This is getting more and more fun as we go along, thanks for all the information so far!
I spent time at my friends machine shop last night and we milled the deck to have the deck parallel to the centerline of the crank. The front of the block, next to cylinder 1, was exactly 0.047 taller than the rear of the deck, as it related to the centerline of the crankshaft. So we removed the front 0.047 and an additional 0.003 to ensure all of the pistons travel the same distance on the compression stroke, resulting in consistent performance. (we shimmed the block and removed 0.050 from the front and 0.003 from the rear of the block)
I also found out my machine shop has a 100 cc column for alcohol that I may borrow to measure cubic displacement in the head and later in the block as I assemble it. Stand by for more information!
One of the guys above asked for bore and stroke dimensions. According to the 1954 Truck Shop Manual
the bore is 3 - 3/4" (we took it .030 over, = 3.780")
the stroke is 3 - 15/16"
Thanks,
Ted
