I'm rebuilding my 95, and the guy building my car is wanting me to put TRW forged pistons in. I don't know alot about brands, so I was wanting to know if this is a good product. Also would you go forged or cast. Thanks for your help

 

Unless you are planning extensive performance mods, (nitrous, blower,etc) I probably wouldn't go with forged, they can be very noisy, and really don't give you that much in a street engine.

 

TRW are good...better than most...TRW has several different lines of pistons from ''stock replacement'' to ''race'' quality, price varies accordingly...their ''hyper eutectic'' forged pistons expand less with heat, can be fitted much tighter than normal forged, so start-up noise can be avoided...if you plan to rev over 5000 rpm and/or advance spark to get power, you need forged pistons

 

i've got speed pro powerforged (TRW), "lightweight" slugs (if memory serves, about 515 grams or thereabouts -- not really light but lighter than the stock hypereutectics), they are a little bit noisy for about a minute, its really no big deal at all. i don't worry about it, and i get **** about certain things.

i often nail it to 6,000 rpms thru the 1rst 2 gears, everyday, all day on the street.

i paid about $500 (excluding rings)last year for these, thru summitracing. this is more than enough for me, for the street, IMHO.

 

TRW is about a low as you can get on the Forged Piston totem pole. In 1970 they were a pretty good piston but now are a bit out dated. They are extremly heavy, use pressed pins, require a lot of clearance and the L2256 (4 eyebrow flat top - which is what most people use in a 350) uses the old style 5/64 rings. On the good side they are fairly strong and pretty cheap. BTW - I haven't seen the TRW name on any piston boxes in a few years; Speed Pro is the current marketeer of that line of pistons.
Still there are so many better pistons out there for the same money or a little more. Check out the Probe FPS/SPS line (if you want good but low $$). SRP (better but slightly more $$), Weisco Pro True (better stilll but a bit more $$). These pistonall offer light weight, floating pins, 1/16 rings, enough applications to cover any engine combination you would want to build and forged piston strength coupled with a resonable price. KB also makes a new line of forged pistons but they are a bit pricey (IMO) and hence I've never used any because the above company's prices are more than competitive and the quality of their pistons is very well known.
If $$ are no object Ross, BRC, BME, JE, CP, Weisco and Diamond would all be more than happy to sell you the "best money can buy".
Now what would I use?? That really depends on the application and how much money I wanted to spend. A mostly stock Blue Printed engine to MILD performance engine that would never see No2 would get stock replacement Hyperutectic pistons from Speed Pro or KB. An engine that is going to be run really hard every day or see the track on a regular basis or No2 or all the above would get the best I could afford.
Will

 

TRW is an off the shelf piston. They are a bit heavy but very durable and reliable, they should last a long time

 

Pretty good piston, but as others have said, kinda noisy. I ran a set of 12.5 to 1's in a 355 for 20 years. That car did daily driver status in the 80's, but became more of a weekend toy in the 90's. I still put 50,000 to 80,000 miles on them, the motor was freshened up once during that time frame due to a set of zero gap piston rings that never really sealed. The rest of the motor didn't really need it but you know how it goes "Well, it's already out and tore down, might as well put bearing's, etc.. in it now."

 

I put in the light weight TRW (speedpro) piston on my rebuild also. They were barely lighter than stock pistons, but this "extremely heavy" thing is very objectionable to me for a performance engine. Check out SummitRacing.com, look for LW-2256F30, I think that's the number.

 

mine were a different p/n, with a slight dish.

whats so objectionable about yours? i have no complaints......a brief minute of a little noise, thats about it. compared to that horrific fidanza FW setup i used to have, its less than nothing -- the fidanza created all kinds of racket that was totally objectionable

 

Thanks for the comments. The reason I asked this question is because my heads are port and polished and the intake has been ported to match. I might take the car to a drag strip once or twice a year, no bracket racing. I just want my car to hold up and run good. So is there a need for forged pistons or would stock pistons hold under pressure? If I go with forged pistons the block is going to be boro 30 over.
Thanks J

 

Is say go forged, cheap insurance and peace of mind.

 

I've got 400 gr. SRPs and they were only around $500.

 

I rebuilt my 1970 350 Lt1 vette back in 1974 with TRW. Back then they were the "thing" to use. Now there are a lot more choices but If your' not going to race it, they still are a good piston for street use.

 

Will, I guess I'm going to go with the forged pistons!

 

So for a 383 with nitrous, maybe more, what are the best forged pistons money can buy? What about crank and rods also?

 

See post #5 above