I'd be interested in who is using or has used Probe Industry pistons and any comments about them.

I'm considering putting together a group order of custom forged pistons for our 327s. The Federal Mogul 2166 small popup is a great piston in almost all of our rebuild applications but for me it weighs a ton compared to some others in the market place. I'm going to explore having a similar piston made from forged 4032 in a lightweight design with lighter pins from Probe (similar to an SRP Sportsman). I'm curious if anyone else interested in this type of piston or perhaps has suggestions for another.

Regards,
Scott

 

Scott, we used Probe forged pistons when we built our 496. The pistons had a dome, and were marketed as light weight. I don't remember the exact weight, but they were significantly lighter than the old TRW forged 454 pistons. We haven't driven the car much, but have not had any problems. The engine revs very quickly, like an engine with a much shorter stroke would rev. We got our pistons through Speed-O-Motive.

 

oh sure NOW a group buy onpistons. LOL

 

Hey Greg, well it is yet to happen so don't get too worried yet...LOL

 

Scott loves running these group purchase programs! He claims he's done with group con rod purchases, but, come on Scott, you know you love doing these deals. You're a parts addict. Think of all the happy Corvette friends you make.

Duke

 

Scott, I'll probably join in anything you do with 327 pistons. The rod deal worked out great for me. So, I'm a very probable for whatever you do with pistons.

 

Duke, you are probably right, besides, these Crower rods are just so totally cool!! I have lots of cool parts, now I just need more cars!!

BTW, the UPS man just left me a WHOLE bunch of Crower rods today!!
They'll be going out on Monday for anyone who ordered and is reading

 

The only negative area with respect to the "Probes" is they do not use direct pin-oiling. In a decent unit with some serious power this will prove to be an issue. If you're not looking to race the unit or run it very hard it won't be a problem.

One positive here however is the fact they put all the "SRS" series on the "2618 High Strength Alloy" forgings. Stay away from the "FPS" series. Thanks, Gary in N.Y.

P.S. All the other high-end brands mentioned above have the pin-oilers in place as "standard issue". Ross's are also on the 2618-T61 blanks.

 

Hi Gary, I sent you a PM. That is the first thing I brought up with them, I want direct pin oiling as standard.

 

I asked them (Probe tech) about that some time ago........ They said they have total confidence in the SRS pistons, the guy said Roush Racing tested SRS's for 6 hours during an "oval track dyno run"?... constant operation from 4000 RPM to 7000 RPM for 6 hours under various loads. The pin surfaces and dimensions were as new.

I doubt you'd have any issue with them in any real world application. I know of several guys that use them in very serious motors... one with 200HP worth of NOS, his are holding up just fine (after 2 seasons of street/track abuse).

 

Hi Scott, I sent you a message but for some reason there may have been a problem going through. If you didn't receive it just contact me again. For your application near as I can tell you'll be just fine.

The up and coming pistons to watch are going to be the "Mahles". If they can get their act together they will be a force in the piston arena.
Thanks, Gary in N.Y.

P.S. Just about all our high-end units get J&E's or Ross's. Basically it's more of a customer choice than our own. I don't know the lengths Probe will go to make pistons but we use a number of "odd" ring combo's like .043BC/.043BC/3MM, .043BC/1.5MMBC/3MM, 1.5MMBC/1.5MMBC/3MM, etc. Your contact may appreciate some of this feedback!

 

If you are going with a custom piston, you might entertain the idea of a bushed pin / full floating set up if it does not add to the cost significantly.

 

Hello everyone!

Well I would like to report back on what I've explored and learned regarding putting together a group order of custom made Forged pistons from Probe Industries.
My main goal was to find a piston/pin combination that was lighter than the Federal Mogul L2166NF +.030" piston which has been around forever and a proven performer.
The other 327 piston that seems nice for your average street performer is the KB157 Hypereutechtic piston. These pistons have domes of 5.3 and 5.0 cc's respectively and weigh 594grams and 585grams respectively without pins. Pins typically weigh approximately 145 grams.

What I proposed to Probe Industries was making a piston in their SRS series which is made from a 2618-T6 forging with a weight goal of 485-500 grams combined with one of their 100 gram wrist pins.

I wanted a small dome similar to the above two pistons. Actually, I asked Probe if they could make it like a JE Nitrous Dome and they can. Also if various dome sizes could be made available to which they replied, "not under a 10 set minimum order." All pistons would have to be .030" oversized too.

It is spec'd with a 5cc dome volume. They would come with forced pin oiling, cut for spirolocks and can also be used with pressed pins. I can have the rings cut for either the standard 5/64" size or for the much more expensive 1/16" Plasma rings. I figure for most budgets and applications, the 5/64" rings are fine. They also said the piston to wall clearance would be approximately .0035" when cold.

Now for the money or should I say bad news

I would need to order their minimum which is 80 pistons or 10 sets. These would run $50 each or $400 a set which is about $80 more than what Summit currently has the Federal Mogul's listed at. I need to confirm the pin weight with them and this does not include shipping.

BTW, if someone can post a pic, I can email you a pic of what it would like similar to.

http://www.probeindustries.com/Pistons/pistons.htm#srs

Please post your feedback/interest and I can drop it or go with it.

Regards,
Scott

 

Scott - the KB 157 net dome is 0.5cc, not 5.0. The KB 156 is -7cc and the Speed Pro H660 CP is -5cc.

Between these selections and and a suitable head gasket selection there should be a combination to achieve any reasonable CR with any reasonable deck height.

It could be that the Speed Pro forged have enough balance pad mass that they can be lightened so that the crank won't have to have mass added with slightly heavier rods, but I don't think a good balancer has any issue with welding metal to the crank (They can fill the existing drilled holes in the counterweights.) and redrilliing to achieve final balance.

Duke

 

Thanks for keeping my numbers straight Duke. Yes, there certainly a decent selection of pistons readily available.