Used pistons and cylinders value Options

[jmargush]

Is there a value/ market for used pistons and cylinders?
Particularly 1.8

Or is it just as good to scrap them for aluminum and steel $?

[Jack Standz]

The metallurgy and quality of original cylinders is supposed to be far superior to currently available new cylinders.

Don’t take this the wrong way.

Where’s the data? We’ve all seen the internet claims but has anyone actually done a metallurgical analysis. I surely haven’t seen it but would love to see it if it exists.

Don’t get me wrong there is plenty of crap out there and it’s getting worse but I’ve also seen plenty of crap quality come out of Porsche within recent memory too.

Not trying to pick on AA pistons, Porsche or anyone else. There is some insanely high quality metal that comes out of China. It just isn’t cheap and I certainly don’t want to imply that it is in cheap aftermarket parts. In much the same manner, it’s a disservice to say it’s all crap (not what you did - not accusing here).

I’m consistently disappointed that the aftermarket doesn’t do a better job of actually specifying what standards their parts meet. It’s usually some generic crap like meets or exceeds OEM standards which is often not quite true.

Over 20 years ago, Jake Raby said he had built over a thousand motors using OEM German cylinders.
This is all the data we need.

So, unless you have data that the Chinese cylinders you can actually find for sale today are as good as OEM German cylinders, we're going to go with the OEM ones.

So, to answer the question if those cylinders you have are worth saving. Check for damage and measure them.