catastrada Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 One friend of mine is driving a Caterham with the EU2 VVC engine, mainly on track (80%). 4,000 miles ago he broke one piston. He then decided to replace the 4 pistons with new ones. Last week he broke again 1 piston He is now thinking of replacing it with forged pistons. Is it the way to go (all inputs apreciaed). If yes, is it an easy swap or need the conrods to be replaced too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 The ppistons are a bit of a weak link at high revs, certainly the R400 race series in France used to wreck pistons. I don't think forged items were legal at the time and IIRC they changed the regs to allow the change. The new items will last longer. I don't know if you need to change the rods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilyhands Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 To fit forged pistoms will require the fitting of a Colsibro or similar bush at the small end of the rod so that they can be made fully floating fit. Make sure you buy pistons that come machined for circlips. In theory forged pistons can be fitted interference fit on the rods, but only safely with new rods. With used rods, once the old pistons have been pressed from the rods the inteference fit is pretty much destroyed and is not safe to use again. It is possible to remove the pistons by sectioning the piston and machining the centre of the gudgeon pin so that it can be collapsed out of the rod eye, then the interference fit can be re-used, but TBH, fully floating is much better. If the rods are dual tang then they need some machining to the big end housing to make bearing location safer. The liners will need glaze busting or replacing. Oily Edited by - oilyhands on 12 Nov 2007 15:28:06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catastrada Posted November 13, 2007 Author Share Posted November 13, 2007 Thank you very much for your valuable answer 😶🌫️ He is planning to change pistons and rods for forged ones. Any address / references to buy the items? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilyhands Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 You dont really need forged rods, the stock ones are good for high RPM and are quite strong, otherwise I would recommend Farndon or Arrow for the rods and Omega for the pistons. If you cant get the pistons at any reasonable price, then I do keep several sets in stock. Oily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catastrada Posted November 13, 2007 Author Share Posted November 13, 2007 Dave, YHM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterhamnut Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Just uploaded these pics whilst I trial Zenfolio here Lovely bits of kit - I got mine from Dave www.mycaterham.com here Videos here 101,000 miles car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catastrada Posted November 15, 2007 Author Share Posted November 15, 2007 Nice try Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rj Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Beautiful images Agnus! /regin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catastrada Posted November 30, 2007 Author Share Posted November 30, 2007 Fitting forged pistons seems the road to follow. But one more question : I understand that forged pistons (their design) gives the engine a higher compression ratio than with the standard pistons. Correct ? If yes, will the standard ECU be able to manage this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilyhands Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 The difference is marginal it normally liofts the CT from 10.5->1 to 11.2->1, the ECU wont have a problem. The tops of the pistons can easily be skimmed if desired. Oily Edited by - oilyhands on 30 Nov 2007 20:47:51 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catastrada Posted December 1, 2007 Author Share Posted December 1, 2007 Thank you Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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