I talked to JE's tech dept. today, and came away a little bewildered. It seems as though JE doesn't make a flat top nitrous piston??? Their suggestion is that I buy their domed pistons, and have the dome fly cut off them. Apparently this is the only set of pistons they make with the correct spacing between the piston top and the top ring for nitrous use. I certainly can't use the domed pistons "as is". With my 56CC chambers and zero deck clearance, I'd be somewhere around 14:1 compression. I'm pretty sure this wouldn't like 93 octane fuel for street driving
Does anyone know of any other piston manufactuerer that makes flat top nitrous pistons? BTW, this is a 6" rod, 3.48" stroke engine. I'm building it to handle 200-250 HP nitrous.

Frank

 

Try Ross.

 

i'd go with ross as well, although if u have to have a custon set made, they get pricy!!! i think its like 700 a set or something. try SRP pistons, another brand of JE. they were what was in my last motor, and they seemed to work awesome, and were rated off the shelf to 250 hp in nitrous.

 

Thanks. I just e-mailed Ross to check with them. It looks like they've got a "shelf" piston that'll work.

Frank

 

A "regular" flat top (if it's a good quality, standard weight forging) ought to be ok for the use you are describing. Most "nitrous" pistons are domes and are intended for heavy duty (ie race) nitrous use. "Blower" pistons also have thick crowns and reinforced pin bosses like "nitrous" pistons but are designed for low compression.

Rich

 

OK...here's a daily update. I was looking through the 2004 JE catalog at the machine shop today. They list a 23* heavy duty alcahol/nitrous flat top. I called JE back tonight and told them what the part number was, and I got, "Oh yea, you can use that piston." Why couldn't they tell me this last night? The piston is actually listed for a 23* ProAction or Brodix X11 head, but it will work with stock casting LT1 heads. The top ring is .020" down, as opposed to the more ideal .025" down of their domed nitrous piston, but they assure me it will still handle a 200 shot.
I also gave them an SRP number to check. They're listed as a H/D piston also. The SRP's top ring is .210" down. Great for nitrous, right?...Wrong. According to him, SRP pistons are made with a high amount of silicone, which makes them weaker, and apparently not a good nitrous piston. To quote him..."We don't suggest these for any more than 150 HP of nitrous." "Do we know of people using them with more?...Yes"
As a side note, I still haven't got an e-mail response from Ross, but I did check on prices today. A set of Ross pistons will run me $600. The JE's that I spoke about above are $550. I'm still leaning toward the Ross. At this point in the game $50 aint nuthin...lol

Frank