The extra squish is the key to more HP and less tendency to pre-detonation.  I put about 40k miles on that engine and now it is going into someone else's new buildup of a fastback.  Never used a drop of oil and it got 24 MPG on a trip to GA and back to TX.  Plus it ran really strong for 15 years and still has alot more life left in it,

Now, if you are planning on running 0.020" crank bearing clearances, you might reconsider, but that engine had 0.0015" piston/cylinder clearance and 0.002 main and rod clearances.  Head gaskets were 0.042" compressed thickness.  That extra volume in the gasket is available, so why not use it?

Engines that have the pistons below deck level, like MOST setups, are giving away free performance gains.

Welcome to the forum!!

Downey huh?  Back in the day...my day anyway...I spent a lot of Friday and Saturaday evenings wasting gas trying to drive through Harvey's Broiler.  That would have been in the mid-sixties.
Grew up in Compton but probably will never visit the old homestead.  I'm planning to make the Knotts Fabulous Fords deal next year and I get out there a couple of times a year to visit friends and family.  Maybe we'll hook up.

Welcome to the best forum on the net.  What kind of hot rod are you doing?

BB
 

Downey?  I grew up in South Gate, just next door, in the late 50's.  Harvey's Broiler was a must on the weekends.  There also was a place in SG, The Carasel, that was popular.  Across the street from the Firestone plant.  Lions was a regular Saturday event.

Before moving to Northern Calif 20 years ago, I did Knotts often.  Great show.

Welcome to the site.

I also grew up in the Downey area in the 60's and 70's. Harvey's every Friday and Saturday along with Tweedy Blvd in South Gate and Hollywood Blvd until late at nite, then street racing in Commerce on 26th street or out at the Box Factory in Santa Fe Springs.