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It is not always that you hear high performance and long life paired together, especially when referring to performance aircooled engines. It is very typical, even with high-powered cooling systems, that high-performance engines run too hot, and as you know heat kills! Higher operating temperatures result in a thermally overloaded engine that, among other things, has cylinders that fail to seal against the head and have significantly shorter life spans versus stock displacement engines. Nickies™ make the difference! Our nikasil-plated, CNC billet, solid aluminum Nickies™ provide:
Our Nickies package is the culmination of every technological advance related to pistons and cylinders for your aircooled engine!
Does your VW have a type 4 or
want to put in a type 4 engine? Click here.
The Secrets behind Nickies™ What’s Wrong with
Cast Iron Cylinders?
All stock VWs, Porsche 914s, and early Porsche 911s and the vast majority of modified ones use cast iron cylinders. One of the major problems with cast iron cylinders is that they are thermally overloaded! Note that the aforementioned 911T has the only 911 engine ever to receive cast iron cylinders due to its detuned, low performance nature. These engines, at their maximum 2.4L, had just an 84mm bore and produced about 22hp per cylinder, and that’s with a superior cooling air system. It should now be apparent why the challenge of keeping your aircooled engine "cool" is a daunting task!
Although biral cylinders are a significant upgrade over cast iron cylinders, extreme racing conditions (starting with Porsche’s 1971 917) or ultra-high performance street machines (starting with Porsche’s 1972 Carrera) require more. Even more importantly, when longevity is a primary concern, whether or not the application is necessarily "high-performance" or not, Porsche found the way to have this performance with reliability back in 1971. They turned to solid aluminum cylinders to fill that need! Aluminum conducts heat FOUR TIMES as well as cast iron. With aluminum cylinders, Porsche's engines produced over 100hp per cylinder reliably. This is simply impossible with cast iron cylinders, even with a superior aftermarket cooling system. What makes Nickies the latest step in the evolution of the aircooled cylinder?
In the development phase of LN Engineering's Nickies™ cylinders, we were considering casting our cylinders, but we were unhappy with the attention to detail that is left out of typical castings. Even with the best of castings, there are limitations. Stock Porsche cylinders were cast. While advantageous for mass production, there are downsides to casting. First, casting poses a big difficulty to a strong grain structure. Our billets are from a special extrusion, custom-made by Alcoa, allows for the strongest possible grain pattern, making for a much stronger and thermally conductive material while being much less brittle than casting alloys, so they are more forgiving to high cylinder pressures and detonation. Through advanced metallurgy, material science, and engineering, LN Engineering's Nickies™ cylinders provide:
Click here to read more about Nickies!
LN Engineering’s custom forged pistons are the best of their kind. Every piston is custom made, so whatever the case, we work with your desired engine specifications to make the ideal pistons for your application, period. Choose between our standard JE Forged Pistons, or for the ultimate in custom forged pistons, we offer CP Forged Pistons, for Porsche and Volkswagen. $739 for Custom JE Pistons (4 cylinder) including performance rings, wrist pins, and locks. Special pricing only valid with purchase of Nickies cylinders or other qualifying product or service. Many upgrades are available. Please call for application specific recommendations. Our custom forged pistons are the best of their kind. They feature the low-friction slipper skirts, low weight, balancing within 1/2 a gram, and are manufactured from the superior 2618-aluminum forged alloy material when specified for use with our Nickies™ cylinders. Our pistons are designed to maintain optimal deck height for maximum quench. Good quench allows for faster burn and better thermal efficiency, leading to better gas mileage, lower potential for detonation, and more power. We can supply pistons to meet your needs. Whatever the case, here’s the bottom line: we work with you to provide ideal pistons and cylinders for your application, period. 2008 Pricing Schedule
Contact us at 815-472-2939 or info@LNengineering.com to bring your “tried and true" Aircooled engine to the new standard of precision performance!
Technical Information Machining Sizes for Big Bore Nickies™ Cylinders Type 1 88mm - Case dia. 94.5mm; Head dia. 97mm Type 1 90.5 - Case dia. 96mm; Head dia. 98mm (this also applies to 92s) Type 1 94 - Case dia.
97.25mm; Head dia. 101.1mm Type 1 ARP Head studs require 10mm case savers and must be used with Nickies™ If an 8mm stud is needed for normally aspirated, lower horsepower type 1 engines, please refer to Raceware part number RWE-1004 as a suitable alternative to our 10mm studs. Website last updated Feb 2nd, 2008. Contact webmaster at info@LNengineering.com Copyright LN Engineering LLC ©2008. |
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LN Engineering is proud to
offer our Nickies™, the ultimate cylinders for your
powerful &
reliable aircooled engine.
A quick survey of performance aircooled
engines will find that VWs are unreliable, but the Porsche 911 is so reliable
that in both production and racing they last forever.
Why Aluminum
Cylinders?
LN Engineering Nickies™
are Proudly 100% Made in the USA!