540 Piston questions and manufacturers

Old 12-05-2007, 10:21 AM
  #1  
tcarda
Senior Member
MASTER BUILDER
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Big Lake, Minnesota
Posts: 162
Default 540 Piston questions and manufacturers

I am looking for a new set of pistons for my 540 to increase my compression from 12.8:1. My combination is a 4.500 bore, 4.25 stroke, with a 6.385 rod. My engine consists of a Holley 1250 dominator, ported Edelbrock Super Victor intake, Dart 355 CNC heads, and 4340 crank and rods. I want to be in the 14.5:1 to 15:1 compression ratio somewhere. Ross has a set of pistons that have a 49 cc dome, 14.5 comp .600 dome height, 1.273 ch, and a 589 grahm weight. JE also make a piston that has a 45 cc dome, 14.3 comp. 1.270 ch, and a 652 grahm weight. Which one of these pistons would work better for my motor and why, or should I use a piston?
tcarda is offline  
Old 12-05-2007, 11:53 AM
  #2  
edvancedengines
Senior Member
DYNO OPERATOR
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: VA Hospital, Dallas, Tx (214 302 1924) cell-972-464-7400
Posts: 540
Default

http://www.brcperformance.com/chevy454shortdeck.htm

http://www.brcperformance.com/chevy454flattop.htm

Or we can do anything you want in a custom piston.

Ed
edvancedengines is offline  
Old 12-05-2007, 12:04 PM
  #3  
gimmemud
Senior Member
MASTER BUILDER
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Ms.
Posts: 191
Default

You will not be dissapointed with BRC.
gimmemud is offline  
Old 12-05-2007, 02:01 PM
  #4  
tcarda
Senior Member
MASTER BUILDER
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Big Lake, Minnesota
Posts: 162
Default

Originally Posted by edvancedengines
Thanks Ed. I sent you a Private Message.
tcarda is offline  
Old 12-05-2007, 04:22 PM
  #5  
shawnp
Senior Member
RACING JUNKIE
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Ohio
Posts: 936
Default

My combination is close. Both motors bore 4.530 with 4.250 stroke. We have JE in 1 motor and just sold Wiseco out of the other. Both work great and have no problems getting them.
shawnp is offline  
Old 12-07-2007, 05:19 AM
  #6  
Pwmax
Senior Member
MASTER BUILDER
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 184
Default

my advice, would be to mill the heads a bunch. You could easily get 14+:1 by doing that. That way, you save the cost of rings, bearings, hone job, the pistons, re-balancing, etc. You would be at the point of diminishing returns, by going much more than that. If you changed nothing, except bumped the compression, you won;t notice much gain anyhow. It will pick up for sure, but, if you switch pistons, I don't think you would be happy with the money per hp increase, and, more important, the gain in et. At the level your at, it takes big gains in power to do much. I pick guys up 50+hp all the time, by refining their combos, generaly, porting the heads, and, its usualy good for .2-.3 tenths, and 3-4mph. I don;t think you would even come close to those gains just from a compression increase. Thats my advice

Frank
Advanced Performance
www.get-ap.com
Pwmax is offline  
Old 12-07-2007, 06:36 AM
  #7  
tcarda
Senior Member
MASTER BUILDER
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Big Lake, Minnesota
Posts: 162
Default

Originally Posted by Pwmax
my advice, would be to mill the heads a bunch. You could easily get 14+:1 by doing that. That way, you save the cost of rings, bearings, hone job, the pistons, re-balancing, etc. You would be at the point of diminishing returns, by going much more than that. If you changed nothing, except bumped the compression, you won;t notice much gain anyhow. It will pick up for sure, but, if you switch pistons, I don't think you would be happy with the money per hp increase, and, more important, the gain in et. At the level your at, it takes big gains in power to do much. I pick guys up 50+hp all the time, by refining their combos, generaly, porting the heads, and, its usualy good for .2-.3 tenths, and 3-4mph. I don;t think you would even come close to those gains just from a compression increase. Thats my advice

Frank
Advanced Performance
www.get-ap.com
Thanks Frank. I am also putting in a litter bigger cam and I also upgraded my out of the box 1050 and bought a new carb from Pro Systems 1250. Also, I am adding a vacuum pump. My first thought was to angle mill the heads and tighten up the chambers from 118 to 107. But if I angle mill the heads I am wondering about piston to valve clearnance, the angle and also if I have to cut the pistons since these pistons were not made for angle milled heads. Wouldn't I have balance the assembly again if I had to cut on the pistons? The guy that built this motor originally told me that they are JE pistons with a 40 cc dome, but the pistons say SRP on them. The only SRP piston that I can find with my crank and rods says it is 12.8 w/a 36 cc dome.
tcarda is offline  
Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service - Do Not Sell My Personal Information -