PISTONEERING, PART 1

Here is a nice set of new oversize pistons on rebuilt connecting rods. The four are balanced to 1/10 of a gram--NICE when you expect the engine to "live" at elevated RPM!

Note the new connecting rod bearings and a set of V8 rod bolts and nuts. V8??? Yeah...I get serious when I build a hot V4 engine! This one will produce about 110 horsepower for our customer. He wants to go fast! How about you?

I'm holding the number 3 piston assembly, with the piston ring compressor tool compressing the rings. Note the orange sleeves on the connecting rod bolts.These keep the bolts from damaging the crankshaft journal when the piston is tapped into place.

This is a three handed job. One to tap the piston into the bore, one to guide the rod into place on the crankshaft journal. The third to keep the ring compressor tight. Oh yeah--and the arrow on the piston crown has to face FORWARD as the piston is tapped into place with a wooden hammer handle. Piece 'a cake, mate!

Here I've rotated the engine upside down. I've just pulled one of the protective sleeves off a con rod bolt. Nice to use the right tools for the job, eh? I have 'em all! I've been rebuilding these engines for 42 years and counting. I've probably done about 300 stock, race & rally engines in that time....