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how to clean pistons?

  • Thread starter Thread starter 98COBRA281
  • Start date Start date Aug 29, 2008
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blubullett

Member
Jun 22, 2006
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Modesto, CA
Aug 31, 2008
#21
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #21
DBMSTNG said:
i would not sand blast, or wire brush the pistons. use brake cleaner and a rag. i wouldn't do anything that is going to effect the finish of the pistons, especially on the outside edge and wrist pin location.
Click to expand...

+5000000 Why would you use anything that is going to affect the finish?
 

blkhorse

Founding Member
Oct 30, 1999
345
1
18
Aug 31, 2008
#22
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #22
CobraRed_96_GT said:
that just doesn't make sence, stage III 278AH which are basically impossible to degree and need fly-cutting usually are 242/246. I went to powerhead's site and it posts .510"x.530" cams and no duration specs. Either you got those figures wrong or you're never going to make those work. 230 intake would be really high for a stage 1.
Click to expand...


he is stating adv. duration and your refering to duration at .050

my stage 3 blowers are 238/242 at .050 and 278/282 adv.
 

Gearbanger 101

Straight Outta Locash
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#23
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #23
You would have been further ahead just saving up the money for a set of forged slugs IMO. At least then you'd have a little strength and well as the required valve relief to go with the compression.

There's also no guarantee that the Mark VIII pistons are going to have the required amount of clearance. Who knows how much wear they've got on them and how much is on your block? I do believe the rods between the 2V and 4V engines are slightly different as well, which may or may not affect things.

Just curious, but why would you go through the trouble of pulling the engine apart just to put crappy stock cast pistons back in when PI heads can be had for next to nothing now a days which will not only cut down on the work, but increase your compression to desired levels and increase flow rates over your current NPI heads?
 

98COBRA281

10 Year Member
Nov 24, 2007
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Port St. Lucie, Florida
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#24
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #24
Gearbanger 101 said:
You would have been further ahead just saving up the money for a set of forged slugs IMO. At least then you'd have a little strength and well as the required valve relief to go with the compression.

There's also no guarantee that the Mark VIII pistons are going to have the required amount of clearance. Who knows how much wear they've got on them and how much is on your block? I do believe the rods between the 2V and 4V engines are slightly different as well, which may or may not affect things.

Just curious, but why would you go through the trouble of pulling the engine apart just to put crappy stock cast pistons back in when PI heads can be had for next to nothing now a days which will not only cut down on the work, but increase your compression to desired levels and increase flow rates over your current NPI heads?
Click to expand...

im not just pulling the engine apart to put the pistons in, i am going to rebuild the bottom end with good bearings, windage tray, high volume oil pump, arp studs ect, i cant afford forged internals right now, so i just want to have a fresh, rebuilt motor with a few good performance parts in the bottom end, i plan on totally rebuilding it with all forged parts in a few years from now, but for right now i just want a fresh motor that i can run down a track and not worry about the bottom end, since it does have over 105k on it....
 

Gearbanger 101

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#25
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #25
98COBRA281 said:
im not just pulling the engine apart to put the pistons in, i am going to rebuild the bottom end with good bearings, windage tray, high volume oil pump, arp studs ect, i cant afford forged internals right now, so i just want to have a fresh, rebuilt motor with a few good performance parts in the bottom end, i plan on totally rebuilding it with all forged parts in a few years from now, but for right now i just want a fresh motor that i can run down a track and not worry about the bottom end, since it does have over 105k on it....
Click to expand...

I hate to tell you this, but even with a rebuild there's still no guarantee that you're going to save the bottom end. It'll be alright with normal aspiration, but any sort of power adder will kill it quite easily if your tune or fuel system is lacking in any way.

Also, you stock oil pan has a windage tray built into it, so there's really no need for a second. And unless you plan on really pushing the engine hard with some sort of power adder, the FRPP oil pump is really overkill.

For the work and money involve, you would probably be further ahead just picking yourself up a used, low mileage engine out of an Explorer or something. You should be able to get one for somewhere in the $800-$1,500 range and you'll gain the benefit of the higher flow PI heads and the added weight savings of the aluminum block. Not to mention you won't need to tear into the engine....which trust me....having been a person who's done it on a couple of occasions, is a big plus.
 

CobraRed_96_GT

Active Member
May 20, 2006
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Aug 31, 2008
#26
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #26
He wants to use his ported NPI head with SS valves
 

98COBRA281

10 Year Member
Nov 24, 2007
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Port St. Lucie, Florida
Aug 31, 2008
#27
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #27
Gearbanger 101 said:
I hate to tell you this, but even with a rebuild there's still no guarantee that you're going to save the bottom end. It'll be alright with normal aspiration, but any sort of power adder will kill it quite easily if your tune or fuel system is lacking in any way.

Also, you stock oil pan has a windage tray built into it, so there's really no need for a second. And unless you plan on really pushing the engine hard with some sort of power adder, the FRPP oil pump is really overkill.

For the work and money involve, you would probably be further ahead just picking yourself up a used, low mileage engine out of an Explorer or something. You should be able to get one for somewhere in the $800-$1,500 range and you'll gain the benefit of the higher flow PI heads and the added weight savings of the aluminum block. Not to mention you won't need to tear into the engine....which trust me....having been a person who's done it on a couple of occasions, is a big plus.
Click to expand...

i know it will not make me save the bottom end, it wil just be a new bottom end, and im pretty sure the stock oil pan has no windage tray, the frpp oil pump is only 60$ so it cant hurt

CobraRed_96_GT said:
He wants to use his ported NPI head with SS valves
Click to expand...

and yes i have the ported npi's , ss valves, 3 angle valve job, comp beehive valve springs and had the heads resurfaced for well under $500
 

CobraRed_96_GT

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Aug 31, 2008
#28
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #28
98COBRA281 said:
i know it will not make me save the bottom end, it wil just be a new bottom end, and im pretty sure the stock oil pan has no windage tray, the frpp oil pump is only 60$ so it cant hurt



and yes i have the ported npi's , ss valves, 3 angle valve job, comp beehive valve springs and had the heads resurfaced for well under $500
Click to expand...
professional porting by MMR starts at $550
 

98COBRA281

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Nov 24, 2007
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#29
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #29
CobraRed_96_GT said:
professional porting by MMR starts at $550
Click to expand...

porting by me = free!! if you want to see pics of the port job i can post some up
 

96GT281

New Member
Apr 12, 2008
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Stuart, Fl
Aug 31, 2008
#30
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #30
^ i think that youll put down better numbers than cobra red especially with that other ported item you have
 

98COBRA281

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Port St. Lucie, Florida
Aug 31, 2008
#31
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #31
96GT281 said:
^ i think that youll put down better numbers than cobra red especially with that other ported item you have
Click to expand...

hmm...... i dont know about that, but i gonna try damn hard!!
 

BurningRubber

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Aug 31, 2008
#32
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #32
I'd like to see some porting pics!!!
 

CobraRed_96_GT

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May 20, 2006
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Aug 31, 2008
#33
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #33
96GT281 said:
^ i think that youll put down better numbers than cobra red especially with that other ported item you have
Click to expand...
If we measure crank hp/tq even with him having LT's im willing to make a wager on that.
 

96GT281

New Member
Apr 12, 2008
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Stuart, Fl
Aug 31, 2008
#34
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #34
CobraRed_96_GT said:
If we measure crank hp/tq even with him having LT's im willing to make a wager on that.
Click to expand...

how much we talkin? how much do you honesly think your gonna have at the crank?
 

CobraRed_96_GT

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May 20, 2006
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Aug 31, 2008
#35
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #35
96GT281 said:
how much we talkin? how much do you honesly think your gonna have at the crank?
Click to expand...
I dunno, something just for sporting fun. Like the loser has to buy stangnet decal(s) for the other or something else insignificant. I honestly don't know how much crank i'm going to put out because I haven't seen my exact set-up's dyno #'s, and i'll admit you and 98Cobra don't know every facet of my parts, but i don't know his either.
 

98COBRA281

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Port St. Lucie, Florida
Aug 31, 2008
#36
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #36
BurningRubber said:
I'd like to see some porting pics!!!
Click to expand...

here's a few

dont mind the hairy leg


exhaust port with ford gasket




intake port with pi gasket

 

98COBRA281

10 Year Member
Nov 24, 2007
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Port St. Lucie, Florida
Aug 31, 2008
#37
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #37
CobraRed_96_GT said:
I dunno, something just for sporting fun. Like the loser has to buy stangnet decal(s) for the other or something else insignificant. I honestly don't know how much crank i'm going to put out because I haven't seen my exact set-up's dyno #'s, and i'll admit you and 98Cobra don't know every facet of my parts, but i don't know his either.
Click to expand...

same here, i honestly have no clue what i will be putting down with the few parts i have
 

BurningRubber

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Aug 31, 2008
#38
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #38
Sweet pics.

Nice leg...
 

Gearbanger 101

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#39
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #39
98COBRA281 said:
and im pretty sure the stock oil pan has no windage tray, the frpp oil pump is only 60$ so it cant hurt
Click to expand...
Well...I've had more than a couple of them apart and I can tell you unequivocally that the stock pans have got windage trays built right into them.

98COBRA281 said:
here's a few

dont mind the hairy leg


exhaust port with ford gasket




intake port with pi gasket

Click to expand...
Try not to take this the wrong way…..

It’s not a horrible job, but they do look as though you rushed them a little. To be honest they still like they're a long way from being finished. There's still a lot of meat left in the ports on the intake side and I see tons of scuffs and gouges in the port walls on both sides.

The pics don't show any real comparison between the ports, but I really hope you were uniform in your porting and took your time. Nothing ruins a port job like inconsistency and just simply gasket matching the port openings doesn’t mean you’ve increased the flow substantially. Remember.....size and shaper are more important than volume in most cases. Especially in a N/A application. It’s wasn’t quite as easy as you thought it would be, is it?

I still think you would be further ahead right now to start fresh with a set of stock PI castings and just transfer your valve train over to them, but its your money.
 

98COBRA281

10 Year Member
Nov 24, 2007
1,348
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59
Port St. Lucie, Florida
Aug 31, 2008
#40
  • Aug 31, 2008
  • #40
Gearbanger 101 said:
Try not to take this the wrong way…..

It’s not a horrible job, but they do look as though you rushed them a little. To be honest they still like they're a long way from being finished. There's still a lot of meat left in the ports on the intake side and I see tons of scuffs and gouges in the port walls on both sides.

The pics don't show any real comparison between the ports, but I really hope you were uniform in your porting and took your time. Nothing ruins a port job like inconsistency and just simply gasket matching the port openings doesn’t mean you’ve increased the flow substantially. Remember.....size and shaper are more important than volume in most cases. Especially in a N/A application. It’s wasn’t quite as easy as you thought it would be, is it?

I still think you would be further ahead right now to start fresh with a set of stock PI castings and just transfer your valve train over to them, but its your money.
Click to expand...

you think theres still more to be taken out? because i wouldnt mind taking the valve train back out to do some more work and smooth them out some more, towards the end of them i did a little rushing, and yes i have atleat 10+ hours of work in them...

Dang.... now i want to port them more
 
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