1975 Kona 20' semi-daycruiser 455 olds, berkley jet-
I recently found that someone installed pistons that were too small into my standard bore 455 olds. I can see almost 1/6 inch of ring from the top! Compression is still good but the pistons started to contact the head. I'm pulling this engine out this weekend to go through it and see what I need.
I have some mildly-ported /polished G or Ga heads (don't remember which) at the machine shop, I have an edelbrock dual plane performer, edelbrock 730 performer carb and new edelbrock performer cam kit.
What pistons should I use? I would like this thing to scoot pretty good but I also want to use pump gas. I'm guessing that something in the ballpark of 9.5:1 would be good?
I have read a little about what Mondello does to these engines but what else should I pay attention to when getting this thing back together? I have a bunch of chevy experience but not much with olds. I'll probably do some work on the rods and balance the assembly. Maybe some oil pump and rear main cap porting, detail block for oil drain, rustoleum lifter valley, drill oilers for timing chain, intake splash guard. How about crank scraper and/or windage tray? I have a stock pan that has been extended to 10 quarts. Should I run an oil cooler? What spark plugs in a jetboat?