have had two good engine builders swear on the lives of their loved ones that the Pistons they wanted to push for a sale are THE BEST YOU CAN BUY. This being JE Pistons (the ones I'm leaning towards ) and Keith black. They're for a hot 1340 EVO build that's a no expense spared build. Anyone who wishes to chime in please do as there are SO many options and opinions it's enough to make your hair turn grey.
Pics of the build to come as progress is made enough for the pics to be interesting.
I had Custom designed JE one off made for my twin Cam i had to order 4. they were great as made to match my chamber perfectly even had swish at the valves. But if you just buy JE will be the forged mass production, they are good they are strong & can run tight clearance. the old days forged needed a lot of clearance as they expanded more as the got hotter, so rattly . Kieth Black EVO pistons are cast they are a good match to the EVO chamber & good pistons. they have a hardening process to make them strong. But have seen a lot fail on hi compression builds , i think from detonation. a mate had them in an EVO 80" ( 1300 ) & it flew he used to Drag race as well as ride it on street, one day at drags it started smoking and runing a bit off so pulled heads one Kieth Black piston had a crack in the top, he went to Forged pistons. a lot of top engine buildders would not use the Kieth Black, but the pistons were a good match to EVO chambers. most of the Foged Harley pistons ok these days seem trouble free. are you rebuilding your bottom end too?
I've been in touch directly with JE in the states and they are going to make me a custom set up at a surprisingly reasonable price. They're .10+ and 10.5:1 with some lower end balancing with stock rods depending on the downstairs play (money IS a factor - but sarcasm don't come across without emoticons!) as I do want the thing built and not save for SS balanced flywheel (drool). The engine builder I spoke to said that at that comp he wants no part of it as the studs would pull out. of their sleeves?! I said would machining a corser thread do
and he said probably. I just wanted the bore and hone done as w'll as valve 5 point valve job. I've looked at the process that the JE go through and there are many levels but all seem solid as all hell and are my first choice. Mind you the bloke that suggested the grenade (as I've herd the K black refered to in literature on mopars) quoted more than double what the first choice for my machining work was. I'm gonna have some rings made up for me here in Aust by perfect seal piston rings, so gapless runner. The price is steep in comparison to wiseco etc but the tolorences and engeneering are worth it in my book. Just thought I'd put it out there as never heard of K black. Thanks chaps. I'm hanging out to start posting pics. Some cool surprises on their way. oh the suspense!!
Sounds great, just as you can rebuild the EVO bottom end, it's a good thing to put a New crank pin in new buttom end Roller Bearings & if you can afford it change balance factor to 52%. well i don't know about having the studs pull out of the cases with 10.5 comp as the Buell i have came stock with EVO sportster studs & 10.5 comp it's more to do with the cam your useing as cranking pressure changes with cam choice so just because you have 10.5 comp. does not mean more force on the studs holding the heads to the cases. go with an experienced Harley Performance engine builder, not just a wrench. good luck with it.
Sounds like you have it all in order, have seen some quick 80 inch EVO's!! the 600 lift cam sounds good & new crank pin & big end rollers great!!
