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has anyone tried this?

380 Racer

Cheapest isn't always bestess.

Texas Jim

Well come on, 380 Racer, what's your take on this? If the machining is done properly, is this a safe and suitable way to go? Your input, Please. Thanks in advance.

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Thanks jim!

I know cheap builds arent the best way, but i dont plan on getting rid of it and can always redo it later on down the road when i have more money.

Just look for the best bang for my buck so i can have some fun

380 Racer

Cheap High Compression 455
Buy TRW forged Chevrolet 396 +.060 pistons. The bore is 4.155 perfect for your +.030 455 Olds. Piston height is like +.020 more than Olds, which will give you 0 deck or there abouts. The Olds connecting rod wrist pins will have to be reamed out (like $20). The good part is the Chevy pistons sell for $220 or so. A machine shop will mill off the big domes for $50 or so. Doing this you can get around 11.5:1 compression with unmilled heads and a stock type head gasket. Compare the $290 price tag with a set of $600 custom flat tops.

First off I don't care for heavy TRW slugs. Pison heigth is "like" .020 more than Olds which will give you "0 deck or there abouts". Wrist pins "will have to be reamed out ("$20")". How about "$50 or so" to mill dome off a $220 set of pistons. OK those prices seem to be very conservative for my part of the country, but then I'm not a machinest either. The 0 deck (about) also would scare me. Things do expand when heated up You could wind up with higher compression if you don't have virgin heads/block. Could also be less. If you plan on using a higher lift cam with this compression and need to cut in valve reliefs, better be carefull since Olds is different than Chebby. May not have the meat in the right places. I have also found that things don't always go as planned. Too many abouts and or sos.

This is my opinion. I would do it right the first time.