newbie piston question.
Turbo Mini Forums

Hello All! Newbie from Los Angeles, and I've tried searching as much as possible before my 1st post!

Question on Piston choices. With the exchange rate from USD to GDP, the Omega cast units feel a bit pricey! My first question is if anyone knows of a US outfit that does pistons for a turbo 1275, JE etc.

My 2nd question is, what are peoples thoughts on these:

http://www.minimania.com/part/RE-A1117-05/...shed-Piston-Set

I should state, this is a road car. Probably will never see a track, only maybe 2k miles per year (insurance has topped at that). What I'm after is say 10-12psi, (maybe 15?)

Home made ex mani, turbo is a gt17, intercooler is off a Audi TT.

Ideas? Pointers in the right direction. If I can source the parts in the US, the better! If not sourcing from the UK is all good, just not all good on the wallet.

Thanks!
Taiki

do you have any pistons at the moment? with relatively low boost, you could consider a standard turbo piston?

I can't comment specifically on the pistons but I wouldn't be as scared off by the UK pricing.
I'm located in the states (North East) and I was in a similar boat of worry but I started researching and the UK is almost always cheaper if you can put a bit order in to save on shipping.
Mini Mania is pretty frustrating in how much mark up they charge.
Example:

$125.00

$66.00
(Becuase we are in the states we don't need to pay VAT)
SAME PART NUMBER EVEN!
No way shipping will be able to cover the difference between MiniMania. Total rip off if you ask me.
Shipping times are great for me (being the first stop after the flight across the Atlantic) but will be longer for you. It is actually faster for me to get from MiniSpares than MiniMania and cheaper to boot!

Edited by seahuston on 6th Mar, 2014.

If I was you, would ask the local engine specialist in US. JE makes pistons for classic mini, I think wiseco and CP can make custom set for you if you want. What I have noticed is that with big US markets the prices are really low in most of the cases.

I am planning to put 10psi on standard engine and rebuild later. So basically you do not need anything too fancy for the power/boost you are looking for.

US price example, front wheel bearing for Nissan 350Z. In US $130, in UK £270, in Finland 500€, total price after duty, tax, transportation was about 200€ when I ordered from US.

75' Mini special deluxe.
1275 A+ engine with turbo on the way...

Thanks for the advice all! Seems my best bet for me is to source from the UK, but for the heck of it I guess one of my customers buys a lot of pistons from JE so I'll see if that goes anywhere.

In the mean time, it's off to parts sourcing and comparing prices with shops in the UK!

Engine comes out this weekend, and I'll be stripping everything down and making a list of what to buy.

So far, after reading a ton of posts, I've come up with this:

X-pin diff
ARP head & rod bolts
duplex timing gear?
AVR Ph2 Cam? ( do they make a kit with valve springs etc?)
gasket sets for both engine and trans
turbo oil pump
central oil pickup?
Mega Jolt

On the head side, will the stock A+ valves be sufficient? I'm lost on parts for the head, not sure if there's a thread out there that has a rundown of good parts?

10-15psi max, GT17 intercooled, and something that will probably never see a track. Just a fun mini I can blast around in on a sunny weekend here in Los Angeles.

Thanks!
Taiki

Those Russell engineering pistons are meant to be good, but it would be worth checking on the Aus mini forum as there will be more users of them over there.

I run the gr pistons in my 998... Time will tell how they hold up...

I run a supercharger and I don't care the TB is on the wrong side.
VEMS + 12 PSI + Liquid Intercooler = Small Bore FUN!

There is always a custom piston set from Wiseco, not to expensive from what I've heard either. That way you can get exactly what you want from a piston