Which Piston is right for me and why
Paragon Engines (RaceTec) pistons are made from either 4032 or 2618 aluminum alloy. Please explain the pros and cons of each alloy and why certain applications get the 2618?
These two alloys are similar in many respects. In terms of overall strength the 2618 edges 4032 out by a small margin. Silicon content makes up the main effective difference with the 4032 alloy containing 12-13 percent silicon compared to 2618 alloy having 0.2 percent or less. Silicon reduces heat expansion, while being hard and increases wear resistance. The decrease in expansion allows for tighter clearances, reduced wear on both the piston and bore - also resulting in quieter operation. The hard silicon element greatly helps to increase the number of heat cycles the piston can endure before ring grooves and skirts start to distort. This makes the 4032 alloy well suited for a wide range of applications from street performance to upper level sportsman racing. The 2618 alloy is more malleable, allowing it to flex and move under extreme loads further and more frequently before reaching the point of fracture. This gives the 2618 alloy a greater resistance to the shock loads of detonation. The compromise is that the alloy softens at a much faster rate, allowing the piston to distort more rapidly. This makes the 2618 alloy best suited for extreme-duty race applications where the engine will be serviced on a regular schedule. Paragon recommends the 2618 alloy for extreme-duty applications or those that have a high likelihood for experiencing aggressive and or frequent detonation. Due to the increased wear resistance and longevity characteristics of the 4032 alloy, Paragon use this alloy on a wider scale.
Which Cam should I buy?
A car that idles rough, stalls in gear, is a bear to drive in traffic and gets abysmal gas mileage isn't still cool even if it lopes hard and sounds nasty. Trust us, we've been there. In short, the most prevalent tuning headache we see are "over-cammed" cars and upset owners. All too often a cam selection is based on misinformation and testimonials that don't address the application properly. The sales guy at the local speed shop or internet hype is not always the best source of information, so knowing the approximate cam specs for your combination is vital to an enjoyable machine, be it a high performance street vehicle or an all out race car.
Our camshafts are spec'd from years of real world use and literally, thousands of hours in dyno testing and tuning. Large advertised durations and gimmicky nick-named profiles may be what you are looking for but on the other hand, that may not. Camshaft selection is the more important decision you will make, don't minimize the impact.
Why are there seemingly less costly Short Block Assemblies on the internet?
Do your due diligence, make phone calls and ask hard direct questions, don't be mislead. Engine building and "blueprinted" are bandied about and mean different things to different shops.
Don't confuse a professional engine builder with an assembler. To punctuate this just add up the cost of one of our rotating assemblies and the cost of a new block....you'll find a large disparity in the sum total vs buying the same as an assembly from us. Reason ? Machining costs and time involved in producing a "blueprinted" assembly.
In addition to only using top tier components educate yourself on what we do to each of or short bock assemblies and it will establish why our short blocks are, on average, $400-$700 more than some you may find on the internet.
Why buy our CNC Heads?
For one thing...price vs performance. This is especially true when considering non GM, aftermarket castings - expect to pay an additional premium of $600-$900 dollars. What can you gain from the aftermarket castings? We've seen about 12 lb ft torque and 8 RWHP. However, some of these aftermarket castings can be a disaster in terms of reliability. If you decide on an aftermarket casting we trust AFR or Trick Flow castings. Both offer improved low and mid lift flow without losing high lift flow.
Attention to Air Flow, detail and workmanship. Our CNC heads continually undergo revisions to improve their flow characteristics and ultimately performance. And, since we CNC in-house we rapidly and easily make generational changes to each platform to supply you with the latest and best product on the market. Please check our published flow numbers to others...each set of our CNC Heads delivers.
Valve Seat run-out. We've seen some very high end suppliers with seat run-out over .005 and factory tolerances allow for up to .002 so what's up with that? We strive to cut our seats to always be .001 run-out or less ....and it's tough. You need to pay serious attention to detail to accomplish this.
Warranty Statement
Paragon Engines, LLC takes the up most in care to make sure that all workmanship is performed to the highest level possible. Paragon also tries to recommend the best parts for the build at hand, using our years of experience building high performance engines. At the end of the day, we want to make the most horsepower but as reliably as possible. At Paragon, we offer a 1 year, 10,000 mile, 150 hour (whichever comes first) warranty on all workmanship performed. This warranty starts on the date of the invoice received by the customer. Any milage or hour claims will need to be verified by providing that information upon receiving an engine (within 30 Days). If not provided, any warranty claims will be void. Any failures caused by machining errors, misassembled parts, incorrect parts, or incorrect tolerances, will be covered by this warranty. Any claims will need to be brought to Paragon’s attention within the warranty period. Any claims brought after the warranty period will not be honored. Any repairs or corrections will need to be performed by Paragon, or a Paragon Engines Authorized facility. Any unauthorized disassembly or repair performed prior to a claim, will void any warranty we provide entirely. Parts failures can occur, even when using the best parts for the application. In this case, the warranty will be provided by the manufacturer of the part used. Any other parts damaged by a part failure, will be up to the manufacturer of the part if they are covered. Any work required to replace the part or repair damage from the failure, will be up to the manufacturer if it is covered. Paragon Engines does not offer any warranty on parts, and does not provide compensation, monetary or labor, for a parts failure. Any other costs not covered by the manufacturer will be the responsibility of the customer. Other failure modes common in an engine, listed below, will not be covered by Paragon Engines.
- Oil Starvation, running low on oil
- Over heating
- Over-reving
- Lack of oil changes, dirty oil
- Improper oil selection
- Foreign particle ingestion, through intake or oil system
- Improper tuning, running lean/rich, incorrect timing
- Customer provided parts being incorrect
Any failures caused by any of the above will be determined by Paragon Engines, and a report will be provided to the customer. Any outside analysis will be contracted by Paragon if further investigation is needed. No agent or employee with Paragon or claiming to be a representative of Paragon will override this warranty. No exceptions will be made outside of this warranty.
