Got a ? about useing dome piston's. Now some say that it's not good to use them in a street motor, and i thought i've read something about dome piston's some time ago but cant remember much about it. But did'nt the factory put dome piston's in some street motor's way back when, like the 283's and the 327's? Just curius about how high the dome has to be before it really start's to mess up the flame travel, because the dome's on my piston's are only (.125) high witch is about an 1/8 in. tall (It's just a little *****) LOL. A new set of KB flattop's are gonna cost another 2 bill's witch is not with in my budgit at this time. So if some body would please tell me (What's it gonna hurt ) to run small domed piston's on the street. A little run down on my set up ( 350 sbc board .030, .010 deck height, .041 head gasket, 76cc head's, Speed Pro .125 popup domed piston's with a piston volume of -3.5 and should yeld just under 10.0:1 C/R. (Please Advise)

the flame travel issue is more of an issue with domed pistons of course...I mean if you can achieve the same compression ration with a flat top or dished piston, thats the way to go, but,Im more concerned about your 10.0:1 in a street engine than the flame travel issue.I mean, you can do it, with good gas & careful tuning.

Why domed pistons are not recommended on a street engine is due to the compression created, back in the day as you refer to when high performance small blocks came with domed pistons, there was 117 octane leaded gasoline right around at the corner station that also had a anti detonation agent added in with it. Today the highest grade gas is 93 octane unleaded with no anti detonation agent. high compression on low octane fuel spells detonation which will quickly destroy a engine. the cam plays a role on the street with high compression since bigger cams bleed off some cylinder pressure at low RPM`s but this don`t make it any safer since it makes up for it at high RPM when you can`t always hear detonation. there are several additives you can add to help. setting a good Quench also helps to fight off detonation, another thing you can do is make sure there are no sharp edges anywhere on the piston top or the combustion chamber, as these develop hot spots that can cause detonation. Less spark advance will also help, but less power output will be the result.

ThanX for the quick reply, I feel what your say'in about the 10.0:1 C/R but with a set of KB flat top's with a +7.0 piston volume would yeld me right around 9.0:1 with a set of .041 head gasket and around 9.2:1 with a set of .028 head gasket. With my piston's i get around 9.89:1 with a set of .041 head gasket and 10.0:1 with the same .028 head gasket. Yea your problebly right the 10.0:1 be'in a bit much for pump gas, i guess i'll just hold off untill i can fit the KB's into the budgit.

with 76cc heads you can run the Speed pro H631CP pistons, they have a flat top design with 2 valve reliefs and a coated skirt, they also won`t break the bank and don`t require the rings be gapped like the KB piston does. They are avalible all over Ebay at the buy it now price of $149.00 from dirt track thunder, or you can order them direct from dirt track thunder for around the same price and get free shipping.

dirt track thunder are a bunch of good guys
there very helpful. i was looking to buy a set of
iron eagle heads from them. they asked what for
and what i have. then told me to use my world product
heads. they were willing to give up a $799.00 sale
to give good advice