Same stroke and rod here. The piston is very crazy looking but I went with a billet Oliver Speedway rod to keep the deck thicker on the piston. With all the turbo motors ran here locally the high power SBC's (over 1800) suffer more from head gasket issues than burnt valves from the heat. The water inlet between the ports helps dramatically. Some last over 100 passes while some change gaskets every 40 or so. I'm hoping to go well over 100 passes.
What is the CI gonna work out to on your motors?