Pontiac 350 high compression Pistons

[Tristen Rivera]

Hi I'm currently rebuilding a Pontiac 350. I've had the cylinders machined 30 thousandths  so I will need oversized Pistons/rings. However I can't find any Pistons with compression over 8:1. I was hoping for at least 9.5:1! Does anyone know where I could find any? Or have suggestions? Thanks so much! 

[Frosty]

Reach out to Butler Performance or Kanter Auto Products. They should probably be able to give you some suggestions. The problem is the lack of popularity (in the Pontiac community at least) for the 350 V8. It's not a bad engine by any stretch, but given the availability of 400s, 428s, and 455s on the large stroke end and the 326/389/421s from the early 60s, the 350 became the forgotten middle child. So certain parts like pistons, rods, cranks, etc. were either no longer produced or dropped thru lack of demand by the aftermarket for this engine unlike the Chevy 350 and Ford 351 motors - especially once Pontiac stopped producing their own engines.

The worst case scenario is having to order custom pistons or have a different engine piston cut down to size. It will not be as cheap as buying a readily available, off-the-shelf part but it will be possible.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Frosty

[Rexs 73GTO]

1st off Pontiac doesn't take the comp. out in the pistons like a chevy. All Pontiacs  take the comp. out in the heads. You don't  use different piston to make or reduce comp. The heads determine the comp. When you cut the heads you can change the comp. If you want a certain comp. then you will want to look for different heads.  saying that you can go on Wallace Racing web site & then search for the heads you want to get your target comp.  But the pistons your looking for , for  pistons fro a Pontiac 350 in very hard. The 350 is almost a forgotten engine when looking for parts.