The near new 200 block was originally supposed to be good for 500 hp. I am going to take your advise and rebuild the bottom end. I just had to let the wife know that the house is further in debt and realise that yet again, a good plan went south :-(

It seems Mahle pistons are good. Not sure on what to use for rings, bearings etc... where should I go, where can I get specs to give to an engine builder (rather than hoping he knows where to get it as YB knowledge is limited here)

I know this is a little off the wall but I want to get a CR of around 8.5:1 up from the standard 8:1. Don't flame me, there are reasons for this. Are there pistons that help on this?, I only see 8.0 and 7.2 on web. Also I would like to get pistons that will take a high lift cam without paying for extra machining.

Thanks for your help guys.