Hello Again, i Have a question concerning Piston placement in the block, this is my first build up and i bought a 350 short block used that is bored .060 over but im tearing it down and going to rebuild it, but my question is when i take the pistons out do they have to go in the same cylinders after the machine shop cleans the block? any thing will help, Thanks

Well it would help if you knew more about the rotating assembly that you already have in the block, if thats what you plan on re-using. Obviously the .060 pistons are not the original...maybe the rest of the rotating assembly also may have been changed. Question is was the assembly balanced in the first place? I take it that the machine shop is just honing the cylinders...not boring them, when you say cleaning up the bloc, along with hot tanking, magnafluxing, and installing new bearings. If you plan on using the rotating assembly as is, yes it would be advisable to put the pistons back in the original cylinders along with the same connecting rods, and the rod caps (on the same rods), as this was the way it was balanced in the first place...maybe! Stock GM rotating assemblys leave a lot to be desired when it comes to factory tolerances. That's why I said it would be better if you knew more about the engine and whats been done to it in the first place.

Well i dont know a whole lot about the motor, other than it is .060 over and was used only a couple hundred miles on rebuild, and the pistons are brand new. yes i am only getting the block cooked and honed. i pulled one out and it looks like it just came out of the box. i guess i should just mark them or somethin anyway. Thanks alot!

If the engine was rebuilt 200 miles ago why are you disasembling it? A .60 overbore is a safe maximum for a 350. Put everything back exactly as it was before diasassembly.

Well the motor has been sitting in a garage for awhile and has surface rust and old gasket gunk all over it and the machine shop will charge me to diassemble it to have it tanked.

Does the engine crankshaft turn? Did you remove the valve covers and take a look at the valve train? Do you have good reason to believe there is some internal problem with the engine? If you don't have to take it apart I wouldn't. External rust and gasket material can be cleaned without disassembly.

Maybe i should have explained a little better. The motor does'nt have heads or anything else other than pistons and crank, but there is discoloration on the cylinder walls that look to me like rust but do not have a rough texture to them, i just figured it would be better to have it cleaned, but again im no mechanic or anything, so will the cylinder walls be ok the way they are? the crank does turn over to. this is my first build and im probably half retarded anyway, so any advice will be well appreciated. Thanks

Oh, it's a shortblock and not a complete engine. If the cylinder walls are rusty a light honing might be in order.