Piston delipping specs?
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More Turbo
Joined: Sep 2015
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From: Texas
Piston delipping specs?
I'm guessing everyone that cuts pistons keeps it a mystery because I've never seen real numbers. Gotta guard them secrets like hpops...
What I thought I'd do is make a form tool that I could chuck in a boring head to just bump the lip radius a bit, but any idea what the limits are?
For example, would opening the bowl up 3 thou to get it there be too much, or is that not even close to making any difference?
Is delipping even still a thing with the Mahle pistons being thicker than OEM? I see it offered just about everywhere pistons are sold, but does that mean it is still a must-have feature?
Still in the planning & parts accumulation stage, I don't even have the engine yet and the pistons won't come until I know what the bore will be.
Just some lunchtime musings...
What I thought I'd do is make a form tool that I could chuck in a boring head to just bump the lip radius a bit, but any idea what the limits are?
For example, would opening the bowl up 3 thou to get it there be too much, or is that not even close to making any difference?
Is delipping even still a thing with the Mahle pistons being thicker than OEM? I see it offered just about everywhere pistons are sold, but does that mean it is still a must-have feature?
Still in the planning & parts accumulation stage, I don't even have the engine yet and the pistons won't come until I know what the bore will be.
Just some lunchtime musings...
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From: north of Minneapolis, MN
I wonder what the increase in cylinder volume would be then.
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From: Texas
That seems pretty extreme compared to the descriptions I've read "The de-lip is just to get rid of the sharp edge, we do not cut into the bowl very far as not to disrupt the swirl or re-entry..."
I'm guessing there is one shop supplying machined pistons as that description of the delipping process is identical on several sites, including the use of the exact same pictures.
Then again if swamps cut the lip out completely, I guess I can be a lot less worried about taking off too much. Just need to find a happy middle between preventing cracks and not dropping too much compression or taking off too many swirlies.
After I got some sleep I realized that's not the way boring heads work since it would be an undercut.
I'm guessing there is one shop supplying machined pistons as that description of the delipping process is identical on several sites, including the use of the exact same pictures.
Then again if swamps cut the lip out completely, I guess I can be a lot less worried about taking off too much. Just need to find a happy middle between preventing cracks and not dropping too much compression or taking off too many swirlies.
After I got some sleep I realized that's not the way boring heads work since it would be an undercut.
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From: Texas
Not disagreeing with that, and I'm not entirely convinced delipping is still needed on the newer thicker pistons.
Coatings were going to be the topic of my next discussion. Cerakote claims quite a lot with what they offer, and their skirt coating sounds promising as well.
Coatings were going to be the topic of my next discussion. Cerakote claims quite a lot with what they offer, and their skirt coating sounds promising as well.
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From: N.GA Mountains
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From: Texas
That is interesting. Now 3 examples of delipping with no undercut, just taking the lip off entirely. That would be a lot easier to do.
If the reputable sources don't seem to have any issues from fully removing the lip, I guess I don't either. Just seems extreme from how I thought it would be.
I was just reading a thing about some golfball pistons
https://www.motortrend.com/news/golf...ine-technology
Definitely not something for the manual mill people.
If the reputable sources don't seem to have any issues from fully removing the lip, I guess I don't either. Just seems extreme from how I thought it would be.
I was just reading a thing about some golfball pistons
https://www.motortrend.com/news/golf...ine-technology
Definitely not something for the manual mill people.
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 12,782
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From: N.GA Mountains
Seems like this would definitely increase volume in combustion chamber and would reduce compression - but I guess not by much???
Ive never torn down an engine with delipped pistons, but many of the engines I’ve torn down had cracks in the lip area. I would 100% de-lip if building an engine.
Ive never torn down an engine with delipped pistons, but many of the engines I’ve torn down had cracks in the lip area. I would 100% de-lip if building an engine.
Lead Driver
Joined: Jun 2013
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From: north of Minneapolis, MN
That is interesting. Now 3 examples of delipping with no undercut, just taking the lip off entirely. That would be a lot easier to do.
If the reputable sources don't seem to have any issues from fully removing the lip, I guess I don't either. Just seems extreme from how I thought it would be.
I was just reading a thing about some golfball pistons
https://www.motortrend.com/news/golf...ine-technology
Definitely not something for the manual mill people.
If the reputable sources don't seem to have any issues from fully removing the lip, I guess I don't either. Just seems extreme from how I thought it would be.
I was just reading a thing about some golfball pistons
https://www.motortrend.com/news/golf...ine-technology
Definitely not something for the manual mill people.
But not at $3700 for a set of pistons...
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 13,100
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From: Henderson, NV
That is interesting. Now 3 examples of delipping with no undercut, just taking the lip off entirely. That would be a lot easier to do.
If the reputable sources don't seem to have any issues from fully removing the lip, I guess I don't either. Just seems extreme from how I thought it would be.
I was just reading a thing about some golfball pistons
https://www.motortrend.com/news/golf...ine-technology
Definitely not something for the manual mill people.
If the reputable sources don't seem to have any issues from fully removing the lip, I guess I don't either. Just seems extreme from how I thought it would be.
I was just reading a thing about some golfball pistons
https://www.motortrend.com/news/golf...ine-technology
Definitely not something for the manual mill people.
