all the pistons have this mark to some degree, i wonder if anyone knows what caused it, my head is not milled and i got the pistons and rods and everything else from howell.

lates
james

I'd like to see that picure from a few different angles, and pictures of the head before i'd offer an analysis of that situation..

I'm with Dino on this, please post more pics.



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dino, the head is completely stock, the pistons tapped that bridge that extends out between the 2 intake valves, just a bit on the tip.
i'll get more pictures and post them
lates
james

here ya go





thanks
james

a valve hitting it maybe?

man i hope mine dont look like that....

you had no worrning or indication anything was wrong till the bad idle right?

Got any pics of the head? How is the rest of the valvetrain?


________________________________________________________________________________________
current status - No 3rd Gear synchro


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

everything else is okay, the head had a small area inbetween each cylinder that got flattened by the piston, small i mean like maybe 1/4 inch wide by 1/8 in thick, i smoothed it out with a dremel and 600 grit sandpaper. i know for sure that the pistons hit that "tongue" between the 2 intake valves. no damage to valves or anything else happened. just the pistons and the tongue were damaged.
lates
james

sorry no pictures of the head, it is back in my car. i didn't have the dig camera to take any pictures of it.
lates
james

Thats REALLY wierd, kinda makes me wonder about the 12.5:1 pistons.



________________________________________________________________________________________
current status - No 3rd Gear synchro


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

What head gasket were you using? Also what head bolts?

Mitsu MLS head gasket, 4 layer, and Mitsu head bolts
thanks
james

Maybe the rods were a little longer than spec. Maybe the pistons where out of spec. You didn't have your head even resurfaced (standard procedure when taking it off or changing the head gasket). maybe they went a bit far. Are the pistons installed right (intake reliefs on the pistons on the intake side of the head. they are different at least on my pistons the intake reliefs are bigger)?. I dont know but I'd just machine the pistons down a bit where its contacting and carry on.

Stan,
I had a new head, when i put these pistons in, i called JE directly to find out what direction the pistons went in. so everything was installed correctly. the only thing that bugs me is if i bought this whole kit from howell, why did the pistons not have the proper clearance.
dunno,
i got 8.8's now
so that fixed the problem. but it still puzzles me why this happened.
lates
james

...since they are known to cause problems. That and their customer service sucks. It is possible that the pistons were out of spec. I remember a 2gnt memeber ordering 9.5:1 CR turbo pistons and they sent him 10.5:1. To make things worse, the fact that they were custom pistons, they wouldn't do a refund OR exchange. I would bet it was either the pistons or the rods lke Stan said, but it's a simple fix with the pistons, what did you do with them. In any case I wouldn't be so quick to think or imply is was Howell's fault. They don't make the pistons

i'm not saying it was howell's fault i'm just saying that these parts should have worked together as a kit. and theat my disappointment comes from the fact that they didn't and i had to take my engine apart 2 TIMES. now that is a severe pain in the ass!
lates
james

the whole time they were hittingit never mad any noise or and weird feeling? cause maybe somehow you got bad stuff like skrilla said...
i linked this post to one of gary's posts in another section to see what he thinks might of caused it.
Was there any stretching or damage to the head bolts? since the head tok a beating.

well, there was some ticking. i thought that it was just normal for the forged pistons. also, the head bolts appeared okay, i measured them before i put them in the first time and then i remeasured them this second time and they were not any longer. i think the first few times i drove it the pistons wacked the material outta the way so they didn't hit until higher rpm's and you know at those rpm's you can't hear shit caust the engine is all vibrating and crap. well, it is running good right now and the old pistons make good paperweights and pen holders!
hehe
lates
james

...ya that whole scenario just sucks, but at least it's together now, BTW I like you AFC and AVCR(?) setup

thanks, the afc is the bottom one and the avcr is the top one and the black one on the side is a digital clock that has indiglo when i turn the headlights on. ya, well, the car is running pretty good now after i rebuilt everything so i'm not really worried, at least i have a set of pistons that are out of my car so i can play with them, i think that the pistons are more appealing when they are out of the car so you can see them! heeeheee
lates
james