[Gunter]

Originally Posted by mickey356

They're Alusil (non-magnetic). If you run your fingernail along the top part of the cylinder wall you can feel the wear (there's a tiny ridge). The pistons look good, but need to be cleaned up. Everything else looks good (cams, etc... now visible wear) So I guess I'm faced with new cylinders or used. My buddy can get me a set of Mahle P&C's for about the price of a new set of Nickies but either way I'm looking at @ $3k just for those, not including the rest of the work (heads redone, studs etc...). I'd like to avoid any issues in the future, essentially build everything to spec, basic 3.0SC and be done with it. Is it too risky to buy used cylinders and use my exisiting pistons with new rings?

Thank you everyone for the input this far, and the deep breathing advice, it works.

Pistons may look good but they need to be miked to be sure.
The first land on any piston gets the hammering; it, and the other lands, have to be within spec.

Only measuring will tell if you can re-use your P/C's; they may still be usable.
Be careful about buying used P/C's; they have to be within specs and a lot of people don't have the skill or tools to measure.

If you're spending $3k on new 95 mm P/C's, you might as well go with 98 mm Max/Moritz 9.5 :1 CR for that kind of money. Keep the CIS and re-grind the cams to a 964 profile (~$300.-).

You'll be very happy with the extra HP and torque in a SS 3.2.
Plus, it gives a higher resale value.

Whatever you do, do it right or you'll be sorry later.

"Haste makes waste"