briannutter

Thanks for the compliment. I always try to work things out. If we have a problem, we've got to fix it...and sometimes we do...but not on LS forgings. we're well over 2k crank horse and moving up with every new engine. With the recent auxillary piston squirters coming out for the blocks, I think we're going to go a while yet on the present design. As a "for instance", I've got a import customer now making 287hp per cylinder and his pistons are starting to crack after quite a few runs....turns out that the connecting rod small end width is incorrect and the pistons could have gone quite a bit longer with the right rod. Because other people are running this same combination and may not call us when they have an issue, we're designing a new narrow boss spacing version of the forging that keeps the pin in shear, rather than allowing it to flex...which is where the problems start.

Uh, These are the forgings that have been running successfully since 2002 in the highest horsepower LS cars without issue. Wiseco has been producing these parts for the LS market longer than about anyone except Lunati (and they now sell our pistons exclusively as well). Wiseco was the first with a 2.250 pin length forging and they've been copied (sorta kinda) by about 4 other manufacturers already. Wiseco has the largest selection of LS stocking pistons and they've got a lot of advanced features not found on any other brand. Coatings, LS multifit pockets, offset pins, Nitride/Napier rings, etc. Many of these features are being copied by others as we speak. Let me get straight to the point. There hasn't been one documented issue with the forging breaking where you're speaking of. Wristpins should be swapped to the thicker tool steel ones at about 1000whp, but we've had our standard pins run to 1100whp without issue. With Nitrous, I favor going to tool steel pins with a 300 shot (even if it's only a 800whp engine) due to the pressure spike. If you favor full round pistons, that's cool..but the notch in the pin boss to clear the reluctor ring is the number one cause of failures in the pin boss area of our competitors. If you have any pistons that have come apart PERSONALLY, you need to shoot me an email at bnutter@wiseco.com We'd be happy to look at them. Now here's what I can tell you is fact. Most of the 7 seconds cars out there are running Wiseco's. Many of the top turbo engine builders have switched to Wiseco from other brands because our pistons can run 2 and 3 times as many runs as other brands. Mike Brown, LMR, Steve Turley, Paul Majors and many others run them in their 7 second cars. Kurt Urban, Billy Briggs, ERL, HK enterprises, Texas Speed, LME, Vette Doctors, and host of of other top 20 LS engine builders run them nearly exclusively in their engines. Feel free to email any of them and let them know I asked them to speak to you frankly about who makes the best pistons. They won't post it on the internet, but they'll tell you on the phone. Wiseco is the number one piston maker on the ongoing ls1tech poll. 55 percent choose Wiseco and the next brand down is roughly at 35%...hardly anyone else on the map. These are guys that know these engine and have run everyones parts. GMHP also demanded our parts for their upcoming crate engines. As I said before, if you're being fed this info from one of out competitors, that's common. They've got to do something to knock us down because their parts sure as hell don't. There are some parts that "appear" to be like ours, but there are some very big differences from "x" forgings compared to our strutted parts where the struts angle "in" to the skirt from the pin towers. We bring the parts into our lab all the time to check their status as horsepower goes up. They've been amazingly crack free for the power run through them. I appreciate you offering Ray advice, but the pistons he's running are the best. Hopefully you'll change your mind about our parts when you see his beast run. You're invited to email me at bnutter@wiseco.com and I'd be happy to bring you up to speed on our latest innovations. Regards, Brian Nutter -Wiseco Automotive

Hey, no problem. Glad I can help. Keep me posted and let me know when you go to dyno.

Thanks for the compliment...I really enjoy what I do!

not directly, but we've got a bunch of "friendly" distributors that I can forward you to. Just email me at work with what you need and I'll do my best to line you up with someone.

yep, I'm pretty fortunate. Racers and degreed engineers don't talk each others language and I'm in a position that allows me to communicate with both and get ideas across. I get to work with a lot of top notch people and live vicariously through them As for prototypes, we've got a few key customers in each form of racing that have ongoing programs with us. We send them (and they pay for) the latest trickest parts and they prove them out before we pass them to the rest of our customers. By then, we've got something better for them that keeps them ahead of their competition. They give us reallysolid scientific feedback. The time it takes for a prototype to be run for the first time and the time it's released to the general market is generally less than a year and a 1/2. That being said, parts are always an evolution and we've got a pretty good idea of what they're going to do before they go in an engine.

Still working on pics. I sent some to Shearer from work to see if he would host. Leviathan: Obligated-no, Choose to-yes I've had every piston by every manufacturer through our lab. A couple competitors do really nice parts and they're hard to beat....hard...not impossible. The other 11 piston companies we compete against are down the food chain. We're the only U.S. company with in house forgings. We sell them to other piston companies as well. We also do raw forgings for others...big 6 puck monoblock calipers, clutch baskets, F1 suspension parts or whatever people need. We're also the only company with an in-house dyno for piston, ring, coating, development etc. As for myself. If we don't stock what I need, I design it. The Lincoln's 477 MEL engine has some custom pistons that would befit a NHRA Pro Stocker. 200g lighter than stock. The LT1 uses a k412x6 piston. K1 is our sister company. The Mel Motor runs stock rods. The LT has K1's. Tom Molnar designed rods for 25 years for Oliver before going out on his own and starting k1. Our previous sister company Carrillo acquired them and we've been working with them ever since. If you need to get a hold of me at work...my email is bnutter@wiseco.com

Ahhh, yes the forums reputation proceeds itself I'm the technical sales guy for Wiseco. Do a lot of the designs for custom pistons and shelf stock stuff. Been here 10 years and worked for Shafiroff, Batten, the School of Automotive Machinists, and 4 years in USAF before that. ok, here's my junk. 1994 corvette-gutted, engine tranny out, top cut off and it's being turned into a speedster. Engines in my kitchen being assembled as we speak. 360 cube, cast crank, k1 rods, Wiseco's, AFR eliminator 210's, tunnel ram, 11.5:1, bugcatcher. 66 lincoln, 9", 4.11 gears, 3500 stall, 477ci Lincoln Mel motor.. my portwork, 233@.050 solid lifter. Working on an intake manifold for it. 2001 Cherokee daily 2008 Mazdaspeed3 for the wife. stock so far until my wallet recovers. God, I don't have my cars posted in online anywhere. I consider that about as gay as it gets. If I gotta do it I will...but fuck. If I do, I'll see if Shearer will put them on his site or something. Be plenty happy to email a few to someone that can help me out here.

Hey there, Brian Nutter from Wiseco Piston here in Cleveland. Anyway, long time fan, first time poster. Glad to be on board.