[olredalert]

Lastyear,

---------Decking the head surface of the block is a very common occurence when rebuilding an engine. The head surface of the block could have been warped. Or the rebuilder may have wanted the true advertised compression which is generally nominally higher than bone stock. More horsepower, dont ya know! Either one of the above scenarios,as well as others, would machine off the original numbers on the pad during the decking process unless the machinist is told specifically not to touch the area where the numbers are. Avoiding the numbers during the machining process isnt as easy as it sounds and adds time to the decking process, so rebuilders generally dont unless forced to! .........Bill S