The 0.2 points of compression is not worth the sacrifice of a 3 layer mls gasket. I would use b16a pistons instead of type R's. By my own compression calcs done by pen and paper the b16a pistons give about 11.5:1 compression and they fit ls rods with no machining necessary. With itr pistons the rods need to be milled on the small end or the pistons need to be fly cut.