Claimer Pistons Anyone??
 

Anybody have personal experience with 'Claimer' pistons.

Good,bad,ugly?

I'm seriously considering them for an engine I have on the stand right now.

How about some info on them, guys?

claimer = cheap. The term comes from racing series where the sanctioning body can claim the engine of the winner, or top 3 in some cases.

It keeps teams w/ a magic engine from dominating every event.

So...if you're racing in one of these series, you don't overinvest in the engine components and longevity isn't really a concern.

If your are refering to the Kieth Black claimer pistons they are basically the same as there other pistons without all the finish work.

Nice piston for the money and budget build.

Having just ordered a set of Speed Pro hypereutectic pistons from Summit for $9.39 each (or the cast ones they actually sent at $7.69 each), I don't understand why you would want to go with the claimers.

Keith Black cast are $59.69 a set.

THanks for the input guys,

Thanks for the input, guys.

If I can find some Speed Pro's for a 388 CID with 6" rod for 10 bucks apiece,I'd be ALL OVER THEM.
Seems for this particular combo there isn't a lot of choice down on the low end of the spectrum.

It's 400~475 a set . . OR. . . Claimers for a L-O-T less.

If I was racing for money (which I did for a couple of years) I'd have a set of forged pistons, a forged crank and a set of forged rods.
This is just playing around with a 383 that has turned into a 388 because the block happened to be .060 over when I took it down.
THAT was a surprise.
So I'll have an extra 5" now.

This isn't an all out racing engine. I rarely exceed 5000 RPM with anything I've got now.
(But I 'might', you just never know) I'd like to have the option to spin this engine to 6000. . .or maybe 6200 RPM
Will probably see 4 or 5 thousand miles a year.

It's a .060 over 350 block with a 3.75" stroke using 6" rods.

I already have the block. Got the rods on the way and the crank on the way. Pistons are in la la land.....

Anybody know a good substitute for the Claimers? (in the same price range)
Silvolite??

What can you guys find in the $200 price range?
I 'could' go $225 if Ireally like the pistons.

.060 bore
3.75 stroke
6.0" rods

Pistons?????????????????????????????????

Was'nt goin going to pipe in, but my close freind that is always looking for the cheapest most inexpensive way to do things-who's now on the 4th motor in 2 seasons got a set of these Claimer pistons for a 400 his dad got from a bone yard. They were very cheap and seemd to work the few times he came out and raced this season, but they raised entyr by $5 and this was too expensive for him now?? He drove it awhile on the street and before he moved out of state-had to give motor back to dad- they did a compression check and everythiing was as good as the day they built it. But there are better options imo.

It'd be different if you were running roundy round and had a chance of losing your motor at the end of the night for $300 to a competitor, then the cheapest stuff is a must. Most of the claimer ruled guys will throw in any piston laying around the shop-some even upside down if it was'nt meant for a specific cylinder, often mix and matched pistons of different compressions and even going to the point of installing a smogger 350 head on one bank and a 305 head on the other. Very Very shady engine builds for that type of racing, but it get the job done for the night and that's all that matter-period.

For something you want to last awhile a name brand cast piston would do just fine, hypers being the better option.

Did you really find claimers for 4.060" bore, 3.75" stroke, 6" rod?

Typically they're 350 or 400, with stock length rods all that's allowed.

Dang, my SRP's were $500. heh :)

-- Joe

Right from the KB catalog

"Claimers are much like a KB hyper. piston except we have removed the hand machine work ($$$) and T-6 heat treat from the design. Most claimers are for preesed pin applications and come with a qualitywrist pin. Long rod pistons are full floationg and come with a oil ring spacer, pin and lock rings. The selection is limited, but the claimer is a good choice if we have it for your appliction."

For a 3.75 stroke and 6" rod your only choice for a claimer piston is part number 3427H and is available in .060" its is a flat top piston 10.9:1 w/64cc heads.

We just put these in a 350 at my work last week and they were about $150 for the set.

Like i stated before these are a good choice for a mild budget build up. I compared these to a regular kb hyper piston and like they say the hand finish work is just left out. and look of a very good quality about as equal to a speed pro hyper. piston i guess you could say.

Dont confuse these with the silvolite cliamers or other cheapo cast claimers.

There you have it, straight from the horse's catalog.

Guess I spend too much time on Summit's site.