I finally got everything sorted out with logistics and pricing with my piston manufacturers.
What I've done is create a better Buick Street/Strip piston that's every been available. After going through heroics to make my 4.1 have 8.99:1 just to find out what total shit hpyers are, I ended up creating something cool.
6 pistons with locks and JE pins are $550. (they can be sold in any number if you want a 7th for the shelf, or burn just one and need a replacement).
These are lightweight box forgings that have been machined to work in virtually ANY Buick V6 build. With a 22CC inverted dome it's possible to achieve decent compression with any bore size from 3.801" all the way up to the biggest 4.1 build. My piston engineer ended up having experience with Buick V6 NECKCAR and Kenny Duttweilers drag stuf back when he was head enginer with JE. Needless to say I let him setup the exact shape of the inverted dome's walls. He and I were on the same page as far as capturing the flame kernel for maximum efficiency and minimizing the amount of ignition advance as much as possible. I'm pretty happy with how these came out.
There's a few people already running them for a while now and It's what I have in my GN as well.
The really cool thing about these is how easy they are to modify. I can change the bore, ring pack and compression height with no change in price. The pins can be set up floating or press fit so they'll work with stock or aftermarket rods. For guys running BBC rods or SBC rods, I can put those pins in with a slight bump in price and make it a 'bolt it' job.
That also works good for guys that are just now building virgin engines. Rather than pay to bore it out, I can make them 2 or 5 over then all it takes is a hone job and a set of file fit rings. Plus I can move the piston up the bore instead of decking the block and making it thinner. The savings on the bore and deck job will pretty much pay for the pistons.
These things are truly what the Buick community needed many many years ago. I wish they'd been available before I decked the hell out of my block, Then had to machine my intake... TWICE! These would have saved me a lot of trouble when I learned the hard way that 4.1 decks (and older 3.8's) are taller than 109 3.8s.I finally got everything sorted out with logistics and pricing with my piston manufacturers.
What I've done is create a better Buick Street/Strip piston that's every been available. After going through heroics to make my 4.1 have 8.99:1 just to find out what total shit hpyers are, I ended up creating something cool.
6 pistons with locks and JE pins are $550. (they can be sold in any number if you want a 7th for the shelf, or burn just one and need a replacement).
These are lightweight box forgings that have been machined to work in virtually ANY Buick V6 build. With a 22CC inverted dome it's possible to achieve decent compression with any bore size from 3.801" all the way up to the biggest 4.1 build. My piston engineer ended up having experience with Buick V6 NECKCAR and Kenny Duttweilers drag stuf back when he was head enginer with JE. Needless to say I let him setup the exact shape of the inverted dome's walls. He and I were on the same page as far as capturing the flame kernel for maximum efficiency and minimizing the amount of ignition advance as much as possible. I'm pretty happy with how these came out.
There's a few people already running them for a while now and It's what I have in my GN as well.
The really cool thing about these is how easy they are to modify. I can change the bore, ring pack and compression height with no change in price. The pins can be set up floating or press fit so they'll work with stock or aftermarket rods. For guys running BBC rods or SBC rods, I can put those pins in with a slight bump in price and make it a 'bolt it' job.
That also works good for guys that are just now building virgin engines. Rather than pay to bore it out, I can make them 2 or 5 over then all it takes is a hone job and a set of file fit rings. Plus I can move the piston up the bore instead of decking the block and making it thinner. The savings on the bore and deck job will pretty much pay for the pistons.
These things are truly what the Buick community needed many many years ago. I wish they'd been available before I decked the hell out of my block, Then had to machine my intake... TWICE! These would have saved me a lot of trouble when I learned the hard way that 4.1 decks (and older 3.8's) are taller than 109 3.8s.