Are Nickies and JE pistons worth the $$? Options

[rwilner]

Just wondering what the thoughts are here on Nickies and JE pistons vs. boring out stock 1.7 barrels and using KB pistons.

The Nickies approach adds at LEAST $2k to the build. What's the real-world benefit...horsepower? Longevity? Does anyone here have experience with both they can share?

The application here is 96mm, so this is not going to be some overbored insanity engine...a fun street car that will see a few AX / DE events, not a purpose-built track car.

(Reading on the 356 forums guys love them, but the 356 engine is a different animal and some of those guys have cars that cost $100k so an extra $2k in the engine is easier to justify.)

thanks
Rich

[pilothyer]

I am kind of in the same boat, I was looking into getting the AA cylinders with the KB pistons from Jake's Type 4 Store, but have had many negative remarks about the AA cylinders.............So I checked around for places that do the proper bore and hone on my 94 mm original cylinders using a torque plate and they all seem to get around $75 to $80 per cylinder, They all want the pistons sent to them as well for fitting.