"Nickies" - Any Experience?

[jyl]

I ran across this website

http://www.lnengineering.com/nickies.html

selling "Nickies", apparently billet-machined aluminium nikasil-plated cylinders for aircooled VW and Porsche engines, meant to be used with JE pistons.

Says "Porsche 911 at bore sizes up to 86mm for the 2.2/2.4 and 93mm for the 2.7/2.8. Kits for 2.0 to 4.0 COMING SOON."

Hmm - a 4.0L aircooled 911?

Interesting. Any experience with these? Just curious and trying to learn . . .

Edit: Oh, I see that Charles Navarro from LN Engineering sometimes posts here. Mr. Navarro, are you really going to offer a 4.0L kit for aircooled 911s? Which one (3.2? 3.6?) and any details? I've never heard of such a large 911 engine - I thought there wasn't enough room between the cylinder centers?

[Wayne 962]

We're going to be selling these in the very near future...

-Wayne

[jyl]

The big-bore (e.g. 4.0L) sets, Wayne?

[HawgRyder]

Those are the new "thin" cylinders....so that you can watch your pistons going up and down...or more correctly...in and out.....LOL
I wonder if I can open up my 2.0L case to fit these things?
That would definately be an over-square engine with 66mm crank and 104? 108?mm pistons!!
Bob

[Jeff Alton]

Wayne, can you post a note when you pick up the product line and it hits the catalog please. I need more power!

Thanks, Jeff

[304065]

Hmm, Bob, a quick calculation. . . with a 66mm crank you would need 113mm cylinders to get 3,971cc! With the 2.0l crank, some 108mm jugs would get you to 3,627cc's! Heh heh heh.

[304065]

Another question for Charles. . . on the Gunnar Racing web site, in the buildup of their RATT RSR, Kevin mentions that they are using custom cylinders that do not require the use of cooling tin. Are they yours?

Photo credit www.gunnarracing.com

[HawgRyder]

Gee John....108mm?
Hmmm....can the cylinder studs be stepped out far enough to allow those jugs to be installed?
Real question...has anyone really stepped out the studs?
I know I would need later model heads...and probably cam towers....but it does make me think.
Bob

[Wayne 962]

We'll be selling the whole lineup. Eugene (eugene@pelicanparts.com) is working on it right now. If you have any questions, don't hestitate to email him, and he will be able to research them for you...

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Oh, as you can imagine though, they are not cheap...

-Wayne

[J P Stein]

Lotta talk, but no answer to the question.
Let's try again. Does anyone know of a 911 engine built and run using these cylinders?

[5axis]

Wayne. Please keep us turbo guys in mind too. When I really tear into mine I will be wanting 3.4 pistons and cylinders. I would bet I am not the only one.

david 89 turbo cab

[cnavarro]

Thanks to those who stopped by our booth at both the lit. meet and Dunkel's yesterday. For those of you who have not heard of us (which I wouldn't be surpised about), we have been manufacturing billet aluminum cylinders for ~3 years now and we were in R&D for some time before that. Our cylinders have a proven track record in the Porsche 914 (with our big bore 102+mm kits) and in the VW Type 1. As of late, we have been making some improvements and additions to the product line, like with our Porsche 356 and 911 product lines. I'm in the process of adding every other factory cylinder to the lineup, which Pelican will be offering to all its customers. As Wayne said, ask Eugene. If there is something he can't answer for you, there's always email and the forums. We're lucky to have such great resources at our displosal with today's internet. And for those who have asked, we're also looking into the feasibilty of a biger big bore 911, something that will move you into a 4.0 L range- more to come on this.

All our cylinders are designed to fit factory cooling tin without modifications, unless otherwise specified, and duplicate every last detail with exception of casting defects and poor fin count :-) Our 911 cylinders feature nearly twice the fin count and are made from our custom extrusion that is 50% stronger than the alloy used in AL mahle cylinders and our alloy has 50% more cooling capacity than the factory AL alloy as well. Lastly, concerning the plating, I make it no secret that we use Millennium Technologies, as they are the only plater who stands behind their work with a lifetime warranty. In 3+ years we have never had a plating (or cylinder) failure of any sort.

Pricing will be steeper than Mahle for some cylinders, but on others, there will be a great savings. We have a standard 4 cylinder price and 6 cylinder price, whether the cylinder is for a vw or for a 4-cam speedster, no gouging will go on here!

If anyone has any more questions, I welcome them. Just keep on posting!

JP: Dyno test is in the works for our 911 Nickies. Will keep everyone apprised.

Charles Navarro
LN Engineering
http://www.LNengineering.com
Aircooled Precision Performance

[Wayne 962]

Just a note - I spent some time looking at these over the weekend. They are very high-quality cylinders individually machined out of aluminum billets. In general, I would think that the technology used in 2004 would be far better than the casting and plating technology used in 1970 (when Nikasil first came out on the 917). With the supplies of Mahle cylinders drying up, I'm welcoming the development of these high-quality replacements. With Charles' improvements, I can see how they would be the cylinder of choice for 911 performance engines.

We're planning on getting with Charles and JE pistons to design some custom Pelican-only piston and cylinder packages (designed by me and others) that will be available for purchase within the Engine Rebuild Wizard. Mix and match displacements, and compression ratios at will to build "your" perfect engine!

-Wayne

[cnavarro]

Like I said before in a previous post, this is everyone's chance to give their input as to what else people would like to see made. I've already made an 89mm cylinder (1mm under 2.7) for those running in a 2500cc limited displacement class, per forum members suggestions and desires. I'm looking forward to working with Wayne and Eugene and pretty soon here we'll have the rest of the 911 line hammered out, and some Pelican only combos, as Wayne mentioned. Again, thanks guys for those who came by and visited our booth. We'll be at Hershey this Spring for those who couldn't attend the shows in CA.

Charles Navarro
LN Engineering
http://www.LNengineering.com
Aircooled Precision Performance

[89turbocabmike]

I saw these at Dunkles and was impressed by the quality. I'm due for a rebuild some time soon and definitely want to go 3.4L. Looking forward to some Pelican first-hand reviews on these Nickies.