Afternoon all
I am new to this forum and fairly new to 914 ownership, hoping someone may be able to help or give advice?
I have removed my heads and cylinders on my 1700 engine due to pitiful compression and have noticed the head gaskets had gone or been badly installed on two of the cylinders. Looking a bit deeper I have also noticed that the base of the cylinder is fitted with a steel shim of 0.010” thick, I have bought some replacement shims and aluminium head gaskets, lapped the heads in etc but wondered if the shims should have a gasket either side too?
Any help greatly appreciated.
Jon

Cylinder base doesn't need gasket, otherwise you're thereby changing the deck height and valve geometry... thin bit of sealant to help retain oil....

Nice one, cheers, that is exactly what I assumed just wanted to check. Have a great day.
Jon

Don't use barrel to head gaskets ,they are BS even VW canned them back in the 90's,you will need base shims to set deck height ,and you will need to get your heads flycut to get a good seal without those useless gaskets after lapping.
Most gasket sets Elring and VR have the top head sealing rings god knows why because no one uses them,and they aren't alloy by the way.
Research on here,lots of info or go to Samba.com.
Good luck.