[Torquewar]

Anyone use or have experience with Ceramic coatings on Piston skirts and bearings. Benefits or drawbacks. ?

[track73]

I have used ceramic coating on piston tops and Molybdenum coating on the skirts on my late model engines. (Don't bake them in he oven when your wife is at home.)

[JSuchma]

There is a company here in Houston, TX, named PolyDyne. They do pistons, bearings, chambers on heads, and other internal parts. They have been doing parts for Nascar, Top Fuel teams, and local racers for years. I have had them coat carburetors for me in the past, which gives them a slick and durable coating so that the humid air here does not corrode the casting.
In fact, all the local tracks in the surrounding areas have outlawed it on carburetors used in sanctioned racing. They claim it is so slick that it helps the airflow through the venturies! Talk to Carl, he is the owner.

[Skip Fix]

I have had Polydyn coat bearings, piston skirts and tops and teflon coat inside of oil pans for me.

[Tim Corcoran]

Coating the piston top with ceramic insulates the piston and keeps heat in the combustion chamber and gives you more HP. Coating the skirts reduces friction and give you more HP and reduces wear. Coating the bearings increases bearing life and sometimes is used to tighten up the clearance if needed. Some claim it also is a friction reducer but I don't know about that. I don't know of any drawbacks of coatings unless your clearance is already minimal it may take away required clearance.

[steve25]

The claim that a coated bearings reduce friction is pure fiction!

[Steve C.]

Both PolyDyn Performance Coatings and Calico Coatings are good sources. I've used both.
If interested order direct from Calico bearings coated with their dry film lubricant coatings to help reduce friction and abrasive wear. If your specific part number is not in stock they can get it.

https://www.polydyn.com/performance-coatings

https://www.calicocoatings.com/index.php


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[Skip Fix]

The take from what I have read on bearings is not they make less friction but make the oil cling better to give a little extra protection .

[Steve C.]

Engine Bearings: To Coat or Not to Coat?

https://www.enginebuildermag.com/202...r-not-to-coat/


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[Lee]

Techline sells coating chemicals. At one time they sold all their products to the public, but now some of their better products require a business license to purchase. I've used their thermal barrier coatings on several sets of pistons over the years. They also have a graphite coating for piston skirts and such, and I've used it a few times (but now most pistons come already coated on the skirts).

Smoothing/rounding-over sharp edges on the piston tops results in a better coating, I found out.

[Torquewar]

Great info as usual guys ,liked the article/ link Steve C posted . Some of the points in the article mirror my builder’s experience . Plan is to do all bearings . Only piston skirts initially, then decide tops will get the treatment . The benefits definitely are worth it . He’s built a variety of stuff over the years and I trust his judgment. The chemical he mentioned did require a license to purchase.

[mgarblik]

Various coatings have been around fir decades now. Many of the same companies have also been in business as long. The fact that the OE's do coat pistons, some bearings and other internal parts says allot in my book. They won't spend a penny on anything that doesn't pass a cost/benefit analysis. Do you need coatings for a hobby engine that will see a couple thousand miles a year? That's an individual decision. Properly applied for a specific purpose, they do provide additional protection and insurance for minor tuning errors, tiny dirt intrusion, and to correct very small tolerance variations. If your engine has a serious issue, no coating is going to save it. I have used PTFE based coatings on piston skirts, Barrier coatings on piston heads, DLC coatings on lifters and a few others. They all provide a small level of insurance. Only hard anodized treatment would allow the pistons to live in a nitro environment. Even then, they would scuff in extreme situations. Joe Mondello. (RIP) was a big proponent of coatings. He was a Tech Line dealer and coated parts in house. That's where my experience comes from.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Babbit surface bearings used to corrode from the acids in oil. Then improved Gasoline and oil refinements, and additive packages caused to troubles to go away for many decades.