Todd, I learned so much from this series. I am in the process of restoring a 1980 txl 340. I find your videos inspiring as I struggle through the restoration process. I’m not sure if I will rebuild the motor yet but will definitely rewatch this series if I do. Thanks again for taking the time to do these videos.
Wiseco always run 'em loose, especially on trail sleds and absolutely lots of warm up time, they're just not forgiving and why we never used them in customer sleds. For our mini-sprint dirt track engines and ice or asphalt drag sleds, actually just ran Kimpex cast pistons, they were cheap, consistent and held up as good as anything- but that was 30 years ago, so who knows about import quality anymore. Glad you noted ring pins to intake side, because I've seen mis-stamped arrows many times and never trusted them, keep pins to intake side and you'll always have it correct. Another reason I liked the aftermarket pistons, they used the e-clip style for the piston pins, way better than standard c-clips.
Lots of folks think with a "best" mentality and don't think in the "pros and cons" mentality. They ask what is the "best" piston without considering usage. Cast and forged pistons have different features with different pros and cons. Glad you discussed this with the Wiscos. Since I rent out my sleds, I just run SPI so I don't have to worry about people warming them up like Wiscos prefer.
Polaris pistons are cast , and wiesco are made of a billet or other material, cast pistons grow in a different rate than Wiesco cus of different materials , Todd is absolutely right about letting your sled warm up before giving it the beens
Todd I ported the Indy 600 cylinders and used them on the centurion 500 for a big bore set up and with the right carbs and jetting, hang on wheelie machine
A dial bore indicator is an awesome investment fore piston clearance especially with forged pistons because it can show deviations from the top to the bottom of the cylinder. I had a skidoo that had 0.006 at the top and 0.002 at the bottom
A lot of people don't know that forged pistons expand different from cast pistons. The 01 cylinder was the best HP making piston port engine. A tip for installing for wrist pins is put them in the freezer and warm the piston up in the oven on a very low temp. I found it makes a bit easier.
My understanding is the difference between a cast vs forged pistons is the forged will expand more than a cast since the forged actually contains more material in it. I always run more piston to cylinder clearance with forged pistons. All engines need some type of warm up before running them hard.
For torquing my fly wheels being I have 1000s of rewind cups I just use a small bar to hold. I have used rope also. Either or works. I just prefer the bar through the cup.
"A guy should not have to cut the edge of his head gasket off so they dont overlap."😂😂 You had me cracking up. Awesome series once again. Im still trying to talk you into a 1200 mod. 😁
