ORIGINAL: w8ye
.020''
That sounds like a lot for such small dimensions & the tight tolerances of these engines.Remember we are talking about cold clearances here & the case/cylinder assembly will expand a lot more than the rod/piston increasing clearance as the engine warms up. I could see .020" for VTP, but quench hieght?
I ran a Gen II 5.7 Hemi in a 2006 Dodge Daytona on 93 octane unleaded @ .035 quench hieght & .050 PTV clearance on the intake valve. The head decks were milled .030" ti increase CR from 9.7:1 to 10.4:1. The Saito combustion chamber shape is very similar to the Gen III Chrysler Hemi. i would think that similar characteristics would apply, to a point.
The car was very reliable & got 2 MPG better fuel ecomomy on the hi-way making about 50% more HP than stock. (426 RWHP cvompared to about 280 RWHP average stock)
The passes in the following clip were run @ 4250# all up weight.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-Sbz2Etl_A[/youtube]
The closer you can run the piston crown to the head deck, the more CR that can be used W/O detonation. It's called "quench". The air being squeezed across the top of the piston/bottom of the head deck as it is forced into the central combustion chamber cools the head/piston crown surfaces reducing detonation.