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Help Me Pick Pistons For 408 Build

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Old Nov 16, 2015 | 05:23 PM
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Default Help Me Pick Pistons For 408 Build

I have been researching about pistons for a lq4 stroker 402-408 build that I will be doing and trying to find out which will be best. I am planning on a NA build for now, small nitrous shot down the road potentially. I have been talking with many people and reading a bunch of stuff. I am kind of leaning towards wiesco; however have been hearing lots of good things about Diamond and CP bullets. I keep getting different opinions so i thought I would post it on here to see what you guys think are best value and best pistons for me; and also why?

If you have any links to good articles about which piston please feel free to add it, I have been trying to use search on the forum and google also.

The intake will be a fast 102 with a fast 102 tb and afr 230 heads. Cam and compression ratio still undetermined however will need to run on 92 octane as often that is best I can find around me.

thanks in advance for any input.
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Old Nov 16, 2015 | 09:07 PM
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The Wiseco K kits for the LS engine are the best bang for your dollar out there.
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Old Nov 16, 2015 | 09:39 PM
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Originally Posted by machinistone
The Wiseco K kits for the LS engine are the best bang for your dollar out there.
I agree, but the Mahle stuff looks interesting too. They're putting 1mm/1mm/2mm rings packs in their shelf piston sets now.
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Old Nov 17, 2015 | 08:50 AM
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I agree that for the money Wiseco pistons are hard to beat. We use a ton of both Diamond and Wiseco pistons and they both work great.

Thanks
Aaron
972-853-2450
Aaron@ThompsonMotorsports.net
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Old Nov 17, 2015 | 01:35 PM
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Originally Posted by KCS
I agree, but the Mahle stuff looks interesting too. They're putting 1mm/1mm/2mm rings packs in their shelf piston sets now.
Wiseco advantage is 2618 material vs. 4032 for the Mahle....I like and use Mahle pistons often, but when compared to the Wiseco kit which also has the better NPR ring set I think it's an easy choice.
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Old Nov 17, 2015 | 03:25 PM
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So sounding like the wiseco are a great option/value as i was thinking, any specific advantages disadvantages of them? Wrist pin strength is one of the only concerns i have heard on them, any input on that? Any I haven't heard many negatives on the diamond either, cp bullets just havent heard as much at all either way but one of the shops was saying he recommends them based on their value and quality for price.

thanks for all the input so far, please continue to add as much info as you can as i am trying to educate myself before making a purchase. Also as far as compression ratio goes thinking around the 11.1 to 1 range is what I will shoot for, but any input on what would be good safe ratio to go with while using 92 octane is appreciated as well.
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Old Nov 18, 2015 | 08:07 AM
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Originally Posted by welldonecj7
So sounding like the wiseco are a great option/value as i was thinking, any specific advantages disadvantages of them? Wrist pin strength is one of the only concerns i have heard on them, any input on that? Any I haven't heard many negatives on the diamond either, cp bullets just havent heard as much at all either way but one of the shops was saying he recommends them based on their value and quality for price.

thanks for all the input so far, please continue to add as much info as you can as i am trying to educate myself before making a purchase. Also as far as compression ratio goes thinking around the 11.1 to 1 range is what I will shoot for, but any input on what would be good safe ratio to go with while using 92 octane is appreciated as well.
It seems like Wiseco pistons are a little heavier than similar designs from their competitors, but that's not necessarily a disadvantage. Usually heavier means more robust.

You shouldn't have wrist pin issues with an NA engine, even with a small shot of nitrous later on down the road. They do have options for thicker wall pins and higher grades of material, but that is usually reserved for big power adder applications.

11:1 should be perfectly safe with 92, but you could go up to 11.5:1 if you wanted. Compression ratios higher than that usually dont make much more power on pump gas.
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