Re: engine coatings
 

Smitty is the man!!! He unfortunately has had an expensive education, but his info is dead nuts on and he knows what he's talking about.

He should charge for the info he gives out here!!!

Thanks for all your info lately Smitty, even though I decided to go another route. You were the only one making me feel comfortable about what i was planning.

Kirk

Re: engine coatings
 

I agree....ol' Smitts has given out some very valuble info all based on personal experience. He's a great test bed for much of the stuff we all use. He's an asset to this forum.

Re: engine coatings
 

Thanks guys,I try to take pics of everything I do then put them in my boat pic files for later uses like when posting. I sure don't know everything but have learned alot,some things the hard way :evilb: (I got the broken parts to prove it too :eek: ),Smitty
p.s-if someone is rebuilding a motor and their old pistons are a little looser than they'd like swain tech can apply the skirt coating extra thick to "save" from buying new pistons (as thick as .002 vs the std .0005 coating they use),Smitty

Re: engine coatings
 

You just have them cleaned SPOTLESS,leave the springs off and finish the valve job befire sending them in (they coat the exhaust valves,ports and seats so you wouldn't want to have to cut the coating off when doing your valve job),Smitty

Re: engine coatings
 

Ray and PatriYacht are correct.

First, you have to be very carefull about anything that increases the combustion temps. Yes, you may see a slight power increase if you're always running plenty of octane, but knock characteristics will probably be worse. If you coat the entire chamber, you'll also notice cooler running temps (especially in an air cooled engine)

Getting quench right is a much better thing to do for increasing compression.

As far as friction reduction is concerned, there shouldn't be metal to metal contact anyway!!! That's what oil is for. I've never seen a single study showing any benefits here.

Coatings tend to be usefull in highly restricted race classes where the builders are looking for every last hp. I don't know Nascar rules anymore, but I remember in the past they made good use of coatings, but I also remember them going nuts over an extra 3hp.