Miller Overhead

[DKnapp]

I have an old stock Miller head that I want to put on a full pressure "B" engine for another Speedster I am building. The head came with this 1/8" thick brass or copper spacer or head gasket. Is the purpose of this spacer to decrease the compression or is it supposed to act as a gasket?? I saw somewhere that old racing engines used a solid head gasket. Seems like it might be hard to seal. Any ideas or info on this?

Also, the "B" engine is bored to 4.000". I got a gasket from Bert's that measures 3 7/8" and I have learned since that there is a gasket for cylinder bores up to 4.030". Does anyone know of a source for the larger bore Gasket? The smaller bore gasket will overhang the bore by 1/16" and I am afraid that it will just burn up sticking into the cylinder that much.

thanks much for any help. Dick Knapp