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Piston to cylinder clearance

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Old May 9, 2007 | 02:48 PM
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Default Piston to cylinder clearance

hey...i need to know how much clearance to run on my pistons. im planning on running nearly 28-30psi, and i dont think 2 thousandths is enough...bc ive heard of guys running that and their motors ceasing up..would 3 thousandths be too much or not enough or wat? i need some input guys
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Old May 9, 2007 | 03:01 PM
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Originally Posted by foshomofo
hey...i need to know how much clearance to run on my pistons. im planning on running nearly 28-30psi, and i dont think 2 thousandths is enough...bc ive heard of guys running that and their motors ceasing up..would 3 thousandths be too much or not enough or wat? i need some input guys
You should run stock piston to wall clearance, Ring gap has more of an affect when it comes to boost. How much hp are you planning on?
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Old May 9, 2007 | 03:15 PM
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550-600whp on a t66 turbo w/ top mount
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Old May 9, 2007 | 03:16 PM
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i have 84.5mm pistons btw
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Old May 9, 2007 | 03:26 PM
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Originally Posted by foshomofo
550-600whp on a t66 turbo w/ top mount
What type of piston are you using? Compression, bore diameter, and Silicon content are key determining factors. If the piston is prone to expand and contract more, the clearances will increase. Your best bet is to use the piston to wall clearance specified by the manufacturer, and the formula for determining ring gap.

My CP pistons wall clearance was .003, and the ring gaps were .020 and .022 I believe which was equated from there ring gap formula, specifically for turbo applications. My bore was 81.5mm.

This is a good article about pistons if you want to read up and form your own opinion. http://www.team-integra.net/sections...?ArticleID=183
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Old May 9, 2007 | 03:38 PM
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um..theyre pistons from KMS at honda-performance.com...i believe the brand is supertech or something like that..theyre 9:1 cr with 84.5mm bore. the only reason im asking is because i talked to a guy who was running about 28psi and he locked up the bottom end...he said it was bc he didnt have enuf clearance under that much boost...i wasnt too sure about that so i figured id ask...it says on my piston specs paper the minimum clearance is .00315"
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Old May 9, 2007 | 05:10 PM
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are you building the engine yourself? if not ask whoever's doing it for you.
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Old May 9, 2007 | 05:45 PM
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i will be assembling the motor..not the machine work tho no
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Old May 9, 2007 | 09:40 PM
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The seller/manufacturer should specify the piston to wall clearance due to the differences in material expansion caused by different amounts of silicone used. High silicone content pistons expand much less than low silicone pistons.

I am going to guess that the pistons you purchased were low silicone, so you will need to run a larger piston to wall clearance to compensate for the expansion. Again, this information should be provided by the seller/manufacturer.
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Old May 10, 2007 | 12:27 PM
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any ideas as to what ring gap i should run?
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