Bottom of piston nicked.... Use it?

[Caveman Tony]

So in the nitty gritty of my BBC build... Found a little 3/16 to maybe 1/4" nick in the bottom of one of my pistons.

It's not on the skirt, it's on the underside of the piston pin arch. Looks like a piece of the busted pushrod smacked it on the way by, when it was headed south to the oil pan.

I'll put a pic up later.

Motor wont go over 4500-5000 rpm... Leave it?

Would you use it, or blend it out? Pistons are SpeedPro hypereutectic .030 overs with the Teflon skirts.

[Barry Donovan]

never.
..and hypereutectic.
that missing void is going to do something interesting through thermal changes.



where there is a chunk, there is a crack...may not even be at the chunk (this one is at wrist pin)

[Deaf Bob]

Pin area compromised with a whack.. I wouldn't ...

[CDMBill]

For the cost of another used hyper piston is it worth it? You could use it and hope there isn't any more hidden damage and it would probably live for a long time as a no racing DD motor.

[Dan Barlow]

I would have blended it and used it. But , yeah if you could get another used one that would be the way to go.

[Caveman Tony]

A few different views of the nick/scratch... I could blend it out, but not sure how deep to go while blending....

[oldsman71]

thats not too bad. I wouldnt be afraid of that

[kyhunter89]

just smooth it out

[Deaf Bob]

Seeing the pic, doesn't look bad.. My thoughts, cheap to replace now.. Yes, adds to the cost of the build, but can you afford to do it again when it lets go? What will it take with it? Bottom of the head,. pan? Nick the crank..?.
Roll the dice, and get snake eyes or 7's.

[TheSilverBuick]

If it were a good forged piece I'd say no worries, but hyper's make me nervous because they are brittle. Part of me says take a hand file and rub until smooth and the other part says replace it. 50/50 here, no help.

[Huskinhano]

Not an expert opinion but if I found that when I had the engine apart, I would just file/sand it smooth and not even think twice about it. Looks like it's in a non critical area, right on the corner of a non load bearing area. The pin is press fit and the nick is past the retainer groove if you used one.

[Orange65]

I say blend it smooth and crack check that area using dye. If there are no cracks, use it.

[Beagle]

I can't see the pic very well, out in the sun, but it looks like it kissed it pretty good. What I can't see is if they are pressed pin. If not, does the pin slide in / out easy? I'd sweat it if the smack was good enough to compress the pin bore. If it's a really mild build I'd probably smooth out the rough edges and go for it.

[Caveman Tony]

mild build, Low CR, low rpm, pressed pin.

taking the dremel to it shortly. stay tuned.

also got some dye from Napa, along with the UV flashlight. I'll take some pics.

[TC]

I say blend it smooth and crack check that area using dye. If there are no cracks, use it.

I concur.......