Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

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Are you kidding me? For that price you can buy custom forged pistons, and have a piston that's 1000 times better than anything that Egge, Silvolite, or anyone else who makes cast pistons. If that's what the price is, everyone who buys them better bring the KY jelly! They have it in spray form now for those who want it done quick!

I respectfully offer another opinion to Eric's on this -"For that price you can buy custom forged pistons, and have a piston that's 1000 times better than anything that Egge, Silvolite, or anyone else who makes cast pistons."

IMHO, for 99% of all Packard V8s, the current best-science piston would be a hypereutectic cast piston. They could be fit to the same .0005"-.0015" as the OEM pistons.

Very few Packard V8 owners need or can use the strength of forged pistons and would not appreciate the cold start clatter common to the greater clearances forged pistons require.

thnx, jack vines

I have Egge pistons in my Executive 352 and they are just fine. The engine now has 10,000 miles on it since being rebuilt and have had no problems at all (with the pistons).

Put me down for a set of strutted 4 1/8 + .030 to keep on hand for my 374s.

Fourpack

I've let this run for a couple of weeks now, and it looks like there is interest in perhaps 8 sets of 4-1/8 bore + 0.030 OS, and possibly something for a 4 inch bore. Perhaps Dan Kanter was correct, not much interest in a better piston for the V8 cars. If anyone else has an interest, send me a PM and I'll pass the results along to Kanters in a week or so.

Let's add one more detail. How much would you pay for a set of current-state-of-the-art hypereutectic cast pistons? Egge's are $400 and custom forgings are $800, in round numbers. I'll pay $550 a set, for starters.

thnx, jack vines

I had occasion to speak with Dan Kanter today at the local Packard region's picnic about the autothermic strut pistons for V8s. I told him there was interest expressed in about 8 sets (64 pistons) of 4-1/8 + 0.030. He was not suprised that the interest was so small, and indicated the minimum run in any particular size is 200 pistons, and at that run length the price per piston would be about $55 each, and of course that would drop somewhat with higher production runs.

So I guess we're a third of the way there and hope more interest surfaces.

Well, that's a step in the right direction.

Knowing now what minimum quantities are required and at what selling price, you may be able to put together a program like Kip56 did with enough commitments for Bob Berg to make another run of the Front Load Arm Holding Tools.

However, the production numbers are much higher and we have several sizes to chose from in this case. Unless owner has an engine apart for overhaul, who's to say what size they will need? That may be the single biggest factor that's limiting interest.

Would Kanter be willing take some for their own shelf stock? To go a step furhter, would any of the other parts vendors be willing to invest in any sets for their own stocking purposes?

I'm nowhere near ready to rebuild any of my V8s, but hope this project comes off well.

Good questions and comments all, Brian. I think for now we should just try to keep the topic out there for others to read and hopefully show interest, and if we can get a bit closer to the minimum of 200, perhaps half-way or a bit more, then I'll approach Dan for a more detailed discussion, he's certainly open to the project.

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Custom hypereutectic pistons would be even less. Someone needs to give Keith Black a call and see if they would be wiling to make some pistons for the V8 guys. A small block Chevy or even a 302 Ford has the same bore as a 352 Packard, so making the pin height would be no problem for them, and it would be around $600-$800 for a set of good quality pistons from a manufacturer that you can trust fully.

Greetings, Eric,

FWIW, I know John Erb, formerly chief engineer for Keith Black/Silv-O-Lite/United Machine. Five years ago, while he was still the man, I spoke to him at length about making Packard V8 pistons. I even guaranteed 100 sets. With all his leverage, he said it would be a bad business decision. He said then and as this thread proves, there is next-to-no demand for Packard V8 performance pistons. He checked the specs and the Chevy/Ford 4" bore stuff is a full 1/2" shorter compression height than the Packard V8. None of their molds or jigs would come close to making a Packard piston. There is one Ford truck piston close to the right height, but it is heavy-duty monster 125 grams heavier than the Packard V8, so the imbalance makes it not a real option.

Making a Packard V8 piston is more difficult than it seems at first glance, eh?

thnx, jack vines