mke said:In reply to oldeskewltoy :
That seems very manageable. Are pistons available or will you have them made?
they will need to be made..... x8... and if I'm not wrong... they don't appear to be symmetrical, the valves appear to be slightly offset - but I'll be sure to have the piston maker confirm that.....
In reply to oldeskewltoy :
ahh, the joy of oddball engines :(
JE did the pistons for the frankenferrari and did a good job. They were also able to supply the replacement I need for the repair from the order number which is nice....but they are like $130 each in sets of 4 or more. 
JE made pistons for our 1912 Sears and the price was pretty reasonable.
Chances are there's already a blank they can just modify to work for you. Ours started as 454 piston slugs.
my problem with JE is their employee turnover... and piss poor customer services. Additionally, it cost a friend nearly $900 for 4 Toyota 5 valve pistons... albeit, they are likely more $$, but $225 a slug gets steep fast for 8 (or 12).
I've heard Traum might be worthwhile to try. Any other piston companies (suggestions?) that might be worthwhile to contact?
Wiseco...?
I used Arias on a project years ago and they did a good job, no idea how they are today.
With JE, I just (2 months ago) bought a replacement piston...$693.97, see quote. min qty is 2, $100 fee for orders under 4, then a wrist pin for it rings and some clips, 693.97 to replace 1 damaged piston. But on normal orders pistons themselves are $132 each plus about $50 each for pins,rings clips....$180. For $180 you could have a set of 8 SBC pistons...but you don't have a SBC. The price probably varies a little depending on exactly what blank you need but I wouldn't think by much. I was surprised how quick they were....when I ordered the set some years back it was about 12 weeks iirc not 12 days and they actually shipped in about 6 days...must have hit the the timing just right so the shop was empty.
There are options you can add too, coatings, gas ports, it would be very easy to run up the number. I talked myself into returning the rings and getting a gapaless set from totalseal that was about double the price...lots of ways to piss away money on a custom build :(
In reply to mke : I second Aries I too was told about 12 weeks but it wound up being closer to 12 days.
everything was spot on with zero weight difference in all 14 12 cylinder plus 2 spares. One of which I used
OST, MKE, it's good to sit in on the conversation between you two.
Just had a flashback of people running Corvair pistons in 2TC/3TC engines for boosted applications, and am now thinking of a Weiand 144 on a Toyota V engine with Corvair pistons (available at every Autozone, right?) sitting in a T-bucket.
the Arias building in Gardena, Ca was empty last time I went by ,
I think someone else bought the name , no idea if the workers went to the new company
Not sure if you made a decision on Normally aspirated or all engine, but here is a neat Eaton M-122 Supercharger and air to water intercooloer option, new old stock for $600:
Cadillac used it on the Northstar engine which is pretty narrow. The compressor sits in the valley and blows up through 4 laminova intercooler cores then out and down into the intake manifolds. The runners are cast into the Eaton housing, so you would have to lop those off. The top cover housing the IC cores bolts on, so unbolt it and put a 1/2" aluminum adapter plate between the two pieces and fab up intake runners that match your needs. Bolt the whole shebang together and there you go. The adapter would look like an eight legged spider with a 1/2" thick body with cutouts to match the compressor outlet and intake legs.
This all assumes fuel injection. It comes with a drive by wire throttle, but you could swap that out without too much trouble.
While nothing is set in stone... the current plan is still N/A... The 5V-EU intake port shape favors velocity over volume... compare it to a 426 Hemi port - significantly different shape, the Chrysler has a big square port all the way to the valve - it favors volume over velocity - hence why a supercharger works well.
The Northstar supercharger is definitely tough to pass up... even if it sits on a shelf! Very sexy indeed, love the built in cooler too.
Knurled - would love to see that.... there is a guy who posted on the Aussie forums of his rendition.....
I'm still trying to keep the bonnet.....
work finally begins on the heads.... not a huge amount needed as these ports (castings) are very good for their time. Correcting for core shift, and working the short radius mostly
One heads intake side almost finished....
Yep... the 426 Hemi was not designed for hemi heads. It was a crash course in '64 to put heads like the old 392s had, with some updates, on the 426 Max Wedge block. (Even though Hemis had different blocks, for the head studs that were attached from inside the valley)
oldeskewltoy said:
One heads intake side almost finished....
I've not yet mentioned the exhaust side... This has to do with a few possible options open to me.
As you can see, the exhaust side exhaust valve could be larger(original is 34mm).... the seat is even large enough to accommodate a bigger valve.
A bigger valve is EASILY available, the Toyota 2/3TC engines use a nearly identical exhaust valve(length, stem, keeper groove) except the diameter is 36mm!
And if you look back to the castings, the exhaust port appears to be able to support a larger valve.....
So... that pretty much leads me to where I am right now... Getting the flowbench prepared to run the hemi heads.
The thought is to test the current valve and see if we are above/below a flow ratio of 65% of the intake flow is the exhaust flow. Above 65%, leave it alone, run a 34mm valve, with a fresh valve job. Below 65%, and have the valve seat machined to accept the 36mm valve.
To run the head, I need another one off tool.... a "new" valve actuator... a friend will need to weld that nut(plus another) to the metal bar
more to come........ 
Fun!
Well, the new valve tool is ready..... I'm only using test springs in there, so it doesn't have to be too stout.
now I just need the time to finish the set up, and calibrate the bench(new set up)
more to come.... 
people often ask me why do I post up my work... sometimes its so others can see what I've missed.
There is something in this I missed...... Note the invoice shows 2 head gaskets... not one left, and one right????
A reader "from another forum" noticed it! Why can't I have the same gasket.... because the cooling from one head to the other would be significantly different!!!
Catching this now saves me time... money... and anger issues later.
More to come.....
A piston thought.
Are you on speed-talk.com?
If not, join and post a query about custom pistons. A few of the regulars are people whose bread and butter is rebuilding/modifying orphan engines (like Studebakers) so you may get some good vectors there. Maybe even from one of the vendor sponsors. There's a good deal of industry might there.
In reply to oldeskewltoy :
Corvairs used 3.43 in diameter pistons....I didn't see anyone suggest egges for a possible source. Great build updates!
So... if you missed what was wrong with the gasket.... I made a quick and simple gif....
more to come.....
The gasket cannot be flipped then punch a half moon out?had to ask....
In reply to Agent98 :
With a total loss oiling system that would work, but I think Oldskool needs the gasket on the drain
Agent98 said:The gasket cannot be flipped then punch a half moon out?had to ask....
If you noticed... one end has a slot for the cooling, while the other doesn't. If we were to open up the cooling slot at the other end it would change how the cooling flow is routed. It might not matter, but then it might.
So the solid side of the gasket blocks off flow thus,routing coolant towards the front? More complicated now,you could always fab a stainless restrictor plate and sandwich it in...but hey not telling the doc where to slice! Back to spectating....
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