Here it is ladies and gentlemen the serch has come to an end but you'd better hurry-I've already ordered mine-these pistons make 10:1 compression with 76.2cc heads. The deck clearence is 0.028 and the compression height is 1.64. The Ertel part number is 1282P but they won't sell them to you without an account so they had to crossreference the number with a company in texas and that one is 400-10S-and then the oversize (20 or 30 or whatever). The number to this place is 1888-855-9712- and ask for brian- and the race is on! they don't have many-good luck

 

The 1282P piston will only make 9.0:1 compression ratio with the most prevalent M block heads. You can go a little higher by shaving the heads and deck. You don't want to go much higher than 9:1 with a 9.5:1 max on pump gas.

The deal is this:

Ertel, Ohio, and Nylen are divisions of the Ertel Manufacturing company which in turn is a division of DynaGear which IS going out of business around the end of February. I called this number yesterday (800)-443-1905 and found that they have a number of the 1282P pistons still in stock. They had:

1282P @ .020 over <=265 each
1282P @ .STD <=48 each

They charge a jobber price of $15.40 each for these pistons. A machine shop will probably mark them up some.

If you want some pistons you had better get them this week or they will be gone. You have to go thru a Jobber to get them.

Apparently the Ertel division that made valve guides had a leak in a solvent tank which contaminated a bunch of dirt 14' deep. The EPA has ordered it cleaned up at a cost of $15 million which has bankrupted the companies involved. Apparently DynaGear had just purchased Ertel when the EPA made their discovery and DynaGear was saddled with the cleanup cost. They could not afford it so a lot of people are loosing their jobs as the companies liquidate. I do not know if anyone will buy any of the molds and equipment for making the 1282P piston or if anyone that does buy it will be interested in producing them. Most piston companies seem to be only interested in producing GM pistons... Probably because GM's break down far oftener and therefore the aftermarket makers see a higher volume. You know these old Ford engines last forever if they are built properly.

 

And of course, the situation above is a sterling example of what occurs when you Vote Democrats into office.

 

You got that right...

 

Are you sure that they only make 9.0:1 because when I got the dimentions they told me 10:1 w/a 76.2cc head. If so, how much should I shave the heads with 0.040 gasgets? Price?

 

Don't sweat the 9:1 compression. Increasing compression to 9.5:1 is only worth 0.9% more power. Not 9%, I really mean 0.9%. Refer to the compression graph in David Vizards, How to Build Horsepower V1. This have been verified with a desk top dyno program.

That's about 3 HP. Consider a thermal barrier coating on your pistons and chambers. 3-4% power improvements and improved gas mileage is common. The .015" coating thickness will also raise the compression slightly.

 

thanks Brian for saving me the trouble-is this coating something that must be done by a machine shop? If so, will any shop be able to do this? Price?

 

I'll have to look for more sites when I get a chance. To get an idea, this one was I had handy.
http://www.hpcoatings.com/engine_coatings.htm

They make do it yourself kits but it's hard to compete with the quality of a professional application.