Thinking about pulling this apart again before spring.
Did a basic rebuild about 4 years ago and only put about 20 hours on it It's a 454 Magnum, .030 over with speed-pro pistons. 088 heads, Crane 731.
One piston was showing some detonation. Machine shop cleaned it up and said run it. Was trying to keep a tight budget. Heads needed rebuild so they did get all new hardware, guides and Ferrera valves, Merc roller rockers.
Well now this is always on my mind and thinking to go back in, go .060 over and maybe stroke it while I'm in there.
Thoughts? Should I just do bottom end stock and spend some money on heads?

I don't like the look of that piston at all...
Me, I would simply go .060 over, new pistons and not bother with stroking it, especially if budget-concious.

Just confirming pic of piston. So that’s before you rebuilt 4 yrs / 20 hrs ago or current?

That was the rear down then.

Then it was a budget. Now I could do more but is it worth it?

What are your goals/targets, if any? In my humble opinion, and past automotive experience, 'stroking' an engine tends to have minimal gains for the effort and cost. But there are far more experienced members here that hopefully will chime in.

Stroke it, size matters in a boat!

Today’s stroker kits are very reasonable. Sure it’s not difficult to get 475/500 hp without going crazy on a 454/468 but 496 is easier to obtain with near the same components plus an additional 50 plus hp. As mentioned all depends on what your end goals are. Should be approx 4 mph depending on hull efficiency etc etc.

Like the old saying goes there’s no replacement for displacement!

Better head, more stroke…..life’s good.

If new crank and rods are in the budget, why would anyone not stroke it? Better power curve and more torque at lower RPM, sounds like a win to me!