good company for cylinder and piston sets, engine components question. Options

[ModPR3]

i have found the following companys that manufacture type 4 cylinder and piston sets. are there any more that i am missing and which do you perfer yourself. EMW, Mahle, and Econo. these are priced from $300 - $500. ive also been researching nickies but they are over $2000. are they worth it. what are the real world advantages in a daily driven street car. the way i see it i can rebuild my engine 4 times for the price of 1 set of nickies. thanks for the help.

[Cap'n Krusty]

Mahle is OE (K&S is too), I would go with them. The Cap'n

[Joe Ricard]

Nikkies @ 2 grand does not include the pistons so with your logic you could rebuild it 5 times (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

[Jake Raby]

Type 4 Store

My deluxe 96mm arrangement is the best on the market for cast iron cylinders. Read their description thoroughly.

The KB Hypereuctectic pistons are excellent and to date we still have not maxxed them out CR wise, or HP wise.

Do some searches here on the subject and you'll see there is more to think about than just cost.

Oil consumption, ease of assembly and overall life are all seriously impacted by the choice made for pistons and cylinders.

[mudfoot76]

QUOTE (Cap'n Krusty @ Feb 22 2006, 01:46 PM)

Mahle is OE (K&S is too),  I would go with them.  The Cap'n

Also note that there were two types of Type 4 pistons unsed in 914s, flat top and dished. You get _slightly_ more power with the flat toppers (Euro spec). I bought my Mahle flat-tops from Pelican...

Edit: Just saw Jake's post and looked at the KB 96mm, that is a pretty sweet deal......

This post has been edited by mudfoot76: Feb 22 2006, 02:11 PM

[Mueller]

i've bought and used the "econo" pistons and cylinders before....I'd spend the extra money for the good stuff if building a "keeper" motor....

[TROJANMAN]

QUOTE (Cap'n Krusty @ Feb 22 2006, 10:46 AM)

Mahle is OE (K&S is too),  I would go with them.  The Cap'n

what he said. look for the flat top euro specs.

and make sure someone doesn't sell you the BUS type.

[Mark Henry]

QUOTE (ModPR3 @ Feb 22 2006, 01:54 PM)

ive also been researching nickies but they are over $2000. are they worth it. what are the real world advantages in a daily driven street car. the way i see it i can rebuild my engine 4 times for the price of 1 set of nickies. thanks for the help.

It all depends on what you want. The value of the nickies is they last a long time and keep the head temps down.
For a done right $4000+ rebuild, Nickies only double the price.

I've used them all, the flat tops work fine, but the price is now getting up near Jake's 96's. Don't get the 96's from anybody but Jake. Nickies if you can afford them or want to go bigger than the 96mm's.

Just don't go for the lowest price.

[Jake Raby]

Yeah, Nickies are worth the price if you are making over 180 HP..... Wear is eliminated, temps drop, and the performance doors open VERY wide!

Here is a pic of the largest Nickie ever made after 13,500 miles of driving time. A cast iron cylinder sees this much wear in 20 minutes of run time!

(IMG:http://www.aircooledtechnology.com/r_d_3_OH/teardown/First%20group%20of%20pics%20026.jpg)

And here is the power the engine generated.
(IMG:http://www.aircooledtechnology.com/r_d_3_OH/buildup/3.0%20prototype%20RAT%20dyno.JPG)

Thats on pump gas, through the muffler!

BUT if you just want 100 K miles of rliability making less power then follow Mark's advice.