VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 Aluminum 216 Pistons

I've been told that Egge sells pistons but there have been some problems with them. I found Kanter sells aluminum pistons for the 216 with a lifetime guarantee. Has anyone had any experience, good or bad, with the Kanter pistons? Thanks.

What size do you need? I have a set of .030 NORS 1937-40 pistons (Aluminum)

To the best of my knowledge (I'm the third owner of the car & it has just under 47K actual) the pistons in it now are the original. I'm wanting to make it more drivable at highway speeds & have been told that an essential part of that is taking a load off of the babbet by installing aluminum pistons. 30 over would definately not be too small. :) I wonder how much oversize can a 216 be safely bored? My point being if I bore it 30 over now & own it long enough that it needs another ring job in the future will there be enough wall left to bore it again? My money situation won't allow me to do the work immediately but I figure it's never too soon to start looking for a source where I can buy the pistons.

I just put Jahns pistons, .030 over in a 207 and it sets up after about 10 minutes while the water temp is at 170. I think these aluminum pistons are expanding past their clearance in the cyl. I rebuilt a 235 for a 51- 3800 20 years ago and used aluninum pistons. That still runs great. Maybe the design of the pistons were incorrect. They came from Vintage Auto in Denver and were nos. Its got me a little down but not Out. Thanks

The .030" would be an excellant choice for a 47,000 mile car.Even if exposed to bad driving conditions, ie..low speed,short trip,poor oil, and dusty conditions ,I doubt if you would find much more than .005" wear on the walls.Should clean up good at .030" and with highway driving and todays better oils will last a life time.
The McGurk book says a 216 can safely be rebored up to 1/8".Would increase the bore to 3 5/8".(that would be 1/16" metal removed).Would give 232 cubic inches.To be safe I would stay with .030" or .040"...Those size pistons and rings are easier to find and it leaves a good amount of wall if ever required in the future.

My '39 had 45,000 on it when I bought it back in 1974.I overhauled the engine and installed standard size aluminim pistons with no problem.The engine ran good before but had about 20 pounds of sludge inside.Wall wear was almost zero...Transfered the pistions to the new bare block that I installed in 1983.Still doing good..I would rebore your engine to be safe

Note all four that posted in this thread registered in Jan.,2002.2003, and 2006.

According to Gene you have what I need. How about sending me an e-mail with your price. Maybe we can work a deal.