409 pistons

[oldskydog]

OK, it's my turn to ask all you guys for some advice or opinion. I took my 63 block to the machine shop to start on the rebuild process and found out that #1 cyl was pitted worse than it looked. It will need to go to .060 to clean up while the other cyls will clean at .030. The choice is to bore all to .060 and loose a couple of future rebuilds or sleeve #1 and bore all to .030. To complicate matters I have a very slightly used set of what I think are Venolia Forged True .060 pistons which would save me considerable cash on the build if they are useable. They look like possibly blower pistons as they seem to have an excessive angle cut on one side of the top resulting in a rather thin top ring upper land which looks to be maybe .050. My main concern is that it is kind of thin in this area and might cause problems in the event of a little inadvertent detonation. Anybody have any experience with these or any advice?
The last pic is of the 33 that I'm thinking about putting the 409 or a 348 in.

 

[bjburnout]

Bore or sleeve

Hey oldskydog

If you are asking whether to bore 060 or sleeve my opinion is to sleeve and go 030..........
This leaves room for future considerations..........bang

My 348 needed 3 sleeves. We did that and punched it 030 and it runs great,
no problems so far..........


bj

 

[Fathead Racing]

Take the money you are going to save on the pistons and buy a spare block, then bore the block you started with to .060. Problem solved!

 

[oldskydog]

Hey Fat,
Do you know where I can get a spare block for that kind of money?

Seriously, would you run those pistons? I'm not building a race engine, just a street torque driver.

 

[Fathead Racing]

I'll have to sleep on it. :

 

[Dond409]

I wouldn't use those pistons. They look very low compression. I would try one in a block and see what the deck height is. I bet it is a lot. I would get a nice set of Ross pistons. Use a bigblock rod 6.135 a ton stronger than stock rods.

 

[Ronnie Russell]

Cecil, I dont like those pistons either. Too little distance from top ring to piston top. They would need serious research to determine possible usage. Guess I have to disagree also about the sleeve. How many miles or how many years does it take to wear out an engine? I would bore all to .060 and spend the money on new Ross pistons. 100,000 miles maybe?? Are you gonna put that kind of milage on a 409? Few people do. Just my opinion. Good luck.

 

[dq409]

I gotta go with Ronnie and Dond on this one !!

You will get a life time outa .060 over if you don`t blow it up !!
And chances of that are very low if you are sensible.
Check out Aubreys custom designed Ross pistons.
http://www.bruneauperformance.ca/409chevyengineparts.html
I and quite a few others here are using them with great success!!
And do go with BBC rods or an Eagle H-beam rod in a BBC length.

Money well spent if you have it.,,dq

 

[Bungy]

Could it be those pistons were milled down to use with 348 or BBC rods? To keep them from sticking out of the bore? I guess you would have to mock it up to be sure. You might also talk with your machine shop or a piston manufacturer to see what they say about the thickness of that top. It might be useable.
As for the bore, I hate going any more then nessasary but I too would go .060. My 2 cents.