just noticed the ta website lists the basic forged and forged/notched pistons as "discontinued" ?? any other sources without going to the $$$ custom slugs ? poston's web site shows some 350/notched hypereutic (?) pistons - my understanding on those is that they are between cast and forged as far as strength/durability goes . i already have feelers out to my locals and they are supposed to be getting back to me today . does anyone have any idea who supplied those pistons to ta ? i'm sure the problem most likely lies in that direction . thanks for any info . del ** custom piston money $$$ - won't be able to get those cool neon wheel well - frame lights and big fat exhaust outlet for my wifes 4-door daewoo !!!
Del, good luck on finding pistons. I bought Hypereutetic piston from Jim Burek. I told Him I would rather have the TRW /speedpro forged but none were available He told me he would rather sell me the forged he said to hold on while he checked. He got back with me later in the day saying none were available. Other than the Wiesco pistons...
forged pistons solution? They still show forged pistons for the 340. Why not buy some .060 oversized 340 pistons and have your 350 bored .010 over?
350 PISTONS steve : lookin for some forged /notched pistons so i can do up a motor with that TA510 cam/lifters i got from you last year . got the itch for a nasty 350 i guess , in case the TA212 motor gets boring ! del
350 PISTONS just contacted the last of my sources and struck out . they are pretty good too and two of 'em had specific performance outlets they contacted , keystone was one i'm sure . a place up in rochester ny also . so that leaves me with the question - how good are the "hyper" pistons in relation to the usual forged units i would be looking at - ok ? - or is the extra $$ spent on the custom /wiseco style worth it ? any good news- bad news thoughts or horror stories . from what i know they have a higher silicone content and are stronger than cast but not quite as good as forged and can seal better because of less expansion so you can run them a little tighter . thats all i can remember on short notice . del
My brother has a set of brand new sealed power forged pistons that are +.030, I'm not sure if he's interested in selling them. Jim Burek will be dynoing my engine at the beginning of March with the Wiseco pistons. He will be doing a comparison between both intakes and the engine will also be running Poston's GS111 cam, so it'll be interesting to see what this engine will do.
Good enough Del, I'm in the same boat as you and Phil, I went with the cast and plan on getting them coated to help with durability. If you think about it all of the motors cam stock with cast and they have been flogged time after time with no problems so I would bet that cast will still do a good job. Clint
There used to be forged units for the 231 even-fire, but the pre-77 odd-fire 231 slugs are the ones that work in the 350, right?
rob : sure - let me know . scott : not sure but good chance . gumby : they probably were not making them anyway , the non-buick suppliers were and they were just an in between source although that was my first thought also . thats a low request item probably and TA etc just bought up remaining supplies and they have dwindled down to zero . the club/group suppliers will realize demand before the normal aftermarket . there is a dead spot between normal service replacement parts demand and performance/classic demand and as soon as the regular suppliers sense the dead spot they are outa' there . they look at that as money sittin' on their shelves . probably 10-15 years tops . del
MAybe we should pool our resources and see if we can get a quantity discount from Wiseco. Be worth a try. I would think they would give a better price on 15 sets than they would on 1 or 2. The only catch would be we would have to agree on a CR and notches. They are practically in my backyard so I could check with them if you guys are interested.
350 PISTONS hey andrew - 'bout time for a rebuild isn't it ?? you could be needing some new pistons ! del *** yep , the quatity buy thing might work out , i'm probably lookin' at +.030 - notched - about 10/1 compression range for good pump gas . that might be a "normal" . ***
I think if or when we do get heads an a intake, the Buick 350 will get re-vived on the track so parts demand should sky rocket. Should? If the heads die the market demand dies. I would needs heads before pistion. But once I got heads It would come up sooner or later. a turbo 3.8 is basically our engin missing two cylinders. With parts them two extra cylinders should should put fear in the words "Buick 350"
I would have loved to buy a beter set of Pistons. I personnelly could not put down the $ for the weiscos. I could have done the TRW's if they were available also. So I decided to buy the hypers. I recieved them about 2 weeks ago from Jim burek along with most of my rebuild components. I am still looking to upgrade the rods and buy a new balancer and flywheel for my 70 sp 350. I also have ported heads coming from Jim burek as well. I have a TA stage 1 intake, headers and Carb is still up in the air at this point.
350 PISTONS we should all remember (in between our planning and spending) that the newest 350 out there was produced 20+ years ago and probably has 100,000 miles average (AT LEAST) , a +.030 bore and a couple clean-ups and are we looking at paperweight / boat anchor material from what i know . i don't forsee new cast or aluminum blocks coming down the road . i've got a little supply of 350 stuff in the wings already and still looking . food for thought and sorry about the wet blanket . del ** still gonna' do it !!!! **
I don't know if Wiseco will give a discount on a bulk order. They took 6 months to build my set as I got the first ones they ever did. I was told they revised them a couple times before they felt satisfied enough to put them in the market. With the pistons just coming out at the end of November, it's questionable if they would do something like that. Also, there are two versions, the forged high performance and the racing. The racing version is lightened as much as possible without compromising strength.
