[Jay S]

Was the engine in question using oil? I would leave the short block alone if it is ok.

I have honed out a ton of 10K mile engines that were using oil, that had the correct piston orientation, honed them, with new rings, and then the oil consumption stopped and ran for years. Sometimes the rings do not brake in correct or bore are not straight after engines are bore out.

I have hung Pontiac pistons on backward, and done other brands also, I never remember one using oil? Maybe I am just lucky, but I have done a lot more than one engine with the pistons reversed, several 455 Pontiacs too.. I reverse hung the pistons to reduce the force on the piston skirt on the thrust side. Especially on cast pistons in performance builds. These days, with modern pistons, there is no offset most of the time, I don’t even think of it.