Excluding issues related to piston to valve clearance, piston coming out of the cylinder, forged vs cast and compression is piston selection critical to making power/preventing detonation?

The reason I ask is my builder tends to go to a particular guy/manufacturer to buy pistons. I don't recall the brand. They are probably great for race applications but not sure about the latest street/strip applications.

Is it worth while to try to convince him to call someone like Brian Nutter from Weisco who seems to have done a lot of these application?

Does it make that much difference? He talked about getting flat top pistons but I thought they weren't very good as far as promoting combustion efficiency. I am really clueless about much of this stuff.

 

Mostly depends on your application. If it's a stock rebuild etc there are a lot of companys that make acceptable pistons for many applications. A lot depends on how knowledgeable the engine builder is at selecting the correct parts for your application.

For my current 382 build my engine builder was adamant the pistons were going to be Wiseco, for all the reasons listed in another thread about oil control etc.

 

I second the Wiseco, good quality, good $$. If you are NA you'll usualy run flat tops with valve reliefs.
For most applications, I like Wiseco 2cc reliefs. Fits big cams and no need to mill head too much for high compression.

 

Honestly what you are asking is a very loaded question I wold say... Piston selection is everything...

Who does your engine builder use?


All my friends here have Diamonds and have NEVER had a problem with them...