Risk vs. Regret

Tech Alert:  Skip the next few paragraphs if you aren't a "gear head"... there really is something important further on!
The machine shop called yesterday.  They are skittish about milling down the heads as much as I want them to.  They even called a local y-block specialist, who tended to confirm their fears.  Why do I want to mill the heads .040"?  Well, I want the engine to have a genuine 9:1 static compression ratio (SCR).  This still lets me run regular gas, but still get as much power out of the engine as I can.

These heads originally provided about 8.5:1 SCR, leaving about 20 horsepower "on the table".  I have since called the local expert myself, and talked to two other highly respected y-block experts across the country.  Two of the three say that taking .040" off of 113 heads is absolutely no problem, that they have taken much more, and that they will certainly do it again. Believe it or not, I had trouble sleeping last night.  If I take too much metal off of the heads, they will be ruined.  The engine would consistently blow head gaskets, and the heads would be useless.  About $1K, plus the inconvenience.  On the other side, if I didn't get the SCR I had planned, I would always wonder if I could have done better with this engine.

Non-gearheads start reading here:
Take the risk, or risk the regret.

My mother in law is dying.  She is in the final stages, the last days of her life.  I don't want to talk to her about safe, trivial things... I want to talk about deep, significant, "risky" things.  She has never been good at that.  I want her to realize the power her last words have to bless those she loves.  I'm willing to risk offending her, rather than regret never expressing how I feel, the regret of never having asked for her blessing.  I need to tell her, in a positive way, what she has meant to me, and how proud I have been of her... I need to do that now.  Risk, not regret.

I called the machine shop this morning.  They agreed to cut the heads down .040".  I rest confident in God's blessing.