Ah, ok. Yeah copper is a couple of mm from the edge of the bore so sounds like it's wire rung. This wire goes up and down a bit and is by no means the same height all the way round. The old head gasket had blown on all four cylinders to the water jacket and i presume this would be why. Have head the head skimmed and bought a new group 'a' head gasket, which happens to be the same make as the one i took off - Victor Reinz. The last time the car was on the rollers it was 340bhp that was on a different standard block (big ends went).


Any suggestions on what is best to do?
Can you get new wire to put in, or is this a job for the pros?
Could i make the wire the same level as the block, would it not expand a bit under heat anyway and protrude once engine is warm?
Will my new head gasket be usable on this or are there specific ones?


What are the benifits/disadventages of having the block wire rung?



Cheers in advance.

Pete.