Anybody got any spare RV8 4.5 pistons...?

[450Nick]

Just having my engine rebuilt and I've just heard that two of the pistons have some tiny cracks beside the valve cut outs and are probably not going to want to go back in... Before I buy a new set, does anyone have a couple knocking about?

[450Nick]

Thanks for the response guys, yes I've seen the set on the classifieds, I'll give the engine builder a call and see if he likes the look of them... May as well change the pistons... So far the Chim's service (which started last summer) has included:

- Body off
- New outriggers
- New bushes
- New chassis bolts
- Painted Chassis
- Engine out
- New oil pump
- New water pump
- Piston rings
- Crank bearings
- New front pulley
- Dynamic crank/flywheel/pulley/clutch balance
- New blower cam
- New AP clutch
- Stage 3 ported heads, re-cut seats, new valve guides etc
- Machined inlet manifold to match heads
- 45mm trumpets
- Oil cooler & pipework
- Other stuff I've forgotten
- Pistons?!

Hopefully I'll get to drive it soon..!

[450Nick]

neal1980 said:

Macdeb has 8 with about 16000 miles on them. I will tell him your after some when I speak to him later.

Great, thanks - Steve Howard is down at Power today getting my crank assembly balanced so he's going to have a word with Dom and see if he has anything to help out but if Mac has some that would be great... Apparently this problem is fairly common even on standard engines due to the design of the valve cutouts... Mine only has very tiny hairline cracks on two pistons after 80k miles so not too bad yet, but I'll have them replaced since it's apart.. Worth checking carefully if you have your engines apart...

Haha Ian - thanks for reminding me of that one! Yeah its been about 3 years now since I've driven mine - It's close to being back on the road now - I'm itching to drive it again, its been waaaaaay too long!