idk if anyone noticed (it said in my sig for a little), but i ran w/out a base gasket for a little when i was playing around with my own porting. sealed it with RTV
it drops the whole jug a little both increasing compression and lowering ports. in theory a lower exhaust port roof will increase low end power. i didn't notice any difference, however. my blaster has more low end now than ever before since Angus gave me correct port timing for my pipe and changed my squish band and combustion chamber.