Does the Caprice L05 #12513151, use dished pistons or flat top pistons?

 

I'm gonna stick my neck out on this one..

I have an LO5 (it's all torn apart now ) that came out of a '90 K2500 (not a Caprice) that has/had dished pistons.

Since it's the same engine code, I'm guessing it has the same hardware as the Caprice (short block), but maybe had different cam and heads.

Even with a shot in the dark, it's a 95% chance they're dished.

 

Thanks. Guess the L05 is a waste of money then.

 

What are dished, and what flat top pistons?

I am assuming dished dont offer as much in the way of power and flat top?

 

dished pistons have a recess and don't offer as much compression as flat tops.

 

That depends on what you intend to do with it. It's a replacement engine, not a racing engine.

 

I wanted a 350 upgrade for my 305 that I could build later. I don't want to have to pull the pistons and replace them later.

 

Dished

Flat top w/ 4 valve reliefs

Flat top w/ 2 valve reliefs

Dome top (aka high top)


It's not so much about the power that is offered, it's compression ratio. Obviously the higher the compression ratio, the more power, but there is a line that has to be drawn for a street/strip car.

The dish pistons are usually sought after for supercharging or nitrous users to keep the compression ratio down.

Flat tops (either 2 or 4 valve reliefs) are used for street/strip cars to get the comp ratio up, but keep it low enough for pump gas.

Dome tops are normally used for strictly racing. The comp ratios usually are high enough that the engine will only run correctly with racing fuel.