Yep I knew something would bite me on this motor-- custom f'ing pistons must be ordered! I wish people would tell you the deck has been cut .030 before you hand over the cash!!!! Considering the $600 I paid for a fully clearanced, fully machined straight 4 bolt seasoned block I guess the Ross pitons I am going to order won't hurt that bad. Any jobbers here with team camaro? The time frame bites too! Usually 3-4 weeks...BUT I look outside once again and yep- there's still snow on the ground. Pleeeeeenty of time to build engines! :sad:

how much are they out of the block? .005, .010, .020 get some .060 copper gskts and put it together

flatout gaskets has um in lots of thicknesses and w/coating for good seal. just put a 496 blower motor together w/ .080's.

Cometic will build you a gasket whatever thickness you need up to .125. That's a lot cheaper than custom pistons and they're reusable and some of the best made.
What is the deck height now? I have all of my engines decked square and cut to leave the pistons .005 in the hole for future cleanup if needed, then run .035 gaskets.

Thanks for the input---I just had a glimmer of hope!!!

flatout gaskets has um in lots of thicknesses and w/coating for good seal. just put a 496 blower motor together w/ .080's.

I wish I still had the 8-71 blower!

Cometic will build you a gasket whatever thickness you need up to .125. That's a lot cheaper than custom pistons and they're reusable and some of the best made.
What is the deck height now? I have all of my engines decked square and cut to leave the pistons .005 in the hole for future cleanup if needed, then run .035 gaskets.

I still have the copper gaskets in the trailer. I will give them to the builder and have him check with those as well. He had stated that the pistons were now .025 "taller" with the .030 deck shaving---so it seems they would have been .005 in the hole if I am interpreting your quote properly knuckles. Now that you two are here---what kind of skirt/bore clearance would you look for on a N/A motor with 11:1? What could one live with safely without damage to the internal parts and if not for 7,000RPM drag usage?

+.005 is fine!

Use a .038"/.039"/.040" composite headgasket and go, imho..

BUT, if you want to do this the CHEAP way AND I have!!

Install two Mr. Gasket., .020" thick steel shims and go! I used good old Permatex "Indianhead Shellac Gasket Cement" to seal her up FINE on my 11.5 to 1 CR'd, .060" over, 409 "W" engine way back then!

Just check torque on everything after TWO heat cycles.

pdq67

You should have assembled the motor together first, cut deck last providing block was square with crank. I used off shelf Srp pistons and long rods for those pistons, put block together then decided what deck I needed to cut. Before hand I had a rough idea of .025.
Best thing now is to tailor the gaskets as the others have mentioned. Stuff happens. Make this extra height work for you. If this is a race motor, can you cut piston deck and move dome up into head to make you more compression? Is the ring too close to top?

As for skirt / bore clearance, do what the piston and ring manufactures tell you.

Howie - I'd probably take .025" off the top of one piston, install it, and check valve-piston clearance. Maybe your luck isn't so bad.....................DC

you can run her w/.025 out w/steel rods w/.06 gskt,w/alum rod ask rod maker how much more, order gsket w/your bore size

just did a 496 w/8-71 polished w/carbs, street car stuff, cfe 330 bmf heads,small roller cam, good dependable job made 860 hp 93 oct , 34 timing don't know who's slugs u got but go w/ piston maker spec for your use or .004 or .005 w/ TORQUE PLATE

Thanks for the good info---all of it is useful to take to my builder. I do have Crower Steel rods/crank unused and perfect so perhaps the gasket adjustment will save this baby! Maybe there were other issues he has not made clear to me yet as a gasket fix seemed easy and he did not mention it. He will not make money off the custom piston either so I do not feel like there is any hidden agenda. Onward!
Thanks again for the input.

I used the Kemetics gaskets also. I was ..010 out of the hole. Alot of the turbo, blower and big HP NOS guys use them around here. They hold up well.