I don't know if this will help you or not, but I'm working on a 75 440 that's out of a truck, and the pistons measured .0160 to .0162 down, so compression would be quite low from factory. Not to hijack this post, but could I deck the block and re-use the factory pistons or get earlier year 440 pistons to get a better compression ratio. Looking to do a budget build, Thanks...