240sx forged piston counterparts

[Machines240]

well my DE engine needs a rebuild. i am in the market for the highest quality parts to keep ITS legal. mainly forged pistons. what are you guys running for your KA24DE's?

[timelapseracing]

You should check the GCR carefully - I believe you fill find only stock factory overbore pistons are legal, you will also need to use stock rods.

Jason.

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1989 ITA 240sx - #21 MARRS Series

http://www.mindspring.com/~timelapseracing

[Joe Harlan]

This was gone over last season, Forged are allowed as long as they are an exactequivalent part. As far as where to find them you are looking at custom only at this point because nobody I know has made and exact replacement part.

[Geo]

Joe is 100% spot-on.


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George Roffe
Houston, TX
84 944 ITS car under construction
92 ITS Sentra SE-R occasionally borrowed
http://www.nissport.com

[Machines240]

Ok i guess i wont bother wih custom.
can anyone point me to a good quality source for KA rebuild kits?
i have seen topline kits for good prices but know nothing of them...

[Joe Harlan]

It will cost you just a little extra but go with OEM parts. We have seen issues with the aftermarket timing gears ect. The OEM stuff will offer you some piece of mind. You don't want to use low cost bearings in these engines either. I do use a different ring pack that I make up.

Joe

[This message has been edited by Joe Harlan (edited January 05, 2005).]

[erlrich]

Originally posted by Joe Harlan:
I do use a different ring pack that I make up.

Hey Joe, since you brought it up, what do you know about the Total Seal rings? I talked with my engine guy about them, but at that time he had just finished his first build using them, and really didn't have any comments on their performance. I'm wondering if they're worth the 2X price of the Nissan rings.

As far as pistons go, I think the oem parts are about as cheap as anything else out there - < $200 for a set of pistons (for the SOHC anyway), and I've never heard of anyone having problems with the oem pieces (rods yes, but that's another story).

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Earl R
Aspiring 240SX pilot

[This message has been edited by erlrich (edited January 05, 2005).]

[erlrich]

DOH!

[This message has been edited by erlrich (edited January 05, 2005).]

[Joe Harlan]

I don't use them but for no other reason than I like what I have done for years. The stock rings are going to last better than most anything else and I do like the stock oil ring.

[Geo]

Originally posted by Machines240:
Ok i guess i wont bother wih custom.
can anyone point me to a good quality source for KA rebuild kits?
i have seen topline kits for good prices but know nothing of them...

Courtesy Nissan in Richardson, TX (suburb of Dallas). Good folks and they should offer you a good discount (SE-R list members get 25% off).

I think I've put Steve Richardson's (the parts manager) kids through college.



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George Roffe
Houston, TX
84 944 ITS car under construction
92 ITS Sentra SE-R occasionally borrowed
http://www.nissport.com

[7racing]

I've dealt with Connecticut Import Performace and 240sxmotoring.com for some stuff (same guy for both places). Seems pretty knowledgeable, and had a source for some forged after market pistons.

Might be worth checking out his stuff, if you have the time to research.

www.cipmotorsports.com
www.240sxmotoring.com

Jeremy

[timelapseracing]

Originally posted by erlrich:

I've never heard of anyone having problems with the oem pieces (rods yes, but that's another story).

Thank you Joe and George for correcting me about the 'only' oem pistons. What problems with the stock rods are there - is this an oiling problem or fatigue...? As I didn't think there were options to stock - can anyone tell me if there are any better rods that are still compliant with the IT rules.

Thanks,
Jason.


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1989 ITA 240sx - #21 MARRS Series

http://www.mindspring.com/~timelapseracing

[erlrich]

Jason -

Jim C. or Joe could probably expand on this, but I've heard of at least 2 guys (Bob Stretch for one) running the ITA cars who had the number one rod let go. I don't know if anyone ever figured out exactly what the problem was, but I know Bob posted here a while back that he was recommending replacing the rods after each season.

Earl

[Joe Harlan]

Well I have 3 season on a set of stock rods with no issues. The failure in most of these things happen at the bolt. I use ARP replacements in all my engines. The other reason for failure is over revving on the downshift. Don't use the engine for brakes at high revs. I did find on the 3 valve engines that number 1 would run lean and detonate on some cars (not sure why) I wonder if that was the reason others had rod failures there? Anyway OE pistons mag and resize the rods and use ARP bolts with proper torque. Use Nissan bearings and you should get long life out of you engine. I have a customer with a 3 valve car that has close to 40 hours of service and will still run with the front of the pack.

[joeg]

"..., since you brought it up, what do you know about the Total Seal rings? I talked with my engine guy about them, but at that time he had just finished his first build using them, and really didn't have any comments on their performance. I'm wondering if they're worth the 2X price of the Nissan rings."

I use Total Seal Rings (but not in a Nissan).

The only "advantage" to these rings is not the rings, but the company. They will find you "file-to-fit" rings for any engine,and any overbore, which is very important on a partial rebuild ("light hone and reuse the pistons style refresher").

Their ring quality and sizing is very consistent.

However, I generally do not "feel" any dramatic differences between a total seal motor and a regular ringged motor.

Cheers.