Hey Guys, I need some feedback on some of the blower pistons out there. I have a 406 sbc with **** crank and H beam rods. I plan on running Dart heads 215's or 230's (haven't made up my mind yet. I have a 6-71 jimmy im introducing to the old mule. I just need some recommendations on pistons that you guys may have used or like. CR is 10:1 now
Wiseco makes a pretty good piston. That is what I have used lately. I am pretty sure that you can still get TRWs for a budget piston and Kieth Black still makes a pretty good forged piston. Avoid hypeutectics they are not a good compromise. Forged or nothing are your real choices..
****** beat me to it , forged only , the hypers will crack if detonation occurs . Trw is now Sealed power . Keith blacks forged line is called Icons ...and the cr is a little to high for my personal likings I ran 7.5-8 :1 for a good street motor . as for the crank make sure its a forged unit not the **** cast steel one which might crack .
Forged is a must... I've liked what I've read about the Wiseco's. I just want to make sure I get the CR down and go with a solid Piston that'll give me great performance on pump gas. Not a daily, but I want to be able to roll it to shows and perform well on 92.
I'm using icons in my 32, and had trw's in my last blown motor. As they said, a quality forged slug is a must if you plan to actually plan to make boost, which judging from the other parts, its not going to be for show. My cr is approx 8.5:1 and use 93 octane pump gas. Tony
I'm glad you said that....I've been staring at them in the Summit catalog wondering where "Icon" pistons came from.
My engine is not supercharged but when Callies put together the rotating ***embly, they used Wiseco's (forged), very nicely finished. It is an all aluminum Rodeck 427 (SBC), best to look at your engines internals as an investment.
Investing in good parts when building any engine is a good thing, but when talking hi-performance and now a Blown combination, the proper parts selection can save alot of grief and costs down the road. It really is like the old saying " you can pay me now, or you can pay me later"
Agree 100%. I will have to port the heads to match the intake (mondello Ported 2.23) Cnc is my go to there. I'm not objected to spend some bucks for the internals. I have a good start, but still questionable on the pistons. Wiseco's may be what I go with. Considering all options
Wiseco has a great product, not cheap but great service and when you call them they have the time to talk to you. If you're going to run it hard, I prefer a quality I-beam rod and you really should double key the crank. Have fun and good luck!
On a performnce engine, ported heads are not a nessesity, Its forced induction. Now a full race engine is another subject. For the street 9lbs boost is a total kick in the **** and will not try and kill you and can be run with a pretty stock engine
I have Wisecos in my blown 406, they work fine. Engine is built for boost and racing. Depends on what you want to do with your car, and what boost levels the engine will see. That will determine what you need. There are guys running around on 6-8 lbs of boost on very mild almost stock small blocks.
What am I chopped liver? We have them here (@ CP Pistons) I would suggest 8-8.5:1, and if you haven't bought rods yet, go 5.7-5.850, this leaves you more room for ring spacing (thicker/stronger lands. If you go 5.7 rod, you won't need and oil ring spacer, as we can keep the pin out of the oil ring groove with the longer 1.425 compression height (pin height). Don't get caught up in rod ratio with the longer rods, (the blower will make up for any of that), what you want us durability (more piston "under your belt"). Our Bullet line of American forged & machined premium pistons, also come with steel gas nitrided top rings, and ductile (not cast) second rings, that are typically not found in other manufactures "sportsman lines", you don't want a $69.95 ring pack in your blower engine.., trust me. The entire Kit is $680. You can call my desk @ (949)567-9022. I'm out early today for a friends wedding, and will only be in the office Monday & Tuesday next week. Wednsday we go the Performance Racing Industry trade show in Indy. If you get my message machine, I will call you when I return. Thanks, Ric Panneton.
I agree with PB I have wiseco in my sb 9.5 cr,,no problems in 4000 miles mostly street some strip time no dyno but estimated 550 horse and no traction,lots of tire smoke.
Boost is what makes the HP, so lower static compression will allow more aggressive pulley ratio. I'd go 8-8.5. If your blower is wore out, your gonna run it way under driven, and you want it more for show, then 9.0-9.5. The higher the static compression, the less forgiving its gonna be if you make a boo boo with fuel/timing.
I ran Ross's in my superstocker ( 74 400 ss/ka) they know how to make a quality product , some say they are not cheap but when thousandths of a second count you pay for it . they can make a piston to your specs . to me the TRW ( sealed power )units were very heavy and took alot of work to make them light
8 - 1 Diamond forged in my 406. After it was all said and done I'm running 8.14 - 1. I spent good $$$ on the rotating ***embly and rings. Callies Crank, Manley rods etc. Depending where I put the big pulley - I push between 9 and 12 lbs through a converted GMC 6-71. Listen to what Ric is telling you. I would have gone with his package if I had known him during the build. (wait - that didn't sound right....) Don't forget to go with a blower cam as well. A little overlap is a good thing. Air and fuel going in is not a problem with forced induction. Getting it all out is harder... Good exhaust valves, overlap cam and big tube headers make life easier. Careful with the 400 block. The issues are Heat and Hp. 400 blocks are notorious for running hot and adding a heat pump compressing air and fuel will add to your issues. Make sure your cooling system is up to snuff...Trust me - I was the most frustrated racer at Meltdown 4 and I'm using a Dart block. The Hp problem is the inherent weakness of the 400 block. Anything up to and around 500 Hp and your good to go. Anything past that and you need to be careful. You are adding a 2nd key-way on the crank snout - right ??
Another area of weakness with the SBC is the stock crank snout. Double keyed is a given, but you have to be very careful with your belt tension. Too tight can lead to catasrophic crank failure at the snout. When I bought parts for my last build I ordered a big block snout on the Crank to avoid that issue. This is more a racing build issue but still with a street build, belt tension is critical.
I was explaining how Ross can make any custom piston , and I have seen some lite blower pistons ( light for a nitro piston ) they make , they hardly had a skirt to them but the weight was around the north end of the pin boss . mine were machined everywhere and made a bad paperweight . and wouldn't last 10K miles on the street but they were not made for the street .
and is how to make money disapear very quickly ... but its fun .. and fun to watch someones face when you tell a person 1 piston costs as much as a set of 8 cast ones ,
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