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Best 440 Piston on a budget

6

66_B_Body4ever

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Just buying bottom end components and looking for some input. 440, .030 over pistons... There is a great disparity in pricing and a lot of good brands, but what works for a 500+ hp 440? Your input is appreciated as always.
 
I think the cheapest thing going these days is the KB hypereutectic. I'm building a 440 with a set right now.

The other option is a good used set of TRW's or Sealed Power forged. They are strong but heavy.
 
I was looking at the KB's...I am going to run 6 pack rods with whatever piston I buy. Do you mind tellling me what you paid for your KB's? And where you got them from? I seen a new set on ebay for 350ish.
 
KBs are reasonably price, but when the go they go in the worst kind of way, If you ever blow an engine with these be prepared to tear up a whole bunch a ****, as far as cheaper pistons I would personally recommend TRWs as far a GREAT piston I would go with JEs, but these rascals are pricey!

I would also lose the heavy Six Pack rods too,.....why add more weight than you need to the reciprocating parts on the bottom end ? ...what you will gain in strength it's worth the weight you add, ...I have built and ran 440s and pushed 650+ horses on stock "Magnum" rods without any problems and without engine failures. ........just my opinion, and with that and 50 cents I can get a cup of coffee. :lotsocoffee:
 
Im gonna rock the boat. The 440 source forged flattops are a lot of bang for the buck.
 
I had my machine shop get them, and yes, they were about $350.00-ish.

The hypereutectic alloy is basically aluminum with too much silicon and was designed for smog era engines to allow a tighter wall clearance and a higher positioning of the top ring to trap less raw fuel. Because the extra silicon makes the piston more brittle they are not as forgiving, so do not allow the engine to detonate! Get your timing curve right!! The brittleness of the material would explain the above comment by 69 R/T.
 
Wouldn't be my first choice for a piston...you would be better off with a cast Ohio or Badger...that way when you step up your only out a $100.
buy a forged piston it's cheaper in the long run.IMHO
 
Go with JE piston, or Wiseco. Don't skimp on pistons if you can help it. Well worth the extra cost. I haven't broke a JE yet, on motor only.
 
69HEMICORONETR/TCONV said:
I would also lose the heavy Six Pack rods too,.....why add more weight than you need to the reciprocating parts on the bottom end ? ...what you will gain in strength it's worth the weight you add, ...I have built and ran 440s and pushed 650+ horses on stock "Magnum" rods without any problems and without engine failures. ........just my opinion, and with that and 50 cents I can get a cup of coffee. :lotsocoffee:
Click to expand...

I have been back and forth with the rod issue, what am I looking for in a Magnum rod? The block I am using is a 78 vintage with a cast crank and stock rods. The rods I have are 1970 6 pack rods.
 
66_B_Body4ever said:
I have been back and forth with the rod issue, what am I looking for in a Magnum rod? The block I am using is a 78 vintage with a cast crank and stock rods. The rods I have are 1970 6 pack rods.
Click to expand...

I just (this summer) bought a set of K1 Technologies H-Beam Rods for my A12 for a little over $400. K1 Technologies is a sister company to Wiseco. You can't get a set of stockers reworked that cheap (by anybody you'd really want doing them anyway) these days; nor would the stockers take the same degree of abuse. Save the coins and get a better set of rods at the same time. Unload those heavy '70 rods on some E-Body resto-clown for twice what you paid for them at the next swap meet...:D

ACME
 
ACME A12 said:
I just (this summer) bought a set of K1 Technologies H-Beam Rods for my A12 for a little over $400. K1 Technologies is a sister company to Wiseco. You can't get a set of stockers reworked that cheap (by anybody you'd really want doing them anyway) these days; nor would the stockers take the same degree of abuse. Save the coins and get a better set of rods at the same time. Unload those heavy '70 rods on some E-Body resto-clown for twice what you paid for them at the next swap meet...:D

ACME
Click to expand...

In my opinion K1 is the best rod money can buy, They are machined to the closest tolerances of any rod available, and the weights are dead nuts accurate on each rod, Yes, I like them better than Eagle, but Eagles are very good also and a little cheaper,
 
You need to get away from the cast crank and heavy rods like the 6pack rod.Steel cranks are plentiful and not that expensive. Try to find some LY rods, they are good to 500 plus horses. The cast crank and heavy rods will be very exspensive to do an internal balance job on. JMO.
 
Thanks, I failed to mention I have a good steel forged crank... I'll check out the cost of a set of K1's and see what type of stock rods I have in my 78 block...anyone need a set of 6 pack rods?...lol
 
66_B_Body4ever said:
Thanks, I failed to mention I have a good steel forged crank... I'll check out the cost of a set of K1's and see what type of stock rods I have in my 78 block...anyone need a set of 6 pack rods?...lol
Click to expand...

Buying good Quality parts are somewhat like an insurance policy for your Engine, the Better the parts are the less likely you are to have an Engine failure. Don't skimp on the Important stuff.
 
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