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Arn't KB 243 pistons like 240 bucks? That's cheap for pistons if that's right.

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I agree there's nothing better than having the proper compression for your application, however to change pistons the budget goes up quickly. Bore/hone, then of course you will want to take a look at the crank, new bearings, recondition rods, probably some block milling while you are there. Then you're not going to bolt some old heads back on so you're spending $ on going through them, new valve springs/seals at a minimum, etc. I didn't get the feeling the OP wanted to go overboard...

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I went the cheap way, honed my original bore 71K mile 71 340 block, reused the rods and did nothing to the block,rods or crank. Bought new rings and bearings and had the gaskets laying around. Like I said it runs great.

All the block work you speak of doesn't always need to be done.

I have rebuilt many motors this way and have never lost a motor other than a cracked cly wall that leaked water.
It helps that I have all the tools to rebuild motors.

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Back in the 80s people did ring and bearing kits on a saturday and were cruising sat night! Dingle ball hone and reassembly. Some even left the engine in the car. Couldnt someone slide in new pistons into an existing and sound block to get the comp up? I knew alot of people who did farmer rebuilds on smallblock chevies and they ran pretty hard. The mopars ran even better. Obviously this is not the right way but many engines ran a good long time without all the machining and new parts.