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One of my buddies was telling me about low compression head gaskets. I was wondering if anyone has heard of them and knows if you can get them for the 1.8L? Also, how much can you shave off the heads?

don't know the answer to your question but why would you want to shave the heads and put lower compression head gaskets..seems to be the opposite to me

I dont want to do that. I was just curious about both.

some cars have higher compression, and to get more boost from the turbo they lower the compression. You don't want to lower it for any other reason. -But don't quote me on that.

Yeah I was thinking about puting a turbo on my car...I need to know how much I can shave off, or if I can get the gaskets.

Shaving the heads will make the compression higher not less. Typically Copper Head gaskets will bring down your compression because they are so thick and their pretty tough to blow one.
The other benefit is that they are reuseable. Problem is they are hard to find and usually not less then $300 for a pair.

finally some answers! thanks!

now.. how much can i shave off the heads?

Why are you looking to shave the heads?

I think he wants to do that to get a bit more power out of his engine. If he shaves his heads that will rise the compression and higher compression means more power right?

Yes, but the gains will be so minimal on a stock engine its not worth the time and effort. Get a set of cams, thats where you going to gain hp.