My block came out of a 410 sprint car. It's had the crap decked out of it. Deck height right now is 8.989". I chose for ease of rebuild if needed, to run an off the shelf pistons. My pistons are .030" out of the hole. I want .040" quench, thus I bought .070" Cometic MLS head gaskets. I have a static compression on 8.52:1, perfect for my needs. The intake fits perfect. No machine work done to it or the block china walls. I've also got .200" piston to valve clearance. Just takes a little planning and doing some math here and there. Also, test fit everything, don't assume everything is golden. Hope this helps you out.