Getting ready to mill the piston tops but I
have a question for ya.. I sonic checked the
top thickness to see how much I can mill..
I have .252 at the thinnest point on the top
and I want to take off .080.... is there any
issue with it.. forged Ross pistons... this leaves
me with .172 thanks
EDIT
this is a NA engine.. no spray and 11:1
I'm dropping down in compression from 12.5 to
11.0(or maybe a touch more)... to me .170 SHOULD
be plenty on a NA engine but I want to make sure

Ok...I answered in the other thread.

You'll be fine.

Thanks.. I figured it would be good

how did you measure the thickness of the piston? Will it be thinner in the valve reliefs?

I did a sonic check.. I also talked to Ross Pistons and
the guy pulled the drawing of the piston.. if I cut .080
that puts it at just under 11:1... .075 takes the dome
right off but I will cut .080 for a bit less compression

Hey Mike, how have you been?...Just an idea/alternative...I have milled off a dome in the same way using a lathe...I made a "band" or strip of aluminium about .100" thick to strap around the round ring groove area of the piston. Chucked it up in a standard 3 jaw , zeroed the face out and cut away...worked perfectly and was quite fast. Just use common sense.

Thanks... doing well.. getting ready to leave
on vacation in 2 days.. I'm set up to start
cutting but I wont till I get back.. hope
your doing well.. you have a good New Year

why don't you run a little thicker head gasket,and mill the piston a little less?

2 things.. if I go with thicker head gaskets it
messes up all the alinment of the intake.. plus
I'm only cutting off .080.. .075 takes the dome
all the way off and I figure .080 gives me a
little cushion and thats 10.98 compression.. if
I were to put thicker head gaskets on that would
be $200.. I can balance the crank for just under
that

Good luck. I had major issues when getting an engine rebuilt. I had Probe domed pistons that netted me 13.1:1 compression with my milled 452 heads. Builder told me that the same castings were used for multiple compression ratios by Probe. Milling the dome (I was told) is exactly what the factory does to have one casting work in multiple compression ratios.

Well....after the rebuild, paint, installation and fire-up, everything seemed fine. I took the car on it's maiden ride, and while pulling a long, gradual hill, my son said there was smoke coming from the glove compartment... It was actually coming out the crack between the cowl and my engine hood. While running it smoked out the breather. Pulled the heads and two of the eight pistons had holes in the top. I checked the ones that were not damaged, and there was like .060 thickness. This was an expensive lesson. Hopefully yours will work better than mine did!

I was told .200 thick is what you need to stay safe.

I know of guys that have run .100 and didnt have
any issue but they never spray it(nether will I)
I also know guys that ran less on a single cyl
but I have cracked cyl walls at .170 and even
thicker but (IMO) there were voids in the castings..
but I am going ahead with the milling when I get back
and take my chances(which I doubt I will have any issue)
we will see.. I have another set of pistons BUT they
have a Mopar pins in them and I use chevy pistons in
most all of my stuff