Captain Spaulding
Registered User
Alright, so I thought I had some leads on a couple of sets of pistons and it just isn't happening. Most of the venders are saying everything is discontinued or they don't have an ETA for new stock. I haven't reached out to Mahle yet to request a set so that's next on the list. I am reevaluating my next steps here.
My first option is to run my stock sized pistons and hone the block. Hopefully I can get my hands on standard sized rings. The problem here is there was some water that got into two of the cylinders and damaged the cylinder walls. Its not extreme, but seems to be enough to where I can't hone it out with stones. Maybe a flex hone could take care of it, I don't know. The cylinders are well with in spec and if it wasn't for the water in the cylinders I would try to reuse the stock pistons. My only concern with this is that it may need to be honed so much to the point that my cylinders are out of spec. Also a couple of the pistons have little dents in them from what looks like pieces of the glow plugs, they don't have cracks or holes though. I would feel comfortable reusing them. I was told this was a low mileage motor when I bought it and it definitely looks like it when I pulled it apart. The pistons have very little wear and minimal carbon build up. Any thought?
My second, way more expensive option is to order standard sized pistons from 89' to 92' with a 7.3 and bore my 6.9 block to match. The problem that comes along with this is the compression goes way up and the rotating assembly can be unbalanced because of the heavier pistons. I talked to Justin over at R&D, which by the way is a great resource I have come to find out, and he let me know that it is possible to do this. He said he would be able to mill them down to bring the compression back to stock numbers. Have any of you done this before?
Thanks for reading my long winded thread and I appreciate your responses.
My first option is to run my stock sized pistons and hone the block. Hopefully I can get my hands on standard sized rings. The problem here is there was some water that got into two of the cylinders and damaged the cylinder walls. Its not extreme, but seems to be enough to where I can't hone it out with stones. Maybe a flex hone could take care of it, I don't know. The cylinders are well with in spec and if it wasn't for the water in the cylinders I would try to reuse the stock pistons. My only concern with this is that it may need to be honed so much to the point that my cylinders are out of spec. Also a couple of the pistons have little dents in them from what looks like pieces of the glow plugs, they don't have cracks or holes though. I would feel comfortable reusing them. I was told this was a low mileage motor when I bought it and it definitely looks like it when I pulled it apart. The pistons have very little wear and minimal carbon build up. Any thought?
My second, way more expensive option is to order standard sized pistons from 89' to 92' with a 7.3 and bore my 6.9 block to match. The problem that comes along with this is the compression goes way up and the rotating assembly can be unbalanced because of the heavier pistons. I talked to Justin over at R&D, which by the way is a great resource I have come to find out, and he let me know that it is possible to do this. He said he would be able to mill them down to bring the compression back to stock numbers. Have any of you done this before?
Thanks for reading my long winded thread and I appreciate your responses.