>why would i want
>to balance things, as he's never had a problem from not doing so.

Of course he doesn't stand to have a problem. It's not his truck. Are you
sure you want to use this guy?

>if i'm using different pistons, wouldn't i want to have it balanced again?

We're talking specifically about having the pistons balanced, right? I'd
like to know if there is a definite answer to this, too. My last set I
balanced to a quarter gram because that's what Muir said to do. One of them
had been way out, too, I think it was like twelve grams heavy. But then I
found out that an appendix in Muir says it doesn't make a dime's worth of
difference whether you balance your pistons. All his friends wrote chapters
contradicting him after he died...

If Hoover addresses this, I missed it.

And another thing. What are piston skirts actually for, anyway? What do
they do that a simple cylinder shape wouldn't do? Because by the time I
filed twelve grams off the sucker there warn't a whole lot of skirt left. I
haven't put that engine back together yet but if I filed off something
important I'm gonna be pissed.

--Ken
  68 Westy, 71 Bus