I've been using CP pistons for several years now and I'm pretty well convinced that they make the the highest quality pistons available, bar none. There are plenty of other piston companies that make nice stuff, but they "nickle-and-dime" you if you want all the good stuff. CP only makes pistons ONE WAY, they best they possibly can, every time. Every set is made on the same machines that make the pistons in the cars you see on TV every weekend. There is no "B team" at CP...every part is the best you can get.
Ring choice is critical if you want to have long engine life. The excellent factory rings have been discontinued for some time now and there is no suitable exact replacement ring available in the aftermarket. Most, if not all "OE replacement" rings are made of some type of cast ring with a sprayed-on or filled "moly" ring. The original turbo 2.3 rings were a hard chrome-plated ductile iron ring set that would often times last 200,000 miles or more...quite a feat in a heavy T-Bird with a small displacement turbocharged motor.
We've been able to find rings that are made from the same material as the original rings. The "catch" if you want to call it that) is that they won't work in standard turbo pistons, so in conjunction with CP Pistons, I've come up with a complete piston and ring package that has the excellent rings and high-quality CP pistons. They're avaliable in standard, .5mm and 1mm oversizes.
Most of the pistons I make are for custom applications. It's no problem at all to make you anything from a stock replacement piston for a daily driver to a reduced pin height piston piston for an all-out race stroker. Any reasonable compression ratio or pin height is available and I have dish patterns on file for both stock (d-shaped) and Esslinger-style combustion chambers. It generally takes 3-4 weeks lead time for a custom set and there's no extra charge for modifications. A complete set, with pistons, pins,locks and rings is $600 shipped (total) to US addresses.
Here are a few pictures of my pistons, as well as a picture of the rings I use. They're not the cheapest pistons around, but they're not the most expensive by far. Quality pistons are one of those things that you onlt really appreciate once you use a cheap set and you get tired of chasing all the problems they cause. If you want to try some lower-priced pistons first...go ahead...I'm sure you'll be back soon for a nice set. Enjoy!
