I just finished building a new 350 a couple of weeks ago, and took it to a shop to have them double check my work. When they cranked it and tried to break it in, one of the push rods bent. I pulled the heads off and they all have places on them where the valves hit the pistons. Now all of the valves have rough edges on them. My question is, what should I do from here? Are the pistons completely toast? I know this is difficult to diagnose without pictures, but any feedback would be appreciated.

Russell

 

Since the heads are off.....
Flip the heads upside down. Fill the chambers with water. If any leaks through you'll know if you bent any valves.

Pics would be nice.

Did the valves actually make contact with a piston? Could be a bad pushrod.

 

Most likely I'd guess the pistons to be fine, but a bent valve would worry me more.

 

Too much cam lift.... If you have 1.6 rockers on it I'd suggest going to 1.5 rockers. Maybe a thicker head gasket. A bit shorter pushrods.

The pistons are probably ok, but I'd probably replace all the valves and pushrods.