Help me get the best HP out of an N/A engine!

[Superdave]

I suppose the OP needs to consider how fast he'll be spinning the engine....don't you rev to over 7 grand Dave? In which case, .050" is probably good to have as a safety margin against high-rpm conrod stretch, But if we're only talking 6000RPM here......

7009.26 is the limiter but it will rev past that even though the fuel is cut off


6 or 7, doesn't matter.. With 3500 heads and a cam he'll be bouncing off 7K just like my engine does, even Redbird's 3500 is the same way with a more conservative cam.


.040 is perfect as we all know but is the cost of having the block decked worth the couple HP difference? Not in my book. I'll stick with what GM designed and at 35+ MPG on the highway while making over 300 HP @ the crank i'm not worried about an extra .010 between my pistons and the heads. (keep in mind, i do have .035" deep dents in my pistons from the excessive exhaust duration of my cam). We may never know how much the old gen2/3 forged rods stretch, i know of people using camaro headgaskets on a 3100 with .020 of quench and they aren't having problems.


It's just another factor to look at when building an engine, it's always a give and take situation.

[SappySE107]

Gasket match the intake is a must? I disagree.

[HOYS]

Wow! A lot of posts since I last checked in!

Thanks for all of the input so far. I'm planning on keeping the engine I'm pulling out all assembled in case something really doesn't sit well with the build and needs a major fix.

I'm hearing about a 50% go ahead on using Camaro 3.4 pistons. Decking the block to the .040 quench distance seems like a good solution. Now, if I do get the block decked, and decide Camaro pistons are trash, and want to go back...Is there a going back?

3500 heads with 3400 UIM is what I am going to put down first on my list of "Stuff to buy". So with that in mind, do we all feel that Camaro pistons will work well?

[Classick Century Custom]

I hate to cross thread but I have simalar questions regarding the piston choice, even though I am going turbo vs n/a and I already have 9.6to1 stock piston is even worth upgrading to the diamond versions that Ben sells over at WOT?, or is it better to just keep the stockers?.

[geoffinbc]

Well you want the best alignemnt pissible. And if your going to be doing machining to the block or heads then the alignment will be off. It is not even that great from factory. I say it is a must because it is a dead simple and free procedure if you have a die grinder in your shop. Eliminating edges and restrictions in the intake is always a good thing.

[AaronGTR]

I hate to cross thread but I have simalar questions regarding the piston choice, even though I am going turbo vs n/a and I already have 9.6to1 stock piston is even worth upgrading to the diamond versions that Ben sells over at WOT?, or is it better to just keep the stockers?.

Depends on how much boost and HP you plan on. Stock 3400 pistons are the weak point on the internals. They can handle over 300hp no problem, but once you start getting into high power levels there is a chance of breaking them if there is too much detonation. A lot depends on how good your tune is, as far as how safe your pistons will be.

To you and the OP, I say if you are going to go to the trouble of building an engine, skip the factory type pistons. Get some forged ones... you'll get the exact specs you want and know they'll work and be strong, and will probably seal better and make more power.

To the OP, you might also want to consider some high tech coatings. Low friction coating on the piston skirts (and valve stems if you want). Heat barrier on the piston tops, combustion chambers, valve faces, exhaust port. Since you will be NA you have a limited amount of power to work with, and anything you can do to harness more combustion energy and increase efficiency will be a good thing.