If you're going to spend the money to bore the cylinders and get new pistons you should have the block totally refreshed and get new rods too. It's better to have new rods balanced and built right with the new pistons than have an old rod break and ruin all the work done to the motor. I wanted to do the same thing but my buddy who builds race motors for a living said he saw that happen more than once. Guys try to take the easy way out and he ends up boreing it out even more and putting in new pistons again to fix it. I'm in the same boat you are. I got a 305 and i want to upgrade to a 350. I thought i'll put flat top pistons in, raise the compression a little and i'll be good to go. I was told by a very reputable engine builder to save my money, start with a freshly machined block and build from the bottom up with new parts. That way you know if anything breaks it's not because of an old part that you could have replaced in the first place. Unfortunately, I tore my 350 down to a bare block and found a huge crack in it. It's worthless now. That's another reason to start with a clean, bare block...it can be inspected for cracks and week spots.
I hope this helps.
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80 Camaro-454
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