'66 Side Oiler, My Barn Find and Build

[Excaliber]

I'd build it, just the way it is, no changes on the parts. My only concern would be how to lower the compression ratio to a reasonable level (pump gas) because I prefer a street motor. If your going to race it hard, Rick L. has some solid advice. To lower the compression run the flat tops AND a really thick head gasket. I had the 12.5 to 1 pop up's originally in my motor, a real pain in the butt trying to keep the octane high enough or having to reduce the timing to keep knock away. So I had no choice but to go with new pistons.

MAJOR EDIT:
It appears you ARE going to order new pistons after all, have the block bored to clean it up I guess is why. When I ordered my new pistons I specifically had them designed to come all the way up to the TOP of the block (zero deck). For 'quench' purposes, to help control detonation and improve combustion chamber burn in general. Seem's to me the standard piston deck height measurement is something like as much a .030 below deck, which is so low there is no quench factor at all. Something they didn't worry about or didn't know about in '65, high octane fuel was readily available after all. I also had the pistons dished just the right amount to get 9.6 to 1 compression. Of course this all meant I had to order CUSTOM made pistons as I could not find any 'stock' or 'aftermarket' pistons that were designed for what I wanted to do.