Piston Coating?

[400exRacerX]

Hey,

I had just brought my cylinder to my dealership today (pompton honda) to get it bored for my 416 piston. The guy (Vince) at the service department told me that I should get my piston teflon and ceramic coated by LRD and it will create less heat and will extend motor life. My question is has anyone else done this? Is it any better performance? I didn't do it because it would have taken too long to send it out and get it back.

Norm

[MIKE400EX]

The teflon coating is meant to go on the skirts and keep them from scuffing against the cylinder walls when an engine detonates/pings, has marginal oiling etc.. They will still scuff if you overheat it and seize it up. No real down side to teflon coating, a moly will also serve the same purpose. Ceramic coatings typically are put on the piston top/crown as either a thermal barrier against heat transfer or to reflect the combustion heat, or both. Down side to ceramic coated piston crowns is increased combustion temperatures which will require re-jetting and or better fuel. Benefits of either would be marginal on a well maintained EX running with good (enough) gas. Teflon or moly coating should be considered a must on alcohol fuel engines. The greatest problem with any of these coatings is that they require meticulous preparation of the base - not for your average garage or engine builder.

talk with blackguyona400,,he had his coated,,I know a company called nikasil,,does this coating...I think it's a great idea and would be worth the money..

[MIKE400EX]

Rico, Nikasil is a very hard wear & rub resistant coating that is used on cylinder bores. Not for pistons in iron/steel liners. Similar to what Suzuki says they are using on the Z400. You can coat an aluminum bore with it and run the rings on the coating (no sleeve). Mercedes, Porsche, many 2 strokes incl. bikes use it. There may be other coatings that Nikasil has, but the trademark Nikasil coating is for cylinder bores - among other things. Must be re-applied and re-finished if an over-bore is necessary.

[PaRoostR]

U.S. Chrome has a nickel silicon carbide composite coating called NiCom. They claims to have successfully deposited Nicom on Aluminum, Cast Iron (cylinder liners), Titanium, Steel, Brass, Copper, Nickel / Alloys and Stainless Steel basis metals. Not only are Ni Si Carbide coatings for wear & rub resistance when used on a iron liner but it also typically has better heat transfer. Plating is also used sometimes to repair bores that have been damaged- NiCom can be applied in a range of thickness from 0.0005" to 0.030".

[400exRacerX]

My dealer told me that LRD sells pistons already coated or they could coat yours for 35$.