height is the distance from the Crank CL to the top of the deck.
These should be good to go from the factory unless someone has decked the block.
As John pointed out it is obtained with a mandrel and measured with a depth micrometer to the mandrel then do the math to obtain the center.
What is the purpose of aquiring this information??

Robyn

[Andir]

I'm just trying to find out if it has been decked already as it's a used block and I would like to know before I start to build with it.
The Rover V8 blocks I work with have a machined tab by the deck to reference off.

[Robyn]

With the crank and a piston/rod assembly in the block run the engine to TDC and measure how far the piston top sticks above the deck. Refer to engine specs and poof your there.
The 6.2/6.5 should not be decked over .010"
There is a special heavy gasket from Felpro that is designed to work with the .010" cut on the deck and keep comp and valve clearance right.

[Andir]

Robyn
I think it's time to come clean with what exactly I'm doing. I have my 6.5 all built up then crack the block. I get a used block to build it all into but it has a dropped liner on #8 which has been relined. Now my piston assembly is +20 thou and the block is standard so to mock it up I would have to bore the block. Now if the block has not been decked the I can deck it and avoid relining #8 as it has bottomed out and has moved less than 10 thou. If I bore it to mock up and find out it has been decked then I will have to set it up again to mill out the liner and replace which is more money.
Really it's a question of economics. If I know whether the block has been decked then I can take the path of least money although it's looking quite bleak.