Hey all, so I'm shopping for some new pistons and cylinders. I was thinking of going used, but I'm worried about wear and stuff, so I figure new is the way to go. The two I'm stuck between are the ebay ones and the bird site's version.

ebay for $299

PP for $550

Can anyone see the reason for 250 extra for the PP ones? Is there a difference? And before anyone asks.. Nickies are way out of my range.

Thanks for the info
-- Steve

Usually the Chinese cylinders and pistons go for the $299 price as since there isnt a ACTUAL pic of them in the Ebay ad.....stay away.


Quality cost money, also you can rebore your 94's out.


Geoff

it was my understanding (I think Brad mentioned this) that all the Mahle P/C's are made in china now.

Chine has become a serious manufacturer of automotive parts. As long as they are guaranteed, I dont see a reason to not try them...as long as you can return them if they are not round or whatever.

Rich

Used is okay if you have a good machinist to bore them out. 96MM big bore kit should run $500 new.

QUOTE (Bleyseng @ Jan 24 2005, 07:02 PM)

Usually the Chinese cylinders and pistons go for the $299 price as since there isnt a ACTUAL pic of them in the Ebay ad.....stay away. Quality cost money, also you can rebore your 94's out. Geoff

I was thinking about that.. they'd get bored out to what, 96? are pistons readily available for 96mm? would that drop the compression a whole lot?

QUOTE

it was my understanding (I think Brad mentioned this) that all the Mahle P/C's are made in china now.

I thought it was Brazil..???

QUOTE

was thinking about that.. they'd get bored out to what, 96? are pistons readily available for 96mm? would that drop the compression a whole lot?

actually, increasing the bore, increases the compression ever so slightly, and that's a good thing with our motors (to a point of course)

can you wait a few weeks? Jake of Air Cooled Technology should have his website up and running by then, it might be worth the wait

I can easily wait a few weeks, but I've gotta tell you, and with no offense to Jake, all his stuff is way out of my range.. Its worth the money, completely.. but I just don't have that cash to drop.. 500 for a set of pistons/cylinders is stretching it.. stupid shoestring budget..

Whats coming out on his site?

I looked at those when I was going to buy new P&C's but I didn't like this line

QUOTE

MANUFACTURE IS MAHLE or AA.

QUOTE

Whats coming out on his site?

I'm not 100%, but I think it''ll be more "store" like for buying stuff

I'll be selling a set of barely used 94 flat top pistons and cylinders in a few weeks once I get them back from Jake, they have less than 300 miles on them (actually one piston and cylinder has 0 miles on it)...cheap asian stuff, but they work.......

QUOTE (SLKWrx @ Jan 24 2005, 11:19 PM)

I can easily wait a few weeks, but I've gotta tell you, and with no offense to Jake, all his stuff is way out of my range..  Its worth the money, completely.. but I just don't have that cash to drop.. 500 for a set of pistons/cylinders is stretching it.. stupid shoestring budget.. Whats coming out on his site?

I think he's going to have a full T4 e-store up and running. Real cool stuff.

96 P&C's $550
Don't quote me on that, but I'm pretty sure that will be the price. (I have my sources )
Might be exchange on your german cylinders.

ok.. so maybe I'll put my efforts towards a car that has less rust for now.. when you say a few weeks though, does that mean end of febuary or is it more like a few months?

Mueller, keep me in mind when you decide to sell, I may be interested.

So a little off topic but definitly in theme: What is a better choice 94 Euro's or 96's ?

No replacement for displacement

I think the KB's are a bit lighter, but have a little bit of slap for the first 30sec.

German euro's might last a bit longer, don't know about todays offerings though.
Jake has said the non-german cylinders suck...poor QC.

96mm setup with the same 8:1 compression ratio.

I think the consensus on the current Mahle & imports kits is that the cylinders are lousy castings. The Males are made in Brazil & the imports are made in China. The Chinese P&C's are said to have piston slap right out of the box.

Jake sold me a set of 96mm KB pistons and bored German cylinders. You have to have a set of usable German 94's as cores. He spends some time boring the cylinders and making sure the ends are square. I don't remember the exact price but it was more than the imports and maybe a little less the the Mahles from PP.

I haven't installed them yet. Probably going to cc the heads in the next couple of days.

The German cylinders are the best way to go, no doubt! My engines exclusively use them.

BUT, I am working with the China cylinder guys as well as the ones made in Mexico to buy blank cylinders and finish them here in house.

Not everyone can afford the Bored German cylinders so we have to have an alternative set and something for our economy engine kits.

Boring those German cylinders is an extreme task, most of them need lathe work to true them up and then we give them a plateau finish set up exclusively for the rings that will be getting ran with them.

FYI- I have never bought an aftermarket cylinder that had the finish to compliment the roughness average of the rings being used! Ask some parts pusher that question and get a big "Huh?"

Everything is about to change, one week from today!

Jake, weren't the rumblings of an iron 98mm cylinder being tested?

Before you buy anything from "West Coast Core", I would do a search here and maybe on PP.

I read some threads here...not saying anything....just do your homework!

I bought AA's from West Coast Core...installed and running euros's. So far , so good but it's my first re build so only time will tell. No slap that I can detect and the quality out of the box was preety good IMHO.

If you go with Jake there will be NO QUESTION on quality for price.

QUOTE (newdeal2 @ Jan 25 2005, 09:29 AM)

I bought AA's from West Coast Core...installed and running euros's. So far , so good but it's my first re build so only time will tell.  No slap that I can detect and the quality out of the box was preety good IMHO. If you go with Jake there will be NO QUESTION on quality for price.

PS!

The Mahle's they sell are bus pistons. That's what I was sent in error the first go around and they credited the cost of shipping then sent the correct AA's [once I agreed to accept them].

I would like to hear from others on ACTUAL installation, out of box on the AA"s before judging. The wrist pins were a dead on fit , etc.

I am still sorting/breaking in my engine so it's a little early but it's running pretty strong.

AA Imports advertises in Excellance or Panorama, you can buy directly from them.

My 1st purchase from them I had to return 2 cylinders, 1 had a crack on the bottom (dropped??) and the other 1 was a bad casting (small hole in the top of the cylinder)

customer service was excellent*, they replaced the bad parts and payed for shipping.....my last purchase from them was one 94mm euro/flattop piston, they sent me a 96mm flattop (with valve reliefs) instead....one call and they sent off the correct piston and told me to keep the 96mm piston, it was not worth it to them to pay for shipping (like $6 or so???)

I didn't notice too much extra noise upon install...my current motor which is a 1.8 with what we believe to be aftermarket pistons and cylinders is very loud when dead cold, once the motor warms up, the motor is much, much less noisey.....

*English being their second language can be a challange, but it's not that big of a deal

I have some economy sets planned that are inspected and checked for issues, and balancing as an option.

i was just shopping for these this morning. BOOZAK has the euro spec mahles for $509.
with free shipping
usa spec is a little cheaper.

I have had them all along for $500. Odd no one mentions that.

Got mine from GPR. $495.00