Best Pistons Choice ?

[dangerman4]

bit unreallated, but what do you guys do when the ring gaps are to big, i cant find file back rings anywhere

my engine was on hold for 6 fkn months cause my engine builder couldnt find file back rings, these guys are pretty pedantic though, I work in the industry and email/called je/acl etc and the wholesalers and was told by all to just use the rings that were made for the 86.5 bore size that came with the pistons as i could find file back rings anywhere, as i was sick of waiting for over 1.5 yrs in total for this engine to be put together i told them to use the acl rings that came with the pistons

just wanted to know what your guys take on it would be

why dont you order a set of 86mm rings and go from there?

[STATUS]

Have had a friend just rip out his mahle's because the teflon delaminated. Arias FTW!

thats like pulling a pfc for a microtech....

Cosworth

JE, CP

MAHLE

ARIAS

The above is my preference order, the MAHLE are realy nice piston (great for race motors) and we have used a few sets with excellent results but they cant be expected to last as long in a street engine as a longer skirted piston, just something to think of.

The cosworth (most jap brands like TRUST, JUN etc use cosworth) are my top choice, good comprimise between weight and strength have nice crowns and anti detonational / scuff bands above the top ring land, Can handle just about any accidental abuse you throw at them....

The JE's are strong as... and my first choice for street with weekend circuit work as they are almost impossible to damage and will handle a few overheats and bad batches of fuel if the situation arises.

The arias pistons are fairly simple piston, pretty average crown (especially SR) but they are cheap and are used in all my entry level budget builds.

At the end of the day piston choice is often the builders choice and is based on what they have the most experience with.... unfortunatley most engine build kits sold online are pieced together with whats got the biggest profit margin or whats easiest to source not really what is the best for the aplication.

[Swiper the Fox]

What is mostly overlooked in most instances...especially with the inexperienced is the ring package...same piston/different ring package can make the world of difference.

[STATUS]

bit unreallated, but what do you guys do when the ring gaps are to big, i cant find file back rings anywhere

my engine was on hold for 6 fkn months cause my engine builder couldnt find file back rings, these guys are pretty pedantic though, I work in the industry and email/called je/acl etc and the wholesalers and was told by all to just use the rings that were made for the 86.5 bore size that came with the pistons as i could find file back rings anywhere, as i was sick of waiting for over 1.5 yrs in total for this engine to be put together i told them to use the acl rings that came with the pistons

just wanted to know what your guys take on it would be

i ended up getting some 300zx rings from precision or Nason here in melb for our RB26 86.5mm Greddy pistons as no-one had any idea.

Edited May 18, 2009 by URAS

[PSI Parts]

Anyone have input on the ACL Pistions?

[Mandingo]

same piston/different ring package can make the world of difference.

Hey mate can you elaborate on this further? I have heard something to do with this before, apparently majority of the rings just dont work well enough?

Thanks for the help

[The Dan]

Anyone have input on the ACL Pistions?

Yeah I rate them pretty highly. They aren't a slipper piston like the Mahle Motorsport ones but about as good as you can get when it comes to a straight forgie. Extremely high quality finish and good technology on the ring lands and gas pressure relief groove.

The Race Series pistons are made by ROSS in the USA. These guys have their stuff in all the NASCAR and Circuit stuff going on over there, same as JE etc.

I wouldn't say Mahle are better but definitely one of the best street/track pistons you can get. Mahle are more suited to track stuff due to the design.

[proengines]

Anyone have input on the ACL Pistions?

ACL pistons are made by Ross and are well priced, nice and strong, maybe a tad heavy and run a little too much clearance for an everyday engine due to the material they are made from. I don't like the second ring in the set, it is machined as a hook scraper and is too narrow on the contact area, very easy to break. I use a Japanese ring set on them, Nippon or Riken. They use the standard width ring set which makes this easy to do. The Japanese rings still come with a steel top ring so I just use the full set. Wiseco's are much nicer.

[Angus Smart]

What kind of clearance do you guys do on a set of Mahle's? i'm interested to see what my Builder is going to do with them.

also do you guys like to use the standard pin set over the set cp, etc give out??

the mahle pin looks very nice compared to the likes of cp..

[STATUS]

What is mostly overlooked in most instances...especially with the inexperienced is the ring package...same piston/different ring package can make the world of difference.

True Dat.

[The Dan]

Just like to add also, Mahle supply the rings for ROSS/ACL pistons. They also do them for JE I think but not 100% on that.

[Bliksem]

What is mostly overlooked in most instances...especially with the inexperienced is the ring package...same piston/different ring package can make the world of difference.

What is your view on Hastings rings?

[Blitz]

What kind of clearance do you guys do on a set of Mahle's? i'm interested to see what my Builder is going to do with them.

also do you guys like to use the standard pin set over the set cp, etc give out??

the mahle pin looks very nice compared to the likes of cp..

What rods are you planning on using Andrew?

[Angus Smart]

What rods are you planning on using Andrew?

Still the Pauter rods from the first page of this thread

should have the motor back in about 2 weeks apparently.

[Duffage]

its been ages hey

[proengines]

What kind of clearance do you guys do on a set of Mahle's? i'm interested to see what my Builder is going to do with them.

also do you guys like to use the standard pin set over the set cp, etc give out??

the mahle pin looks very nice compared to the likes of cp..

I run the clearance the piston is set to at nominal size, That is, if the piston set is made for an 86.5mm bore, I finish it to 86.5mm. I machined up a 26/30 last week using Mahle pistons and it ran .0032". I never run less than the manufacturers recommend, occasionally a tad more, maybe .0005" if it is running really high boost or nitrous plus a bee's dick more ring gap. The Mahles run quite large pin clearances but again, there's a reason for it and they're not noisy.

Piston manufacturers know a lot more about their pistons than me, I trust their judgement.

[proengines]

What is your view on Hastings rings?

Don't use them if they don't have a steel top ring. Moly rings are bad in turbo engines.

[Marko R1]

I run the clearance the piston is set to at nominal size, That is, if the piston set is made for an 86.5mm bore, I finish it to 86.5mm. I machined up a 26/30 last week using Mahle pistons and it ran .0032". I never run less than the manufacturers recommend, occasionally a tad more, maybe .0005" if it is running really high boost or nitrous plus a bee's dick more ring gap. The Mahles run quite large pin clearances but again, there's a reason for it and they're not noisy.

Piston manufacturers know a lot more about their pistons than me, I trust their judgement.

greg, is that engine also running argo rods

[rbs14kouki]

i figured out the spacer thickness

just a quick question :

the squirter make a (jet of oil) or (oil mist) , cause i would space and just offset the skirter abit to clear the piston skirt !!!

do i put it to shoot on the outside of the skirt or inside

i'm would go for the inside position !!!(red dot)

Blue : stock position

Red : option 1

Yellow : option 2

Edited May 19, 2009 by rbs14kouki

[Martin HKS]

Just like to add also, Mahle supply the rings for ROSS/ACL pistons. They also do them for JE I think but not 100% on that.

Not sure that's true. ACL make rings for Ross Pistons as well as other big name piston manufactures. Mahle and JE also use Total Seal Ring sets. Different size/application pistons from the same supplier will have rings sourced from different places.

Also Trent - Did you give Performance Wholesale a try for the rings as being Australian distributor of Total Seal Rings they can have almost anything made. Shoot me an email if you are ever stuck again.

Cheers

Marty