I pulled my engine out and sent it to the machine shop. They bored it .030 over and tanked it for me. Turns out the cylinders were tapered pretty bad and some of my pistons were coming apart.

I have D3VE-A2A heads and a D9TE block. The heads are stock and the block was bored .030 over. I will be using stock rods with a stock crank as well.

I've looked/searched the forum and there's just so many different pistons out there I'm not sure which one to get. I have the knowledge and ability to assemble this beast, just lack a little in the background knowledge to make an informed decision of which piston to put in it.

 

any name brand (including federal) ...cast piston is an oem spec replacement.

 

Any machine shop that bores cylinders without piston in hand is no place to take your engine.

 

Machine shops are slim pickin around here and I wasn't planning on it getting bored, but that's all a moot point because it's all done now.

The thing I'm having trouble with is picking which piston top type to get i.e. Dish, flat top, 2 valve relief, etc. I'm just not sure.

The engine is going in a weekend mud toy/occasional dump run truck. I'm not wanting to go really crazy with it.

 

subscribing ... and forgive me if i threadjack a bit ...

was also wondering about piston choice.

is it possible to order pistons with a taller Compression Height to bring the pistons up "out of the hole" to zero deck height rather than decking the the block to achieve the same?

just curious, as this would seem to solve a great many problems inherent to the 460's and would keep from having alignment problems with the intake if you deck the block.

 

yes, but the machine shop need to(should be) involved to check the heads, valves, etc for clearance......without that level of expertise (assuming you are not familiar with this element) it is really best to get oem replacement style.

 

Will a set of these Speed-pro H418CP30 from summit will work? I have a D9TE block and as far as I know the deck hasn't been milled and heads are D3VE.

 

would they work? probably but I don't see a dish volume so can't figure your compression with them. BUT they are probably pretty much stock so figure around 8:1 most likely with your combination.

Having to make a bunch of guesses on your combination like actual deck height etc I would say your looking for a flat top with valve reliefs in the 12cc range. using a in the hole of .030 and standard volume on the heads would net you just over 9:1 giving you a lot better power.

Personally I would have the block decked for no other reason then to straighten it out. I have never seen a factory block with a straight deck on it. usually as much as .008 off from end to end.

 

. Check the Silvolite/UEM pistons catalog on line and see what compression height pistons are offered to get an idea of what's available... Silvolite also makes the KB pistons line which usually offers the highest compression height... eBay sometimes has some good piston prices... I'd prolly go KB hypereutectic cast 2 eyebrow flat tops...

 

What type of piston head is OEM spec? Unfortunately having the deck milled is not an option at this point and I need to get the least expensive piston available.

 

. 1960's - 1970 engines usually had flat top pistons and 9:1 or higher compression ratio... later engines had dished tops, lower compression heights, and 7's:1 compression ratio (usually listed as a nominal 8:1 or 8.5:1) and retarded cam timing and big loss in power and MPG...

. Cast pistons with 4-eyebrow flat tops prolly your best bet for price, MPG, and power... make them hypereutectic cast if you can afford it, since it sounds like you abuse it some with oversized tires and mud and your old (stock basic cast) ones couldn't take it...

 

I looked at the silvolite catalog and the part number that would be for my application is 1143H-030. I looked them up on summit and they are nearly identical to the Sealed Power H418CP30 pistons; in fact the sealed power part number is in the silvolite catalog as interchangeable.

The two differences I saw was the compression height silvolite is 1.760 and sealed power is 1.752; and dish size silvolite is .230 deep and sealed power is .240 deep. Are these differences major? Thanks for all the help.

 

Try this:
Engine Compression Ratio (CR) Calculator

there will be a difference in CR between the two.

might have to look up what the stock compression height is, and how far down in the hole the stock piston ends up (on average). use the difference in the piston CH to calculate the Piston Deck Clearance. (will still be a positive number in the calculator).

 

. Compression heights Sealed Power 1.752", Silvolite 1.760", and KB (deceased racer/engine builder Keith Black design) by Silvolite 1.772" (dished, flat, or minidome tops)...

. I'd shell out for the KB flat tops for strength, engine quench, and performance...

http://www.summitracing.com/search?S...20KB%20pistons