Building a big cam 3 400

If memory serves me, that piston coating doesn’t expand with heat like metal does?

Yea I’ve seen guys put big fuel pressure to the injectors, sadly that adds pressure to the cam lobes too.

Years ago we changed fuel with vise grips and dimes which ever was handy lol.

Now days we can have a nice set of injectors built, along with a good pump to match then. And not worry about cam lobe failure created by the extra pressure of the high fuel setting on the pump. Pressure added the the fuel, adds pressure to the cam lobes too. 30 years ago we would build a stinger and put in the pump to gain speed, gotta watch that though, you can eat a turbo lol…

 

Mahle uses coating on piston skirts for years called grafal. It is graphite based. Used on Cat Acert and Cummins ISX.
Race Proven Technology - MAHLE North America

 

Those are also steel pistons with much less of a thermal expansion at operating temp.

 

You won't regret those parts, I have 4 sets, two extreme sets with larger than stock plungers, a set of top stops that flow around 230cc, and then a maxed out set of stock plunger PTDs for my small cam.

 

@SmokinCAT they have to be better than what was in it….

A poster on the enthusiast forum use to own this truck. He had sent me a pic of it when it pulled a bull wagon during his ownership. He highly recommended a company he uses in Pennsylvania not far from him…. What a big ### MISTAKE!! They charged me $1200 for 6 injectors, and I’ve had a constant little smoke problem from the moment I installed them.

I used Premco once before…. I’ll never stray again. They are in deed a good company producing top shelf components.

I was talking with our mutual friend Matt in NC, he mentioned a shop close to him that does great pump work for him. Thinking of sending him my spare pump since my local guy will only do factory settings and maybe give 10%.

I had a pump built in Kentucky, actually got their info from the enthusiast page…. Never again!
Governor has never worked properly from the moment I put it on. And other issues….

 

100% agree. Have taken apart many high mileage engines with Grafal on the skirts and it is mostly intact on the thrust side. Guess my point was done correctly it works, not implying Bruce's overpriced stuff worked.

 

I wish it worked as good as they claim it does on the aluminum pistons.

I have always been curious how the anodized bowl design that was found on the higher HP mechanical N14s held up since that is an actual chemical change to the metal.

 

Talking the Tri-tech piston with anodized bowl and ni-insert for ring lands? I believe they also did it on higher HP C models and they had squeeze cast fiber reinforced pistons for those also. Only worked on 2 mechanical N-14's, both over a million miles and hadn't been overhauled.

 

At least for those, there was a 444 that the anodizing was experimented with, but those pistons are discontinued.

I have thought about taking a set of new pistons and just having the crown anodized to see how much they will take.

 

Seems to be a trend with Cummins or most manufacturers, no support on legacy products. Electronic N-14 parts are getting harder to get all the time.