Thanks, Pat. Only two motors I have had in my life were balanced, one is the 355 Chevy I bought in that Camaro ex racer, and now Dan's Olds. The Chevy pistons have what look like drilled depressions on the underside of the piston heads, as if you took a drill press and slightly dimpled them underneath. I expected to see the same thing on the Olds pistons, but instead found those areas near the pin boss, like you described. I guess the reason is you want to take weight off of where it is heaviest ?

I'm starting to look for a ring filer. I can't afford an electric one, plus I think we could control a manual one better and have less chance of over filing a ring. Summit has them, and I see K and D makes one also. Looks like it will cost about $ 80-$100. I am also going to get the spacer to push the ring down into the bore, and am leaning toward the one that has the screw on it to fit various bore sizes.

Any suggestions there?

Don