The Cal-look Lounge

Looking for opinions/advice on using shims or longer barrels,  i need circa 2mm shims, I also need new barrels so should I just go for longer barrels?  I understand the barrels will need machining down to suit my requirements,  but I've also heard shims can need surfacing to be truly flat.

Glad to hear folks thoughts.

 I have done both and you are right about making sure both parts are made correctly. I paid to have some barrel shims ( unusual size ) made , when I recieved them they were all 4 different thicknesses  . For the thickness you are using I would shim a stock length cylinder . Berg used to make nice shims . Mike McCarthy 

Thanks. I'm thinking because i need new barrels anyway why not go for long ones? I've spoken to a machine shop who have shortened vw barrels recently and can do mine no problem. Seems to me doing it this way just eliminates unnecessary extra components.   
After some searching I found a thread on here referencing this topic and the revmaster cylinders seem to be a good quality product. I'd need to ship these in from the states or buy AA locally. Not sure yet which to go for, the AAs are good enough for some much more extreme motors than mine so I'm questioning the need for the extra hassle and expense of the revmasters.
As usual it would be good to hear any experienced opinions on which to go for.

I used AA but be sure to get them checked/honed to straighten them out.

You can purchase the Revmaster long cylinders and they will cut them to any length .

Yes I've seen i can buy them pre cut to suit but until i mock it up i don't know what length i need. I could mock up with my old standard length mahles but i think I'll struggle to accurately measure the positive deck. Unless there's a fool proof way it can be done?

I must ask the machinist i was talking to if he can do this for me. I work for an engineering company who may be able to make me a jig to torque the barrels up before honing. I wouldn't be happy having them shorten the barrels as I'd prefer to have someone who has done them before take care of that.

Everyday a school day, it's negative deck I'll have and not positive like i thought it should be called. Also read a few ways to measure it so gonna have a go at it during the week.

Maybe use longer rods to correct ?