The shop I am using deals with Eagle cranks/rods. The pistons will be forged.

One thing I am confused about is the compression ratio thing, in BB Fords you can safely use a 9:1 to a 9.5:1 and not really need anything but regular unleaded so long as the quench is tight at about .038" to .042".

He is saying that even with a zero deck block and .040" gasket that 8.75:1 is going to cause problems in a 1 ton truck that hauls 12,000 lb loads.

He wants to go with a deeper dish and get 8.2:1 to stay clear of detonation.

I did polish the chambers and plan to run a zero deck and dished piston, but I felt that 8.75 to 8.85:1 would be plenty safe. Do you all have any experiance on where the SBC CR seems to cause problemsunder heavy loads and regualr (87 octane) unleaded fuel?

His reason for going with the 400 rod is the fact that the ring package can be a standard stock style vs going with the pistons that fit the 5.7" rod use a smaller ring package do to pin height. He feels the stock/street ring package is more durable. Is this a true concerne?