Well, the Wiseco extreme duty 8.5:1 pistons, Eagle rods, and hasting rings came in from Race Engineering today. WOO-HOO! time to do some work. for those going to rebuild...if you wanna alternative to the Howell kit, i got what was mentioned above, along with a complete motor gasket kit from Mitsu, and clevitt bearings, for 1250 all together. id reccomend Race Engineering in a heart beat.

yeah theres just one problem, the howell kit is cheaper

Not only is it cheaper, It comes with more stuff!

Kit Includes:

* Clevite 77 Rod Bearing Set
* Clevite 77 Main Bearing Set
* Total Seal Piston Rings
* Mopar Oil Pan Gasket Set (includes rear main seal)
* Melling Oil Pump
* Eagle Specialty Forged Rods
* JE Pistons (Specify 8.6 , 10.5 or 12.5 compression)

$1099.95
95-99 Non-turbo DOHC
Performance Bottom end Kit
<>
Pistons and Rings are available in either Standard or .020 Over Size Please Specify at the time of order.
Rod and Main Bearings are available in Standard or .010 Undersize Please Specify at the time of order.


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current status - No 3rd Gear synchro


http://hometown.aol.com/ohshootuhh/
www.Fast420A.com

Not to mention better pistons.

included in that 1250, is a new oil pump, new water pump, COMPLETE gasket kit(with head gasket), and the Clevitt bearing kit(which the machine shop will order for me when the engine is apart to ensure we have the right bearings). i didnt buy all this from race engineering, just the rings, pistons, and rods. the 1250 was for everything all together, shipped. doesnt seem too bad to me. and these Wiseco pistons just came out, so how can you be so sure the JE's are that much better?

Seems like a pretty dexcent deal to me, headgasket and shipping alone would come close to making up that 150 dollar difference. my dad and his brothers race pro modified drag cars, and rebuild engines as a weekend/second job, and they only use Wiseco Pistons, also tried everything they could to get me to buy them instead of JE's. im not unhappy with my JE's(except for a little piston slap, but that is expected from JE's) but Wiseco is in noway a lesser piston in my view, but maybe a better deal, since they are cheaper.

The Howell Kit USED to come with Wiseco pistons. . .

They now come with JE's. . .

Only Howell will know the true reason why. . .


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current status - No 3rd Gear synchro


http://hometown.aol.com/ohshootuhh/
www.Fast420A.com

Its hard to beat the howell kit in bang for the buck.

Well I like JE better because they are quiter than Wisceco pistons and have tighter piston to bore clearances. When it comes to strengh it doesn't matter who makes them but what they make them out of and how much strengh they chose to sacrafice for weight. As far as I'm concerned my ROSS pistons must be stronger than JE's. The skirts and rign lands are much thicker and they are made of 2816 aluminum, the strongest available. They also weigh about 397 grams VS 360 something for JEs but there's always a trade off I guess.

what's piston slap? is it when you hear your pistons wiggling in the cylinder?

yah james, when you first start her up in the morning when its cold it will slap a bit inside... does this happen to you james?

Michael 99gs
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yes it happens a little i noticed, when it is real cold outside not too bad though, is this normal for JE pistons, if so why is it normal?
lates
james

Well some people with JE pistons say they have no audible piston slap. It really depends on how wide the piston to bore clearance is. JE recommends .003" minimum, Ross recommends .004-.005". On high hp racing applications they may require more clearance. There clearances are much wider than stock due to the expansion rate of aluminum forged pistons. Once they heat up and expand they should quiet down. Not all forged pistons expand the same. Generally high silicon pistons (think JE SRP's)expand less but arent as strong. they dont require the same gap.

Anyway to answer your question yes its normal to have some piston slap on forged pistons when cold. I got it real bad when cold. I also have 50K on the engine so dont worry about it. Better piston slap than broken stockers.

thanks for the info!
the sound i get is very very minor in the mornings when it is cold, but it goes away like in 5 minutes, it's goot to know this is normal.
lates
james