Pros and cons of Calico/Swain Tech coating Piston Skirts on rebuild?

[SixSpeedSleuth]

I'm in the process of rebuilding a spare SR block I purchased awhile ago and I just got my CP Pistons from UPS yesterday. I'm wondering what the advantages are of having the Pistons Skirts coated by Calico, and possibly the Domes coated by Swaintech. I guess what I'm asking is, is it worth the price, and what are the benefits of getting them coated. Thanks. (I have read about the process on Swain Techs sight, but I wanted real world opinions.)

[blownmotor]

It's insurance on top of what you already have. My friend ith a fully built KA-t did it and if you look on the honda boards people swear by this stuff. my friend used swain on his pistons. if you look at it this way it's only like 250ish more to get it done for all 4 pistons. stuff really works. top coat for detonation protection and sides are for oil shedding

[PoorMans180SX]

Top coating is not really "detonation protection", it's a thermal barrier to stop some of the combustion chamber heat from going into your pistons. It makes power. I've seen mags do tests with and without coatings. The thermal barrier coatings make more power, while the dry lubricants are just extra insurance. While you're at it, you should get your combustion chambers, valve faces, and exhaust ports coated with TBC. more heat in the chamber, less heat in your engine. I'm assuming you have a turbo, and this will aid spool (Porsche coated the exhaust ports in their older turbo 911's for this reason).

BTW, Swaintech seems to be the best company by my research.

[SixSpeedSleuth]

Top coating is not really "detonation protection", it's a thermal barrier to stop some of the combustion chamber heat from going into your pistons. It makes power. I've seen mags do tests with and without coatings. The thermal barrier coatings make more power, while the dry lubricants are just extra insurance. While you're at it, you should get your combustion chambers, valve faces, and exhaust ports coated with TBC. more heat in the chamber, less heat in your engine. I'm assuming you have a turbo, and this will aid spool (Porsche coated the exhaust ports in their older turbo 911's for this reason).

BTW, Swaintech seems to be the best company by my research.

Yeah, I'm running an S13 Blacktop with a Twin Scroll GT3071R and JWT S4 Cams. The only difference when I build the motor will be the compression (up to 9:0:1) and JWT C1 cams instead of the S4's. That's the first I heard about increasing spool, do you have a link to that article. I've also heard Swaintech is the best, I'm just making sure it's worth the money, or if I should spend that money on an ATI Super Damper or ect instead.

[codyace]

Lets just say I'm pissed for being in a rush and not getting mine done :(


Otherwise that stuff works great....a ton of people have used it, all with nothing but good stuff to say.