Damaged piston

[Reg Evans]

This piston came out of the #1 hole of J.Lo's 230.  Looks like I need a new one.  The lower oil ring is even pinched in the piston.  All I can think of that may have caused this was a wire from a wire brush when I was cleaning off the top of the block and pistons.  This hole had dropped down to 50lbs and the rest are around 100lbs psi on my last compression test.

My question is can I buy a single piston for this 230 '48 Dodge engine bored .060 over......and can I buy just one set of rings ?  If so where ?

Thanks MoPar Bros !

Edited July 19, 2017 by Reg Evans

[knuckleharley]

20 minutes ago, Reg Evans said:

This piston came out of the #1 hole of J.Lo's 230.  Looks like I need a new one.  The lower oil ring is even pinched in the piston.  All I can think of that may have caused this was a wire from a wire brush when I was cleaning off the top of the block and pistons.  This hole had dropped down to 50lbs and the rest are around 100lbs psi on my last compression test.

My question is can I buy a single piston for this 230 '48 Dodge engine bored .060 over......and can I buy just one set of rings ?  If so where ?

Thanks MoPar Bros !

Reg,wouldn't EGGE sell you one piston? After all,they make them themselves right there in their shop,so making 7 one day instead of 6 should be no big deal.

[keithb7]

Yikes. Piece of wires from a rotary wire brush in a drill... That's haunting. I cringe at the thought of this happening to anyone.

[DonaldSmith]

So the wire got in the spark plug hole, migrated across the valves to the cylinder, where it messed up the piston?  I can imagine that happening.  Someone bend a valve from a piece of junk getting in the plug hole.  So plug your plug holes, guys.  I presume the damage is on the side of the piston by the valves.    

Or was the head off when the wire broke loose?  

What is the condition of the cylinder wall? 

[Reg Evans]

2 hours ago, DonaldSmith said:

So the wire got in the spark plug hole, migrated across the valves to the cylinder, where it messed up the piston?  I can imagine that happening.  Someone bend a valve from a piece of junk getting in the plug hole.  So plug your plug holes, guys.  I presume the damage is on the side of the piston by the valves.    

Or was the head off when the wire broke loose?  

What is the condition of the cylinder wall? 

Yes, the head was off and I was removing carbon from the top of the block and the piston tops with a wire brush.  That's my guess.

The cylinder wall is not too bad.  I think a hone will take care of it.

I'll try Egge for a piston if my machine shop can't come up with one.

Edited July 20, 2017 by Reg Evans

[classiccarjack]

3 hours ago, Reg Evans said:

Yes, the head was off and I was removing carbon from the top of the block and the piston tops with a wire brush.  That's my guess.

The cylinder wall is not too bad.  I think a hone will take care of it.

I'll try Egge for a piston if my machine shop can't come up with one.

I hope that they sell you a piston, I am bummed that this happened to you. 

[Dodgeb4ya]

Weight could be an issue?

[Reg Evans]

2 minutes ago, Dodgeb4ya said:

Weight could be an issue?

Do you think this piston could be cleaned up and re-used ?

[thebeebe5]

4 minutes ago, Reg Evans said:

Do you think this piston could be cleaned up and re-used ?

Bottom oil control ring land is damaged (at least).  No real way to fix that.  Better off replacing it.  Sad to see, brother...   Hope you can find what you need. 

[Reg Evans]

My friend who is a retired Merchant Marine ships mechanic and old MoPar guy thinks maybe the rod may be bent and that's what caused this.  I'm skeptical but will have it checked.

I've found a set if (6) .060 over pistons with rings and pins on eBay for $153.  I wish they would sell me just 1 or 7.

[rekbender]

If you get desperate, I have five used .060 over pistons from a 218 parts engine. They are old Conformatic pistons, total weight with rings, pin and circlips is 642 grams. They seem to be usable. I'll send you one if you think you could use it.

Edited July 20, 2017 by rekbender

[Plymouthy Adams]

what a deal....excellent gesture on your part.....Reg may only have to weigh his old slug, match the new to that, proper size the bush and let the big dog eat.

[Young Ed]

43 minutes ago, Reg Evans said:

My friend who is a retired Merchant Marine ships mechanic and old MoPar guy thinks maybe the rod may be bent and that's what caused this.  I'm skeptical but will have it checked.

I've found a set if (6) .060 over pistons with rings and pins on eBay for $153.  I wish they would sell me just 1 or 7.

rock auto appears to have individual pistons in some sizes.

[MackTheFinger]

17 hours ago, Reg Evans said:

This piston came out of the #1 hole of J.Lo's 230.  Looks like I need a new one.  The lower oil ring is even pinched in the piston.  All I can think of that may have caused this was a wire from a wire brush when I was cleaning off the top of the block and pistons.  This hole had dropped down to 50lbs and the rest are around 100lbs psi on my last compression test.

My question is can I buy a single piston for this 230 '48 Dodge engine bored .060 over......and can I buy just one set of rings ?  If so where ?

Thanks MoPar Bros !

Sorry to hear you're having problems and kudos to Rekbender for offering free parts. It's impossible to be 100% certain what caused this but every time I've seen a motorcycle piston that looks like that it's been caused by a lean fuel mixture. I've attached a picture of a piston from a fairly fresh Triumph Bonneville rebuild that shows nearly the same scuffing and I know it was caused by a lean mix. Collapsed ring lands are generally caused by detonation, again a lean mix problem. When you re-assemble your engine be sure to check for an intake leak on that cylinder. Good luck!

Edited July 20, 2017 by MackTheFinger
content

[Reg Evans]

Wow  rekbender  !  Thanks for your kind offer.  I'll check around a little more and let you know if I can't find a new single piston.

I just got back from the machine shop.  The one guy I showed the piston to didn't think it was a piece of wire brush that did the damage.  He thinks the piston overheated.

He also said it would be between 5K to 6.5 K to rebuild my engine.  Don't think I'll be going there again.

[Don Coatney]

I tend to agree with the over heating. Or the end gap in the rings was not matched to the cylinder. Click on link below.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/ring_end_gap.htm

[55 Fargo]

45 minutes ago, Reg Evans said:

Wow  rekbender  !  Thanks for your kind offer.  I'll check around a little more and let you know if I can't find a new single piston.

I just got back from the machine shop.  The one guy I showed the piston to didn't think it was a piece of wire brush that did the damage.  He thinks the piston overheated.

He also said it would be between 5K to 6.5 K to rebuild my engine.  Don't think I'll be going there again.

Reg while heat can do a lot of damage, what precipitated this.

All was well for years and miles prior to the top pistons being cleaned? How many miles did you put on the engine since.

I would seek another more qualified opinion.

Now come on guys, who has a "PISTON" Reg could use?

The rod bent, can you have this verified?

[thebeebe5]

55 minutes ago, Reg Evans said:

I just got back from the machine shop.  The one guy I showed the piston to didn't think it was a piece of wire brush that did the damage.  He thinks the piston overheated.

He also said it would be between 5K to 6.5 K to rebuild my engine.  Don't think I'll be going there again.

Overheating could support the lean mixture theory.  

$5-7k doesn't sound too out of line for a proper and thorough rebuild.   Start adding custom work and it can climb rapidly.  My pal did a '28 Chrysler engine 6-ish years ago that approached $15k, but the custom work was extensive.  

It adds up fast, and quality mahine work is worth paying for. 

[55 Fargo]

12 minutes ago, thebeebe5 said:

Overheating could support the lean mixture theory.  

$5-7k doesn't sound too out of line for a proper and thorough rebuild.   Start adding custom work and it can climb rapidly.  My pal did a '28 Chrysler engine 6-ish years ago that approached $15k, but the custom work was extensive.  

It adds up fast, and quality mahine work is worth paying for. 

Thats a lot of money for a glorified Briggs and Stratton engine....LOL

I would have George Asche build it if he can do it, even if it meant shipping right across the country, which it would for Reg

Complete rebuild of a Chrysler L Head 6 is approximately $3500 cdn or $2700 USD where I live .

His prices are a lot less than 7 grand..

[rekbender]

I just checked with Falcon Performance. The fellow said Sealed Power 37P60 is available as a single piston from JEGS for $33.99. You'd probably have to buy a full set of rings.

[Reg Evans]

18 minutes ago, 55 Fargo Spitfire said:

Reg while heat can do a lot of damage, what precipitated this.

All was well for years and miles prior to the top pistons being cleaned? How many miles did you put on the engine since.

I would seek another more qualified opinion.

Now come on guys, who has a "PISTON" Reg could use?

The rod bent, can you have this verified?

I think this engine has been in J-Lo for somewhere around 10 years now.  I bought a truck with the D24 engine in it and it ran smooth with 110lbs in every cylinder so I did the swap. Before I installed it I cleaned the top of the block with the wire brush and had .050 shaved off the head.  It ran great for years but seemed to vibrate more and more than most of my flatties.  I checked the compression about 18 months ago and #1 was down to about 75lbs.  I kept driving it on occasion.  A couple of months ago I checked it again and #1 was down to 50lbs. I've probably only put 5000 miles on it in that time but it never overheated.  I did install some cast iron headers from Langdons and a factory 2bbl intake manifold.  I couldn't find a good 2bbl or the proper linkage so I installed a 1 to 2 barrel adapter upside down on the 2 bbl manifold and have run it this way al along.

The engine always ran fine with lots of power and never over heated. It would idle smooth at 450rpm.  No indication of a vacuum leak or a lean running condition.

Here's a photo of the Rube Goldberg carb intake and the scuffed cylinder wall. I'm hoping a little honing will take care of the cylinder.

 

[Reg Evans]

rekbender,  They do sell them individually!!!!!  Thanks !!!  I plugged in that part number and the photo shows a piston with most of the skirt eliminated.  I wonder if that's just a generic photo?

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchResultsPageCmd?Ntt=37P60&requestYear=&storeId=10001&catalogId=10002&langId=-1&year=&make=&model=&submodel=&engine=&Nrpp=&No=&persistYmm=false

Edited July 20, 2017 by Reg Evans

[Flatie46]

9 minutes ago, Reg Evans said:

rekbender,  The do sell them individually!!!!!  Thanks !!!  I plugged in that part number and the photo shows a piston with most of the skirt eliminated.  I wonder if that's just a generic photo?

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchResultsPageCmd?Ntt=37P60&requestYear=&storeId=10001&catalogId=10002&langId=-1&year=&make=&model=&submodel=&engine=&Nrpp=&No=&persistYmm=false

if you click on details it says it's just a represenitive image.

[Reg Evans]

Yeah, I saw that after I hit send.  Thanks.

[dpollo]

Nothing Rube Goldberg about the Intake Manifold.  That is a very rare (and  much sought after) 55 to 59 two barrel intake.   I wonder why the single barrel carb was adapted to it rather than using a stock manifold.   Looks like Fenton exhaust .

Edited July 21, 2017 by dpollo
correction