any recent egge piston clearance issues?

[bk53]

Hi I'm about to order some pistons and I found several posts about egge pistons for 4" crank that hit aftermarket and even EAB heads. the last post I found for that stuff was in 2009. has anyone had any recent fitment problems? I'm looking specifically at navarro 8ba heads. I see a lot of guys use em with 4" cranks. It seems safe enough to buy some, just checking.

Thanks Much

Bill

[Old Henry]

I just had a very thorough discussion about pistons with Doc Roger who is rebuilding my engine and has been for over 40 years (no, not my engine alone, a lot of others too in that time). He didn't like the Egge pistons because of their poor quality control and inconsistent measurements and clearances. He recommended Sealed Power by Federal Mogul from Summit Racing which is what I ordered.

[VeryTangled]

For completeness... And not to rub salt...

What happened to my engine?
http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showth...ght=prof+henry

and Old Henry's Engine
http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showth...ght=prof+henry

[ford3]

egge is an xlnt source for rare, hard to get or one off pistons, but are not a source for real quality pistons, i speak from experience, ordered a set for a 38 packard straight eight engine, when i got then none of the ring groves were cut in the pistons, they made them good, but lost another 3 weeks, last resort for pistons for me

[bk53]

Hey there 'fess Henry, been watching your road trips for a while. All the fellows at work love the pictures. I saw the exploded piston. That's a tough break. I can't wait to see you back on the road again. PS I had skip haney re-do my pumps. They are beautiful. worth it for the peace of mind.

Machinist had a straight 8 pontiac in there. The crank was as long as my leg. he said it was a pontiac. Couple of old desoto hemi's in line for service too. It was all I could do to pry my eyes up and glance at all the 70's pinups. oh yeah he had a 59 L that the customer had plumbed the full flow oil cleaner up in such a way that he starved it of oil. shame that. such a nice looking motor.

Bill

[Walt Dupont--Me.]

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Originally Posted by Old Henry

I just had a very thorough discussion about pistons with Doc Roger who is rebuilding my engine and has been for over 40 years (no, not my engine alone, a lot of others too in that time). He didn't like the Egge pistons because of their poor quality control and inconsistent measurements and clearances. He recommended Sealed Power by Federal Mogul from Summit Racing which is what I ordered.

Well, I'll tell you something about EGGE pistons. I'm sure Doc Roger knows his engines. He's been in the busseness almost as long as I have 60yr's. I sure Doc remenbers back in the 80's EGGE pistons very poor quality. I stopped byeing them for years. Abouit 15 yr's ago I started getting them again, thay were real nice. I talked to one of the honjoes at EGGE, I told him about the poor pistons they were makeing back then. He knew just what I was talking about. There is a whole new crew there since then. I think the quality is real good, the weight is real close in a set. As far as pistons hitting the heads I think you'll find the heads milled to much or the block as been decked to much. I worked in auto machine shop for 50yr's and used all kind of brands, used alot of Seal power, nothing wrong with them. There were a couple of cheaper brands, cain't remember the names, crs. Most of you guys on the barn know I build alot of flatheads for a retired old f--t and I use alot of EGGE pistons. Walt

[52merc]

yes i agree with you walt the egge pistons are a tad higher on the dome the center top of piston and walt is right about the blocks being milled to much and the heads i use little balls of silver paper to check clearences some heads have to be machined out a little also my 2 cents

[bk53]

thanks guys. not going to get a better recommendation than that.

[Ol' Ron]

I think the Egge piston is the best piston available for a street engine. It's 3 ring deaign, with modern rings and light weight make it a perfect chouce for todays re builds. Piston to head clearance should not be a factor in buy nd g a piston because ther are too many variables here. I believe that the builder is responsable for providing the proper piston to head clearance of .040- .050" In the past few years I;ve had to either re dome the head on the Bville engine or mill the head on the 294 to get the clearance I wanted. Building an engine is differant than bolting one together. Walt would know.

[47 flatbed]

If you just bolt stuff together. I don't care what heads you put on those egge pistons will hit. My engine builder had this issue this last fall. I went with Ross for my wife's 60 over 4" stroker.

[Ol' Ron]

47 flathead. I had to mill the new Edelbrock heads .025 to get my .050" piston clearance with Ross pistons. Ya gots measure.

[49r]

Got my +60 8BA Egge pistons from Speedway 2 years ago. Stock heads, 4 inch crank and the pistons hit the heads. Heads came from a standard bore motor and were not over-milled, having a good step between the surface and the back of the water inlet casting - the over-milled ones in my experience have littel or no step.

[JWL]

When checking clearances on Navarro head engines I have found the Navarro to have more center dome clearance than other heads, including stock heads. I think the Egge dome would have adequate clearance. However, I have not actually measured that specific combination

[bk53]

Thanks much. We'll see that everything is clearanced, clayed and all. we planned to shoot for the .050 clearance, but hoped to just have to shave the heads. maybe i'm just thinking too much about this. I haven't done anything more than bolt together stuff. I have to pay by the hour for the other, as it should be. My biggest concern is just to have it done right.

[47 flatbed]

Ron yes in this quest for flathead power I've definitely have learned atlot about clearances. Seems like the eddlebrock heads will hit all the piston manufacturers. Not the same product as days gone by.

[Walt Dupont--Me.]

Originally Posted by Ol' Ron

I think the Egge piston is the best piston available for a street engine. It's 3 ring deaign, with modern rings and light weight make it a perfect chouce for todays re builds. Piston to head clearance should not be a factor in buy nd g a piston because ther are too many variables here. I believe that the builder is responsable for providing the proper piston to head clearance of .040- .050" In the past few years I;ve had to either re dome the head on the Bville engine or mill the head on the 294 to get the clearance I wanted. Building an engine is differant than bolting one together. Walt would know.

Here is a little tip if you use the EGGE 3 ring pistons. I like them. I have used 3 sets in the last year. I always have my engines balanced. BUT, really have engine balanced if you use the 3 ring piston. They are lighter than the 4 ring piston and the balancer will have to drill a loy of weight off the crank. Walt