DO NOT LET THEM MACHINE YOUR PISTONS! They cannot just put them in a lathe and turn them down! Like you said, pistons are not "straight" on the sides...they are actually sort of egg-shaped. Are there a few shops out there who can do this job? Sure. Is it likely your shop is one of them? No. When they or their machine shops turns them down on the lathe, they will have effectively ruined that piston, and you will have more problems down the road because of it.

This is the reason you have to measure the diameter of the piston 90º from the pin....higher or lower on the skirt is a different size (smaller)!

 

JE is one such shop that can turn a slug down and make it the correct shape...they aren't using a cheap lathe that others use to turn down barstock.

 

They aren't my pistons, lol. I wouldn't even let a shop consider something as stupid as that without grabbing my parts and heading out the door. Non issue with me as I have an engine shop at my disposal which most people do not. My stance is yes someone likely could do it ( ill results or not) but trying to tell a person it's cheaper than simply buying the correct piston for your application...... yeah, I am sure.

That said the poor bastard that did allow them to do it is now rebuilding the engine again..... what a waste.

 

Exactly what I was thinking when I first read this post... who the **** cares about having enough meat to rebuild?? Assuming it's not a warhawk block or something, blocks are a dime a dozen... if you blow it up get another one for $500 and just reuse whatever is still healthy from your original rotating assembly.

 

It's a Ford Boss 302 block.... Not an LS. Not exactly common.

 

I stand corrected lol