so i came across some of my customers asking the great question , they want to know what builders think about coatings for the pistons,rods,crank,vavles ect . is it all that is said or just another money pit? i personally saw some incredible photos of motors with parts coated and some that dont at all and they both perform but,does the coated motor last longer? i tore apart a motor that had some piston coatings and saw a little wear and others with none at all. i just want to see what you veteran motor builders know about engine coatings

 

There are certain things that I think coatings can benefit. Here is my experiences:

Pistons - Anodizing ( not for cosmetics, but a hard anodizing ) can significantly decrease piston heat and increase piston durability and wear. Also, moly coating can reduce wear on the pistons skirts. I use these two and love it. You can also ceramic coat the top of the piston to reflect heat.

Cam Followers - cam " buckets " that I use are all DLC coated ( diamond like ) which means that the surface is extremely smooth and can withstand a lot of pressure all while reducing friction and wear.

Head Runners - ceramic coating greatly reduces the amount of heat absorbed by the head keeping engine temps down and allowing the casting to remain more stable under high loads which would usually cause extreme temps.

Valves - Casidium or Nitride coatings on race applications can aid in the longevity and reliability of the valve. This process I have seen significant wear increase and life from my race motors.

There are a bunch of other coatings out there, but these are the one's that I use and like to use.

 

http://www.calicocoatings.com Best place to go. Lots of racers love them.

 

ive been using engine coatings quite some time now, and it does work i just wanted to get more opinions from others for my customers thanks vince, and others that pmed me about the subject in hand my customers appeciate it also thanks

 

Vince I was talking with tom the last time I was out there and this subject came up. With ceramic coating the piston tops how important is it to coat the combution cambers of the head as well?

 

We have used calico coatings in our engines for some time. I wont install pistons or valves without coating. We found coated bearings last much longer and we dont see heat transfer through the sheel backing that we saw with uncoated bearings. good luck

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by N2O &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Vince I was talking with tom the last time I was out there and this subject came up. With ceramic coating the piston tops how important is it to coat the combution cambers of the head as well?</TD></TR></TABLE>

It is important. Sometimes if you coat the piston and not the combustion chamber, then the heat will reflect off of the piston and the head will absorb it all. This could in turn cause the head to warp, cause the valve seats to warp, could cause a bunch of trouble for you in the head dept. It is a good thing that if you coat one, then coat the others as well

 

Right if you are going to do a coat job, then pony up and do the whole thing. No half assing. its well worth it. Lots of our SCCA motors have them and they can really raise the reliability of a motor up as well as gain a few HP by forcing the heat out into the exhaust, not into the water jacket.

 

http://www.dprracing.com/Media...p.htm

Good pictures and write-up. Shows coated valves, pistons, head, ports, etc

 

read up on that years ago, good sucking up to calico ,great artical and very informitive thanks for the post

 

good thread