who was it that mentioned .020 over pistons for the mini? this is a just in case deal; ... knock on wood .

 

Hubie and Brian from Fireballed would be a good place to start... I know they used them for people beofre

 

well the tear down begins this summer . if need be (hope not ) i'll get it bored to .020 over . could add some torque !! but well above budget . that would mean porting and ccing the head myself with iffy results as i have no flow bench . so balancing the ports wouldn't be an issue but flowing them would . it'll be nice to get it healthy again .

 

oh right on... well I will say that it takes agood amount of damage to need to go to .020 over... ussually just honing them out is enough... again... this is all good stuff for you to go over with the guys if you are unsure... :D

 

We have both stock bore and .020 forged custom pistons in stock if you need them.

Thanks Tuls!

 

What is the stock piston size (figure)?

 

cool . whos pistons are you selling ? are they made for you ? if so ; good on you ,that's a heavy order . are they better at the top land then the stockers? and i assume they're well balanced . no .010 overs?

 

I'm the one that has 20 over stock. I just got them from Fireballed the other day and were sent to the machine shop. The only reason I had to do this because the OEM piston had a hole through it and messed up the block. My motor will all so be balanced before going back into my Mini along with APR studs.
Mario

 

I am installing the Fireballed stock sized pistons in a couple of weeks. Should be able to give you all some feedback as to ease of install etc. I am not planning on pulling the crank. Just taking the head off, dropping the oil pan and exchanging the rod bolts for ARP's. Should be fun. I think JE makes the pistons, but Brian could confirm or deny this.

 

ENDYN also offers custom pistons in stock and overbore sizes.

http://www.theoldone.com/components/pistons/index.html

 

Our pistons are our own design, the ring lands are beefed up and there are some other design changes that went into them. We have made well over 400whp on these pistons on boost alone and even more with a little n2o, they have also seen 40 psi of boost so they are definitely strong!!!

We haven't done any .010 but we could if there is a need.

Right now we have a couple sets of stock bore and a couple sets of .020, no waiting, they are in stock.

 

Changing pistons is a fine idea for an engine that is controlled by a standalone ecu. But if you are using the stock ecu you are best to use the stock Mahle pistons. The reason is that the knock sensor is tuned for the frequency given off by the Mahle pistons. Due to different materials and designs aftermarket pistons, e.g., Wiseco, JE, CP, will give off a different frequency thus potentially hampering the entire system.
This notion was first introduced to me by John at Lucky Dog Garage. I confirmed this with a call to my contact (of 20 years) at Mahle.

 

Since the topic came up, does any of the aftermarket systems like mth or or the custom tunes still use the knock sensor and variable timing, or do the aftermarket systems eliminate that? Thanks

Beecher

 

guess we need to learn how to read plugs again . does mahle make a bigger size? reason i ask is i think i've probly got a semy seized ring ; with possible bore damage ; though it's not burning oil . or if it is ,it's minimal . but the blow bye is certain. and the wet test was conclusive to rings . only one cyl. # 4 . not to stray too far ; but is the stock fly wheel neutral balanced? i was gonna get the crank checked ; but don't know what it's balanced at . i know guys are buying aftermarket flywheels but that's all i know on it .

 

i would assume they wouldn't eliminate a good insurance policy already in place . it wouldn't be good for business to be paying for engines . just my .02 . p.s. i think they can play with the timing a bit but i think the knock sensor is still functional . cool ?

 

I have been running aftermarket pistons for almost two years...

while I agree with Don in some cases (like some of the EVOs I have see/done...VERY noisy...sound like TDIs..LOL) Hubie and the Brain....did alot of testing to ensure there was no ill effects... especially for the .020 pistons and have no problems with the car running as quite as stock and not pulling any timing due to it thinking there is knock from loose rattling pistons..

 

i think what don is saying(not to put words in his mouth but ) is there is thought to be a danger of NOT pulling timing when an otherwise stock piston would . ; therebye allowing detonation to occur without the system knowing due to it being at the wrong freq. .

 

you are correct

 

aren't they just the CP pistons?

 

Don could you ask your contact what the safe horsepower limit of the Mahle piston is before they start cracking.

You say "thus potentially" have you or John tested any back to back under load and read what the timing is doing, if so how many degrees difference was there

 

this is getting interesting yeah ?

 

i always assumed knock sensors were getting pinging from the block . we would hit the block with a hammer to see if the timing would retard to see then if the sensor would be working . but the idea of a specific frequency keying on the pistons i.e. the weak link is cool .

 

LOL again... it's a NONE issue.... I know the NAM is overly technical all the time... but ok ok ... so you read some blah blah blah in some book... that's great... anyway, call the guys at fireballed.... thier stuff is tried, true, tested, and just down right (as they say over the pond) proper....

again.. been running them for two years maybe more.... I forget....

 

sounds good man . can you put this to bed and give the block a couple 'o raps to see if the knock sensor's workin' .

 

kinda sure... but if this helps

for me...testing this stuff was.. or anything for that matter.... is not putting it on and starting the car... " OH IT WORKS!"

I took a week alone of dyno testing just watching timing, checking pinging... etc... the car took alot of abuse but the only way to truley know if somethign is right is to test it... and the cars ran the same... normal timing for 91 is around 18 degrees.... sometimes 20 if you get a good batch.... then on 104 gt plus it will just stick at 30 and hold.... it's beautiful.... and with the pistons... it was exactly the same... car was happy as stock... except there was one time where a car had some bad gas... lol... I have seen it pull till 6 degrees... very impressive that the mini has that kinda resolution....