Exploding Piston Trick
One of the more distasteful disassembly jobs in our shop involves hypereutectic pistons. It seems that no matter what fixtures we use we still end up with the occasional piston “explosion.” I believe we have come up with a few workable solutions for the removal of press fit hypereutectic pistons from connecting rods. Our first solution was to construct a 1/4” thick clear Lexan shield, hinged at the top of the press to keep the operator from having to “wear” the exploded piston parts. This shield worked in that the opera- tor was out of harm’s way, but it did slow down the operation and the chunks still ended up on the floor, and occasionally other workers nearby. Lately, we’ve simply wrapped the piston with duct tape and made a slit for the pin arbor before disassembly. The pin itself will make its own exit hole in the tape. If the piston does shatter, the parts are contained within the tape, making clean up easier and lowering the fear factor for the operator. When we need to disassemble the occasional cracked or partially broken piston, we still wrap it with tape, but also tighten one or two hose clamps around the skirt for additional support.

Timm Jurincie
Tuf-Enuf Auto & Marine Performance
Avondale, AZ
September, 2015