Mopar 318 Piston Choices - Cast Pistons

I posted an overview of piston choices for the Mopar 318 on one of my Squidoo lenses, but I want to go over the choices in more detail here. While piston choices for some engines are limited, the 318 has an excellent selection available in cast, hypereutectic, and forged versions. Cast pistons are the least expensive pistons you can buy, so if you are on a really tight budget, they may be your first choice. They are also the weakest (and heaviest), so you need to really consider what you're going to use your engine for before choosing cast pistons.
A typical cast piston for the Mopar 318 is the Federal Mogul Z285NP. A set of 8 costs $93.52 from Summit Racing. These are listed as a stock replacement piston for 1967 through 1984 Chrysler 318 engines. Piston and pin together weigh 785 grams (add 3 grams for locks). They have -0.08" deck height and will give you a fairly low compression ratio. Oil return is via slots cut in the oil ring groove.Unless you are on a really tight budget, I would not recommend these pistons.
The Federal Mogul piston for the 1985 through 1989 318 is the Z526P. This piston's top is 0.025" higher in the bore than the 285's (-0.055" deck height) and will give you almost a half point higher compression ratio. They're only a little more expensive than the Z285 pistons, $103.92 from Summit Racing. If you want to run cast pistons in your 318, use the Z526's instead of the Z285's regardless of year. The Z526's will fit the earlier engines just fine.