906 Heads

[71Dodger]

As I have stated before, I am a novice at engine building. I am still working on my 1970 413-truck engine. I just bought a pair of rebuildable 906 heads for $25.00 (I think I scored a good buy)
My question is this, Could you folks offer me some advice on how to get good performance AND reliability for my 413/906 combo?

I am going to need pistons for my 413 engine. Does anyone have some affordable suggestions? Should I stick with the "dish" style pistons from the factory? Should I get flattop pistons? I want to run my engine on pump gas if at all possible.

Thanks for your help....

[phoenix]

Tread carefully here as the pitfalls are many! All flattops are not created "equal" as they say! Compression distances are varied(the distance from the pin centreline to the top of the piston) There aren't many pistons available for the 413 anymore that'll yeild a even decent 9.5:1 C.R. without block and/or head milling and a whole "can of worms" in regards to lifter preload/ geometry problems without use of adjustable rockers etc. Without knowing a whole bunch more of what your trying to accomplish with the early wedge ie; pump gas? horsepower? application? cam type? street or brackets? I guess what I'm saying is don't buy pistons until yopu're sure they'll give you what you're after in means of targeted performance!
I'm out

[phoenix]

Sorry! didn't notice that you did say "pump gas". Therefore; look for something with a compression distance of 1.99", should still be available in a flat-top, deck the block around .020" equal and square, should place that piston at approx. .050-.060" downhole when assembled, use a deck-bridge on mock-up assembly. This in conjunction with your mildly rebuilt( with good exhuast seats) 906's and most composition head gaskets should result in around 9:1 C.R. Not "stellar" by any means, but enough "pop" in the chamber to run smaller hydraulic/bottom end cams with respectable power and torque.
There are so many variables to explore we could go on forever, but I hope this helps somewhat.

I hope some others will jump in with some input/experience for you. I'm out