wow i just noticed that it has less then 100K and this happened.....why did you pull the heads? how was the truck acting that you knew something was wrong? i have 208K and makes me wonder if i should pull my heads (to do the head gaskets anyways) and see how mine look.

 

i have only ever seen this once before. and as the gentleman before said a bent head bolt is very possable. i had a thunderbird SC then we set the heads back down the torque wrench i had was bad and we over torques the heads causing major leaks and issues so i ripped the heads back off and had the same situation. but it was like 3 or four places. its probably been like this since it left the factory.

as for suggestions. they make a stud kit for the heads. i would deffently look in to that. also flat top piston and i would be having that block squaired and decked to make sure everything is going to go well. i would also do a complete rebuild i know summit has a full bearing and pistion rod and gasket kits for about 2g and make you self a strong dependable NEW motor.

 

I had three reasons for pulling the heads. I had 50% compression delta between two adjacent cylinders, as it turns out also adjacent to the block crack. And as found here on this forum and others, it is common for these heads to crack. The motor also sounded like it was slightly missing at curb idle, but I never could figure that out until now.

Since this bottom end project was not anticipated, I'm having to watch the budget. I certainly don't wanna do anything stupid down there either. I know I'd feel a whole lot better with new pistons, rods, rings and pins but does it make dollar sense to replace like for like ( in terms of bore x stroke) without some performance boost? I won't have the high HP to warrant a racing or hd rotating assembly, so I'd be interested in some purchasing justification other than my warm n fuzzy. Is there an inherent weakness in the OEM rotating assembly such that I'd be an idiot for not replacing it?

 

Were it mine, I'd have a good machine shop check it out, and if it ain't broke don't fix it. The Chrysler small block's bottom end is very robust.

 

although higher compression pistons certainly boost power, a fat valvetrain makes all the difference. p/p heads, high lift/duration cam.

no sense in replacing good pistons. just do rings and bearings as well as a fresh hone to ensure a good seal