dropping the piston down the bore is not as good as opening up the chamber, that`s for sure,,,no argument from me,,,but!!!!!!!!!!.... i can`t see that it would be the reason why an engine would run like a bucket-o-puss, not at all
that`s just not how it works,,,
My 1510cc roady (& many many other engines i`ve built) have had the pistons sitting a fair way down the bore (I mean LOTS))) & they have all run like a champion,,,i would have looked elsewhere in the engine build for the """Running like a bucket-o-puss""" reason, that`s for sure
dropping the piston down the bore a little (or even a lot for that matter) does not "kill" an engines performance,,,yeah, it drops a tad,,,note """A TAD""" ,,,but that`s all,,,it`s pretty well almost not noticeable in my books,,,as long as the rest of the donk is sweet, then it really shouldn`t be an issue
& i like to rest my road engines on 9.5-10:1 max,,,definately with de-shrouden, re-shaped & pollished chambers
a stock cyl head chamber & engine sizes around or up to 1360ish would definately have some pinging problems, even on premium fuel, if they`re set up with 10:1 comp ratio,,,it`s highly recomended by lots of the well known mini engine builders that 9.5:1 is usually to high for the sh!t fuel we have in this wonderfull country
if fairly stock engine,,,i`d run a max of 9.3:1,,,,if it`s a largish capacity & has quallity chamber work & a mildy or hotty cam, then 9.5-10:1,,,much up from there & you`re in trouble
saying all that,,,,i run my 1510 on 10.3:1 & no ping

,,,but then i`m cheating with such a big donk
