Ross forged vs Zollner cast. The Zollners are nearly identical to the stock Buick pistons, except for the machined dome on the Zollner pistons.
And some close-ups of the Ross forgings: These have a shorter wrist pin than the stockers. The piston appears to be machined for a cir-clip. Still a 1.0" diameter pin. Is there any advantage to having the rods sized for a push-fit pin? Note the funky groove between the first and second rings.... wonder what that does?
I have some Badger pistons here too. Both the Badger and the Zollners look nearly identical to the stock pistons. They look so close, it's possible they came from the same foundry but just have different names on the boxes!
I have a few pictures to add of used Venolia forged 425 pistons. They were returned to the seller after discovering they were heavily damaged. I also added a picture of a piston from an older set of new 401 Ohio pistons that are here. The Ohio label is covering a Badger label. Cheryl
Old TRW Forged .060 in a 401 that I have been building. No, the other piston is not a keychain, it's a piston from a Mcculloch Go Kart engine (101). 12 to 1 Forged (bought new in 1970) L2265 Compression ratio actual 11.3 to 1 Dome height .461 (Stock .370) Piston dome CCs 56.5 (Stock 47) 750 Grams (without Rings, Piston pin) (Stock 671) Converted to full floating pins Coated by HPC Sides SDF and Tops TBC Piston Wrist Pins Lightweight (TA 1623) 156 grams 161 with snap ring locks (Stock 220) Spiro locks (double per side) Weight of Spiro locks 5 grams per piston Total weight of piston with locks and pin verses Stock + 21 grams Total weight including super Rods -12 grams Balanced Roger
nice info on the stock pistons to compare with after market, could we please have a little more info on the super rods, thanks.
Super Rods were from Super Speed Equipment in Azusa Ca. Original weight was 663 grams, clearanced for oil galley, Final weight 659 grams (stock that I had was 692 grams) Big end bore: 2.375, Pin diameter 1.0, Big end width .960, Pin end width 1.165, Center to center 6.210 That all said, I wouldn't do this again, do what Tom did with H beam rods, much better technology, and less issues with clearance. Roger
Walt where did you get the Zollner piston from? I 've seen some on ebay but I'm very leery about getting something like that off of ebay. And do you think those are the best after market pistons? excluding the J&E
Greg, I bought 2 sets of Zollners on eBay a few years ago when they closed down. Just got another set from Don Kring (he makes the valve covers). He told me the Zollner factory actually made the pistons for Buick back in the day. They do look identical except for 'Buick' on the sides of the originals and the machined tops on the Zollners. I don't know how the other new cast pistons compare, but these Zollners as look as good as the originals, maybe better. I actually won the eBay auction for the 0.030-over Zollners the other day, but the sale may not happen.....I told the seller I wanted shipping insurance and would ask eBay for a refund if pistons arrived with damage, and he replied he would rather cancel the sale to avoid potential problems. o No:
I don't know if the aution was for the set that sold for 249.00 but only one person bidded on those. The seller said that all sales are final.thats what scares me about ebay.
theres a set of 425 new stock pistons on ebay from falcon. 315.00 with rings.they must have 401 for the same price. 1-800-756-1114.they have a store in jacksonville fl.
Walt he lives about 7hrs from me.I would take a road trip if he was closer.But as gas races towards $4.00 a gallon,maybe Joe is right and take a look at what falcon has. But I sure do like the look of those zollners they just look they go faster.
Greg,heres something else to kick around.Walt measured the pistons dome and the zollner are 46.5 and the ones egge makes are 51. which will give you more comp ratio about 9.75 and more valve clearance with the the fel pro thicker head gaskets if your going to use them, compared to about 9.25 with zollner.just things to think about.
