We have built approximately 8000 engines using the Wiseco pistons over the past 10 years. The engines have been for street rod and strip use. We have seen no problems, nor have there been any complaints. They are an excellent product in every respect.

Important note

Many customers have asked us what size they should bore their block at to allow for a proper piston to wall clearance. The required clearance is built into the piston already. For example if these pistons show a given size such as 4.030 then that is exactly what you will bore the block to. The actual size of the pistons when measured at the skirt, 1/2 inch above the tang will show to be approx. 4.026. The needed clearance is built in. Should you be using these pistons in a marine app. where the boat receives it's water from the lake, then an additional 1.5-2.0 thous. would be added to your final bore size, and some forced induction apps may also require a slight increase in bore size.

These pistons are totally suitable for use with mid level nitrous or blower setups. Extreme level builds that are making hp numbers in the 1000 hp range will require a set of custom made extreme duty pistons.

SFI damper: Offers an extreme level of safety against breakage, and is very resistant against slippage of the elastomer damping material. SFI dampers are not only made from a better grade of steel, they are also constructed differently and have a much better appearance. They usually last much longer than a non-SFI damper. Many drag strips require this on engines producing high horse power levels. The SFI certification is laser etched into the side. Damper failure rates are much higher on engines using a non-sfi damper coupled with hp ratings exceeding 450 and turn 5600 rpm or higher. We strongly recommend this upgrade for those running hard.

Cost of the SFI damper upgrade is $69.50 We have this upgrade featured in our other listings. You can see this and other upgrade options in our ebay store under the "UPGRADES" category, or simply do a search with the key word, "Upgrade" in the search bar when shopping in our ebay store. Before you finalize your purchase of this assembly you may add any of these upgrades to your shopping cart. Click here to add upgrades .

The Wiseco fully forged pistons are rated very high in the street/strip performance industry. They offer several price levels of pistons.

Our custom made Wiseco pistons are comparable to the premium series as they are made using 2618 aircraft alloy instead of 4032 alloy. All of our Wiseco pistons have fully machined crowns. All lower cost forged pistons have an as cast crown, and not comparable to our pistons.

Some engine builders use the non-forged hypereutectic pistons, and we find them to be very risky for any carbureted street rod engine. We would not even consider using such pistons. If the pistons are non-forged or forged 4032 alloy, they may fragment from the effects of detonation. This can then allow the connecting rods to destroy the block, crank, and cylinder head. Those types of pistons are only suitable for stock or mild engine builds only. These type of pistons, especially the hypereutectic version, are prone to damage easily from detonation. The forged 2618 alloy piston is superior in every way.

Our Wiseco Forged pistons are custom designed with an increase in compression height. This has many advantages. Here are a few facts about compression height and deck height.

Scat Crankshaft.

The picture below is a generic file photo of a Scat crankshaft. You will receive the correct model packaged in the original Scat box.

Some of the benefits of the Scat crankshaft supplied with this assembly:

The material used in this crankshaft is manufactured from an exclusive Space Age material that was designed for high strength and fatigue resistance. The Scat cranks are 25% stronger than stock OEM cast cranks and are the best value you will ever find. The Scat crankshafts are the best way to build a strong bottom end for, street rods, dirt and circle track racing, and drag strip racing. This crank is suitable for use up to approx. 500-525 hp.

We recommend that you check the thrust clearance on the crank before assembling the engine. This is recommended on any crankshaft, regardless of brand or cost. Also be sure to check your main and rod journal size.

Scat connecting rods.

Genuine Scat Bushed Rods with ARP 12 point cap screws are now used in all of our rotating assemblies and 383 Stroker engines.

As seen the in close-up picture below, Scat rods have a very solid build quality.

The quality of the Scat rods is unsurpassed by any of the low cost no-name rods on the market  and they exceed the quality of some of the branded names as well.

Our Scat rods are bronze bushed. These are far superior to press fit. They are much more durable and free up a slight amount of horse power, and reduce piston and oil temp. This is something to consider when buying kits that use press fit rods. We just don't recommend press fit to anyone. Machine shops will charge up to $60.00 to press them on. Bushed rods with full floating wrist pins, which we offer, are very simple to attach to the pistons.

The Scat rods do have genuine ARP 8740 Series 12 point cap screws. These rods offer excellent block clearance in the lower end of the cylinders.

We have noticed some sellers using generic rods and crankshafts in their rotating assemblies. These non-branded (no-name) rods and cranks are often poor quality in many ways. You will notice many sellers fail to mention the actual brand of these products. Upon further investigation, you will find such parts not to be a branded name product. They may label these parts with a name, but one that is totally unrecognizable in the industry. Our experience in years past with such rods and cranks has been disappointing, to say the least. Failures of such critical parts in your engine may result in catastrophic damage. Machine shops are sometimes able to correct some of the problems with these low quality rods and cranks, but at great expense to the customer. As for the questionable alloy these items may be produced from and the potentially incorrect heat treating methods used, little can be done to verify this and nothing can be done to correct it. As you may have noticed, this is why we specify the name, brand, and series of every part used in our assemblies.

Many of the inferior "no-name" rods on the market will also have "no-name" rod bolts in them. We have seen these bolts before, and they are very low quality. They don't have ARP's rolled thread design, and they don't torque down with the same characteristics as a genuine ARP bolt. It's not just a matter of having a different brand bolt in the rods; these bolts are low quality in many ways. They have been known to fail in engines to a much greater degree than a high quality rod bolt, and this failure usually causes catastrophic damage in the engine. Beware of rods that don't mention the rod bolt brand. As far as we're concerned, ARP bolts are the only brand we would ever use or accept in a set of rods.

Genuine ARP 8740 cap screws.

The pictures below show before and after of the exact location to grind the rod if necessary when using the regular Scat rods that come with this assembly. The flat half moon spot directly beside the bolt is the area we ground. The pictures below are oversized, giving the impression that the amount removed was larger than it was in reality. With the rod ground as shown in the picture with the black pen, clearing most any size cam will not be a problem. However, other factors may come into play, so you must do a roll over test before final assembly. The amount of metal removed is approx. 1.5 grams and will not affect balancing. You are only required to do one side of the rod (opposite the bearing tang). If you purchase this assembly, we offer a rod clearance and sizing upgrade. See details in the lower section of this ad.

We now offer a special line of Comp cams for hyd. roller setups for street rod use. They all have a reduced base circle, (1.050). These cams do not require any cam to rod clearancing on virtually any type of rod used in a 383 or 406 engine. These cams do not cost any more than the large base circle cams, and do not require a special distributor gear. All of our sbc engines now use these cams. We have six to choose from, with numerous dyno reports. These cams are outstanding in performance compared to any of the other brands/profiles we have used in the past. We certainly like the idea of not having to grind into the rod body and bolt.

The picture with the blue pen pointing are how the rods appear from Scat. The other picture clearly shows the alteration that is required.

Before the engine is assembled, we strongly suggest checking the rods on a Sunnen machine for sizing on both ends. We recommend this with any rod regardless of cost or brand. It is not uncommon to find some of the rods requiring a slight bump through the hone for perfection in sizing and roundness. We also offer this Stroker kit with a proofed set of rods. This is an excellent choice for those wanting to build the engine on their own. We do recommend the rod clearance and sizing upgrade for those lacking the equipment and knowledge to do this.

We also offer a rod upgrade in our other listings. The Scat Competition Pro series I beam rods are absolutely the best insurance against failure you can get considering the low cost to upgrade. The regular Scat rods in this sale are excellent, but the Pro-Competition series rods are much lighter and have been cnc profiled and shot peened to relieve all stress risers. The rod body is also designed like a billet rod. They have the larger size 7/16 ARP 12 point cap screws and are especially designed to clear very large cams with very little clearancing. The amount required to clearance most cams is much less than what is required when using the regular Scat rods that come with this assembly. It's our personal favorite for many reasons, but mostly the added protection against rod or bolt breakage under high rpm. The lighter weight reduces the rotational and reciprocating mass to a considerable degree as well. This has many benefits, including better engine acceleration and less stress on the crank.

To give you an idea of just how much faith we have in the Scat Pro-Competition rods, we use them in our SBC 421/427 engines. The 427 engine has a deeper stroke crank, heavier pistons, and these engines make up to 625 hp and turn up to 6800 rpm. We've had zero failures on over 200 of these engines built. Considering they do this well in the 427, they would most likely never fail in a 383 engine under any conditions.

To be clear: the Scat Pro-Competition rods are NOT included in this kit. They are offered as an upgrade option in the lower portion of this ad. See our other listings to check out the full story on the Scat Competition series rods.

HASTINGS 2M SERIES MOLY RINGS, KING MAIN AND ROD BEARINGS INCLUDED.

We have noticed others using a low grade knockoff brand damper/balancer, and we have encountered them in the past. They are substandard in appearance, and are often out of spec. The timing marks were also poorly marked on some of the balancers we have come across. You don't want a balancer coming off or one that is improperly weighted. Another problem with low grade dampers is the elastomer bonding can lose its adherence to the inner and outer structure. This problem is referred to as a slipped damper. We have only encountered this once in 10 years with the Pro-Race brand dampers.

We know of several competitors including these balancers with rotating assemblies. The ProStreet brand is far superior to most any we have ever seen. They were once known as a knockoff product, and have become one the best values on the market, without comprising quality whatsoever.

Important note .

If you are building a 383 stroker using a late model 350 engine from the fuel injected era you will need to opt for the 8.0" damper. Our assemblies come with a 6.75" damper and this damper will not work on the late engines that have the plastic timing cover. The plastic timing covers used on some of these engines protrude outward and will interfere the the counter weight that certain assemblies have. The 8.00" damper does not have this issue as its counter weight sits flush within the damper. There is no upcharge for the 8.00" damper. Be sure and let us know if you require the 8.00" damper. It would be best to contact us through eBay messaging and let us know to be sure this info is forwarded to our balancing department. Some of our assemblies come with an internally balanced crank, and the use of the 6.75" damper will not be a problem for engines with the thick plastic timing cover. The internal dampers do not have a counter weight in them.

HEAVY DUTY FLEXPLATE INCLUDED.

HEAVY DUTY FLEXPLATE. This flexplate will resist cracking. One good telltale in identifying a low quality flexplate is the lack of welding on each side where the plate mates to the ring gear. They usually have a pale grey color to them, as they are not coated, and will rust quickly. Ours are welded on both sides, and are much thicker than an OE plate, and are either zinc dichromate or black powder coated. We would never use the thinner OE style plate on an assembly like this. It is very important to let us know the tooth count that you require to accommodate your transmission. Some bell housings will not allow the use of a 168 tooth flexplate, and will require a 153 tooth size. We usually have both available at no extra cost.

We do offer this assembly with a manual flywheel. See our other listings. In most cases we do have both sizes, 153 and 168 tooth, available.

WARNING: The crank has a dowel pin installed in it. You must align the flexplate or flywheel to the dowel pin. The assembly was balanced with this pin installed.

Our CWT 5500 Balancer.

We do our own balancing with our new state of the art CWT 5500 Series balancers . The CWT 5500 is the ultimate for precision balancing. We now have three of these in our machine shop. We consider this machine to be highly advanced compared to the Hines balancer we once used. We balance every rotating assembly we sell within 2 grams or less at no extra charge. A balance sheet is included with your assembly.

Three CWT balance machines under one roof is a rare sight.

Our crew wrapping up for the day. Pardon the mess.

Our thoughts on what the competition has to offer.

Many rotating assemblies we see on the market are not using the most suitable parts. We hope you can value the fact that we have put together an above average assembly. The failure rate with the parts used in our assembly is near non-existent. These are the same parts we use in our engine program. It was through trial and error in years past that taught us where to draw the line with low cost parts. We are out-priced by many others selling assemblies that include parts that have high failure rates. Many of these parts also pose a great problem with assembly due to the fact they require additional machining and can end up costing you a great deal more money and time. If you're going to have a machine shop build your engine, we strongly advise you get an opinion from them on the parts you're going to be bringing to them. Rest assured they will find no problem with the combination and quality of our parts. We have also seen sellers offering parts that are not compatible with what most people are building. The low grade dampers and flexplates are often a problem. Another area of concern would be balancing. Not sure how much attention these sellers are giving the assembly in this area. We spend up to two hours balancing an assembly, and using the very best up to date CWT balancing equipment on the market. If the assembly is not balanced properly, it will cost you horse power, and it can damage the bearings in the engine, not to mention there is nothing worse than an engine that lacks a smooth feel and sound when ran in the upper rpm range.

We offer this assembly with selected upgrades. Listed below are some of the most requested ones. Many not only improve performance, but further enhance the reliability and longevity of your engine, along with resale value.

Note: The upgrade prices below are subject to change. Refer to the actual ugrade listing for the exact price of these upgrades. The changes are usually very small if any.

SFI Certified Flexplate: This is a very low cost upgrade and may be required when racing your car at certain tracks. The flexplate that comes with this assembly is a heavy duty plate, but the SFI certified plate is one step up in quality and safety. This SFI plate is made in North America. We noticed these have much less run-out and warpage than we see with many other plates on the market. Plates with too much run-out and warpage can cause a host of problems for your transmission and starter, and affect balancing. The low cost to upgrade to this is well worth, it in our opinion.

Cost of this upgrade is $16.50 We have this upgrade featured in our other listings. You can see this and other upgrade options in our ebay store under the "UPGRADES" category, or simply do a search with the key word, "Upgrade" in the search bar when shopping in our ebay store. Before you finalize your purchase of this assembly you may add any of these upgrades to your shopping cart.

Flywheel upgrade/option for manual transmission. Upgrade to a 168-tooth or 153-tooth flexplate for manual transmissions.

Cost for this option is $105.00 We have this upgrade/option featured in our other listings. There will be a 153 tooth and a 168 tooth size available. Be sure you know the size you need. You can see this and other upgrade options in our ebay store under the "UPGRADES" category, or simply do a search with the key word, "Upgrade" in the search bar when shopping in our ebay store. Before you finalize your purchase of this assembly you may add any of these upgrades to your shopping cart.

SFI Billet Steel flywheel upgrade/option for manual transmission. Upgrade to a PRW brand billet steel flywheel SFI rated 168-tooth or 153-tooth for manual transmissions. We highly recommend the SFI billet steel flywheel for those running hard. These are fully cnc'd and far superior in many ways compared to the regular cast iron flywheel.

Cost for the SFI billet flywheel option is $169.00 We have this upgrade/option featured in our other listings. There will be a Chevy 153 tooth and a Chevy 168 tooth size available. Be sure you know the size you need. You can see this and other upgrade options in our ebay store under the "UPGRADES" category, or simply do a search with the key word, "Upgrade" in the search bar when shopping in our ebay store. Before you finalize your purchase of this assembly you may add any of these upgrades to your shopping cart.

SFI damper: Offers an extreme level of safety against breakage, and is very resistant against slippage of the elastomer damping material. SFI dampers are not only made from a better grade of steel, they are also constructed differently and have a much better appearance. They usually last much longer than a non-SFI damper. Many drag strips require this on engines producing high horse power levels. The SFI certification is laser etched into the side. Damper failure rates are much higher on engines using non-sfi damper coupled with hp ratings exceeding 450 and turn 5600 rpm or higher. We strongly recommend this upgrade for those running hard.

Cost of the SFI damper upgrade is $69.50 We have this upgrade featured in our other listings. You can see this and other upgrade options in our ebay store under the "UPGRADES" category, or simply do a search with the key word, "Upgrade" in the search bar when shopping in our ebay store. Before you finalize your purchase of this assembly you may add any of these upgrades to your shopping cart. Click here to add upgrades .

Crank polishing: Extends bearing life, reduces oil temp, frees up a slight amount of average horsepower. This is a very low cost upgrade, and in the world of mass production, most cranks do not come with a true polished finish. This is why most machine shops have a machine to do this. The difference is dramatic between a crank right out of the box and one that we have polished. Bearing companies claim that cranks that have better finishes on the journals will survive the break-in better, and have much longer bearing life. We do a two-step process and bring the RA numbers down in the single digit range. We have the most advanced crank polishing machine on the market.

Cost for the crank polishing upgrade is $38.50 We have this upgrade featured in our other listings. You can see this and other upgrade options in our ebay store under the "UPGRADES" category, or simply do a search with the key word, "Upgrade" in the search bar when shopping in our ebay store. Before you finalize your purchase of this assembly you may add any of these upgrades to your shopping cart.

Clevite Bearings: We find the Clevite bearings to be a somewhat better product overall. Clevite is what we now use in all of our engines. This is not to say that King bearings are faulty in any way, but under certain conditions, we have seen fewer problems develop with Clevite bearings during break-in. We have sold King bearings for many years and do not hear of problems from our customers, but our experience on the dyno has shown the Clevite bearings have a better surface appearance upon tear-down after many dyno passes. This is due to the fact that Clevite A series bearings use a slightly harder aluminum alloy.

Upgrade to Clevite "A" Series bearings is $17.50 (These are what we use on all of our engines that have a cast nodular crank.)

Upgrade to Clevite "P" Series bearings is $25.00 (Use only on cranks that have had the crank polishing upgrade.)

Upgrade to Clevite "H/HN" Series bearings is $106.00 (Use only on 4340 forged crank upgrade.)

We have these Clevite bearing upgrades featured in our other listings. You can see these and other upgrade options in our ebay store under the "UPGRADES" category, or simply do a search with the key word, "Upgrade" in the search bar when shopping in our ebay store. Before you finalize your purchase of this assembly you may add any of these upgrades to your shopping cart.

Rod to cam clearance and sizing: We know exactly where and how much to cut the rods for correct cam clearance, and sizing the big end and wrist pin bushing on the Sunnen machine saves a trip to the machine shop. All rods, regardless of brand, should be checked for sizing on a Sunnen machine, and corrected if needed. You will seldom see a complete set of rods that have  perfect sizing on both ends right out of the box.

Cost of this rod to cam clearancing and sizing upgrade is $65.00 We have this upgrade featured in our other listings. You can see this and other upgrade options in our ebay store under the "UPGRADES" category, or simply do a search with the key word, "Upgrade" in the search bar when shopping in our ebay store. Before you finalize your purchase of this assembly you may add any of these upgrades to your shopping cart.

We also do the rod to cam clearancing as pictured below as part of this upgrade.

Race balancing: This is for those who want the engine to operate virtually vibration free at high rpm. Extends engine life and frees up a few more horse power. This is a somewhat labor intensive procedure and is not required, but the feel of an absolutely vibration free engine at high rpm is desirable by many. The standard balance job that is included with this assembly at no extra charge is certainly sufficient. With a race balance job, all pistons and rods are match weighed to within 2/10's of a gram or less, and the final balance is brought down to around 1 gram plus or minus. An ultra smooth engine at high rpm has a noticeable feel and sound to it. If you do not opt for this upgrade, the assembly will still be fully balanced. We spend a good hour and a half doing the regular balance work, and it will certainly meet your needs.

Cost of this race balancing upgrade is $125.00 We have this upgrade featured in our other listings. You can see this and other upgrade options in our ebay store under the "UPGRADES" category, or simply do a search with the key word, "Upgrade" in the search bar when shopping in our ebay store. Before you finalize your purchase of this assembly you may add any of these upgrades to your shopping cart.

Scat Competition Rods: Recommended for those running hard. The regular Scat rods that come with this assembly are sufficient for most street rod uses, but the Scat Competition series rods offer more security against rod breakage under hard use, and they have the huge ARP-8740 7/16's cap screws. The Competition rods have a 600+ Hp rating, and the slight cost to upgrade is well worth it in our opinion. These rods require slightly less cam to rod clearancing then the regular Scat rods. We use the very same Scat Competition rods in our 600+ hp 427 and 434 engines.

Cost of this Scat Competition rod upgrade is $65.00 We have this upgrade featured in our other listings. You can see this and other upgrade options in our ebay store under the "UPGRADES" category, or simply do a search with the key word, "Upgrade" in the search bar when shopping in our ebay store. Before you finalize your purchase of this assembly you may add any of these upgrades to your shopping cart.

ARP-2000 rod bolts: This is one upgrade that we find to be very valuable. The rod bolts are most likely to fail under hard use, moreso than the rod itself. When a rod bolt fails during high RPM, total engine destruction is usually the result. The ARP-2000 rod bolts are a very good upgrade, in our opinion. We actually have few, if any, problems with the regular ARP-8740 bolts, but those who run hard always upgrade to the ARP-2000 rod bolts. The ARP-2000 rod bolts also torque at a higher number, and this increased clamping force is also a factor in keeping the big end of the rod stable and true to size. The ARP-2000 bolts are installed in the rods and this upgrade is only available with the Competition rod upgrade.

Cost of this ARP 2000 rod bolt upgrade is $85.00 We have this upgrade featured in our other listings. You can see this and other upgrade options in our ebay store under the "UPGRADES" category, or simply do a search with the key word, "Upgrade" in the search bar when shopping in our ebay store. Before you finalize your purchase of this assembly you may add any of these upgrades to your shopping cart.

Scat 4340 Forged Crank: The forged Scat crank has a rating of 800+ HP. This is the ultimate upgrade for those wanting to run hard. Nos, blowers, turbos, are not an issue with this crank. Even without such power adders, this Crank offers great protection under the most severe conditions. This upgrade also comes with the HP high Performance King bearings. Should you decide to run power adders in the future, this would be essential. The fatigue life of the 4340 crank over the cast nodular is also greatly extended. We do offer this upgrade as part of many of our assemblies in some of our other listings. They have the key words, "fully forged," in the title.

Cost of this forged crank upgrade is $460.00 We have this upgrade featured in our other listings. You can see this and other upgrade options in our ebay store under the "UPGRADES" category, or simply do a search with the key word, "Upgrade" in the search bar when shopping in our ebay store. Before you finalize your purchase of this assembly you may add any of these upgrades to your shopping cart.

Some of these upgrades are often requested by those building an engine without a machine shop. We find most of these upgrades very valuable for those wanting to take longevity and durability to the next level. They are all bottom end related, and that's an area worth investing a few more dollars into, in our opinion, especially if you’re planning on running long and/or hard. These upgrades are also valuable for your build history on your engine, and would certainly increase the resale value of your engine, should you ever sell it. Pricing of upgrades subject to change.

A note from Skip White, company president.

Many people have asked how is it that we can sell this assembly for such a low price. To answer this; we buy our products at master WD (warehouse distributor) level for all of the items in this assembly, and we are selling direct to the public. We are a volume sales based company. Our profit is based on sheer volume, with a very low markup. It is this large volume purchasing that allows us to buy products at a much lower price and we simply pass these savings on to our customers. This is our main competitive edge.

Skip White