in a perfect world, yes, but i was trying to keep my list to the basics.

Sorry i didnt specify.

 

IMO - if you're going to stay with a stock bottom end, a head gasket to lower the compression is probably a good idea. It's what I would do... cheap insurance.

Any idea how much that 3mm lowers the compression?

 

Not totally sure....i would guess low 9 to 1 or just under 10 to 1. I would guess it's more like 9.2 or something to 1. It has a pretty high compression to begin with.

 

Where from and how much did you pay for the head gasket?

 

There is a footnote about head gaskets that isn't totally stated......First off, the head gasket is pretty cheap for the VQ....like $200 to $300 depending on the shop and thickness. The bitch in the whole process is taking apart the heads to change them and putting the heads back on and torquing them down. With an istall on the head gasket it can run from $900 to $100 or $1200 out the door. I got mine when the TT kit was going on so I got a break on labor for the head gasket but if you are talking about just a head gasket install you are looking somewhere around the numbers above. I wouls say a safe bet is $1K