Morris C8

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

Would a compression test tell you how much the head has been shaved ?

I have a Indian made copy of the 1930 Lister CS single cyl. diesel , they recommend using a little piece of lead to check the piston to head clearance. The piston squashes the lead , you then measure the thickness of the lead . Don't know if that helps ?

Hi Mike
I remember working on Lister engines from many years ago and think this procedure with the piece of lead was to get the shimming correct under the cylinder barrel, due to slight variations on piston height, barrel, etc.

To ascertain compression ratio on the Morris you would fill the combustion chamber with a measured amount of liquid and work the formula out with cylinder capacity. This done with head off and upside down.