Author Topic: Anyone have oversized pistons lying around?  (Read 2027 times)

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Offline thehackmechanic

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Anyone have oversized pistons lying around?
« on: Thursday,July 04, 2013, 04:50:55 AM »
I got the seized piston freed from my twink and took the engine in to Bill McCurdy (Williams Racing) for evaluation. Bill says that, because of the corrosion from the seized piston, the bores will need to be honed 5 or 10 thousandths over, and thus will need oversized pistons, but he says all that's available new are standard-sized pistons. So he's recommending custom forged pistons. Big bucks.

Anyone have a set of decent oversized pistons lying around?

--Rob (still a total noob)
'74 TCS, 24k miles, up and running after 40 years
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Offline Lou Drozdowski

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Re: Anyone have oversized pistons lying around?
« Reply #1 on: Thursday,July 04, 2013, 07:18:47 AM »
 Hack...No Pistons lying around, however If you try QED in England they will have what you need.

Standard +.020 +.030 +.040 +.060  or  83.5mm  83.65  85  85.5  86.5  87... about about $140 each w/dollar conversion.
Good luck...ld



Offline LotusJoe

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Re: Anyone have oversized pistons lying around?
« Reply #2 on: Thursday,July 04, 2013, 10:24:09 AM »
Try Dave Bean
http://www.davebean.com/

Also locally here in Southern California
http://www.venolia.com/forged-pistons.html


Joe Irwin
3927R TC Special
(The Classic Barn Find)


Online EuropaTC

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Re: Anyone have oversized pistons lying around?
« Reply #3 on: Thursday,July 04, 2013, 10:25:46 AM »
Hi Rob,

I think this side of the pond (UK) is the best bet for you, people still rebuild TCs and parts are available. As Lou says, QED are probably one of the oldest Twink specialists and I think they will be your best option, but there are others.

I use Burton for a lot of my parts and they have TC pistons but they look more expensive. Worth having the link though, in case you're after other parts and want to compare deals

http://www.burtonpower.com/parts-by-fitment-type/parts-by-engine-ford/ford-lotus-twin-cam-8v.html?limit=40&p=2

The other places commonly used are Tony Thompson Engineering and Kelvdon motorsport, the latter a long term Lotus guy from back in the 70s I'd guess. There are others, SJS for example, but these are hands-on engineering places.

http://www.tonythompsonracing.co.uk/mainframe.html
http://www.kelsport.net/

Finally, I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but for TC engines there's a lot of knowledge on the Lotus Elan forum. Apart from the cams/front cover and machining on the head & cam cover, most of the consumable components are the same. Worth having a look, there are some of us on both forums.

http://www.lotuselan.net/forums/

Brian

Offline LotusJoe

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Re: Anyone have oversized pistons lying around?
« Reply #4 on: Thursday,July 04, 2013, 10:54:03 AM »
I noticed the price on the Burton Pistons includes VAT. That's 20%. So with that removed and converted to US dollars, it looks like they would be about $143.12 each and the ring set works out to be $152.96. It's been a long time since I bought pistons so I don't have a good sense to know if that is expensive or not.  :confused:
You might also give Richard Winter at Banks Europa. He usually has most parts and the best shipping cost. Ships really fast, probably have your parts in a few days. However you have to give him a call as he rarely answers email.
I do know that Venolia makes excellent pistons and have made Twin Cam pistons in the past.

Good Luck
Joe Irwin
3927R TC Special
(The Classic Barn Find)