The cylinder wall still flexes above the fill line...I've ran 2 different blocks .040 over with no fill on our pulling truck the 5 years before last year... Never had a problem, ran first block 3 season's, cylinder walls got some taper, probably from ingesting dirt from running no air cleaner. So I started with a fresh block and used same pistons and new rings & bearings... And we broke an internally balanced crank is why I tore it down to begin with. Still got the .040 worn block with billet mains...want to have it filled and taken .100" if I ever build another pulling engine of my own, most likely with Aluminum Rods too.