Thanks for the replys. The short answer is 'no'. That's why guys like you are here - to keep guys like me from doing silly things
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To make a short story long, the engine was assembled from parts prepared and supplied by John (Otto) Williamson in the mid '90s. It was first run in 2003 and did maybe 12 track days, a few tarmac rallys and sundry journeys totalling about 10000 miles before being put in storage in 2006 and replaced by a 2L engine. It was limited to 7300rpm and never ran over 180deg.
I already had the cylinders and knew they were a bit worn, but talking with JE, they said the piston expansion rate was a bit higher than Mahle's so should be OK.
Now, I want to use the bottom end as the platform on which to build a much stronger engine for a car to be used in a range of activities from track days to touring. It will need a 50000 mile service life. I want to go new tech (I've sold the cams and carbs and will sell the existing 9.5:1 JE pistons) with EFI, crank fire ign etc. 98 gas (93 US??) is available most places so 10.5:1 twin plug is not silly. Heads will need to be re-worked obviously. I already have a set of 171i 149e Web cams. The big (read expensive) bit will be whatever induction/ignition is chosen...
Henry's 91mm suggestion sounds like a good option (nice looking engine BTW) as ultimate power is not the goal here. The Nickasil costs here are about line-ball with Tadd's. If I was trying to optimize it for competition, Andrew's suggestion of re-positioning the CE groove may be worth a look, but I suspect new cylinders would be the better option for an optimized comp engine anyway.
Many thanks.
Mark