I had to take out the domed pistons. With the quench heads, the thing measured out at 11.85:1.
The detonation on pump gas was so bad the engine would shut off.
The domes sucked with the open chamber heads.
The best combination is either the flat top pistons with the iron quench heads, or the dished pistons with the smaller chambered (59cc) aftermarket heads.
You can mill them down from 63cc's quite a bit. You will wind up around 9.8:1 which is fine for pump gas.
With 5.7 + .030 you still will get 500 hp easy.
Why go more? You will toast the clutch and risk the ZF internals.
As I recall, those domed TRW pistons need to be fly cut for anything over .550" lift. Go over 600 and you will feel the difference. It's substantial.
The Cleveland won't even wake up til you get to .600.
Given the choice between the D0AE Boss 4 bolt block and the D2AE-CA 4 bolt, use the later. The real Boss block is just a Ford conversion of the original 2v block to 4 bolt caps.
The D2AE-CA 4 bolt block WAS run in Pro Stock by Gapp & Rousch, Glidden, Nicholson and others and the reputation of it cracking is because of the 10,000 rpm power shifts.
There IS value to the 4 bolt caps. The 4 bolts keep the caps from "walking" that the 2 bolts can't. They aren't there for strengthening the caps.
For the street what you want to do, it's fine. Probably good to 8,000 to 8,200 rpm as long as it isn't constantly run up there and you NEED to run the thick Boss/HO balancer with it. It makes a big difference in longevity and even idle quality of the engine.
