Wow! George, thanks for putting this together - I learned a bunch. I had to read it through a couple of times to digest it all and I sure wish I'd read this before my most recent motor build. I have a 9.5" deck dart block, callies crank with Avenger CNC'ed to the max heads - 459" of silliness. My recent rebuild was caused by side thrust forces rocking a (12:1) piston in its bore and ultimately causing valve to piston contact. Crank arm leverage is also an issue with this much of a stroker. Although enormously exciting, spinning 335 tires at 80+ takes getting used to and I don't know if I'll ever get the pee smell out of the car. In all seriousness, you raise some great points to consider before spending big money on expensive engine components. Thanks again for taking the time.
-Olaf
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