Has anyone confirmed that this works without interference? The piston sticks up about .010" above the deck, and the crushed height of the head gasket is about .026".. leaving around .016" clearance between the piston and the quench pads in the cylinder heads.

Travis

 

Well FYI.. I just pulled a DE down that had a set of HR pistons installed.. It was making a little bit of noise..

Stock HR pistons, with VQ35DE rods/crank will not work, without either slightly fly cutting the edges of the pistons, or, by using a slightly thicker Cometic head gasket.

Without mods, and with clearances set a little on the loose side (any performance built engine), the pistons just barely make contact with the quench pads in the cylinder heads.. So, I would recommend fly cutting the edges on each piston, up to about 1/8" from the valve reliefs. I would cut it around .010" deep, to avoid any/all potential contact.

Here's a pic to show what I'm talking about..



The area in the rectangle, shows how contact with the quench has cleaned the piston of carbon. We're not talking much here, but, there's enough contact to cause noise. By cutting the area shown with a mill, you can increase clearance by about .010", just to be safe, and get away with putting HR pistons into your DE block. You should be able to get this done at any competent machine shop for around 100.00 for 6 pistons. Or, you could spend a few more bucks, and get Cometic gaskets that are a little thicker, and avoid having to cut the pistons alltogether.

Anyway.. just wanted to share some useful info..

Travis