is this a forged piston?
 

I feel dumb asking this, but I really am unaware of how to tell the difference. I have been told it is easier to tell from the bottom side of the piston.
The reason I ask, is this is a Ford autorized remanfactured engine, but when I called the place that did it (Fred Jones out of Oklahoma)..they said they was no way they could tell me what they put in it for sure.
The Enigine was out of an 89 Mustang.
Ryan

I doubt it is based strictly on the cost difference between forged and hyper pistons - most rebuilders use the cheapest parts.

hahaha, not exactly what I wanted to hear, but what I have learned. They (Fred Jones) told me it just depended on what was in the parts bin at the time and stated it could have been either Forged or Hyper.

I am trying to figure out for sure.....in case I want to spray this engine at some point.
Ryan

Turn the motor upside down and look closely at the bottom side of the piston. There will be edges underneath where the piston deck contacts the skirt. If edges are sharp, then it is probably cast. If thse edges are smooth and sort of rounded, it's a forging.

Looking at your image, that notch on the face of the piston, which is used to orient the piston, is usually on cast and not forged pistons.

Could be either or. Hard to tell from the top

Lets see some pics of the bottom.


I'm spraying a 150hp shot on top of hyper-pistons in my coupe with no ill effects.




-Josh, aka the tireburner

I will get some pics from the bottom ....hopefully tom.... and get them posted
Ryan

I agree. A forged piston will have an arrow(usually) etched into the piston for orientation while cast & hyper's will have that notch like yours has.
Also, the part # will have an "F" at the end to indicate a forged piston but that's probably covered in carbon and would most likely be hard for you to rub off with the piston installed.

Here's my $.02 I'm running factory (Well, I WAS) forged '89 GT pistons, and they DON'T look like that. So they're obviously aftermarket, and when rebuilders go aftermarket, they go cheap. In all likelyhood, you're looking at Hypers.

Now for the good news, I've heard horror stories about hypers + N2O= KFB but I've never actually SEEN it happen. What I have seen, is a few guys spraying N2O on hypers with no problem. Hell, on guy had a 250 HP Fogger on hypers!!! Not that I would recommend it, just telling you what I've seen.

Let us know, and good luck! :D

Well, it looks as though they r more than likely hypers. A buddy of mine helped me bolt the heads I just ported to them tonight...and he said the Exact same stuff u all have said in this post. Not a real big deal, I really just wanted to know what I have.

I am still going to spray it....just not a lot. For now, I would be happy with seeing how it runs with the ported e7's....till I get some aftermarkets heads for it next summer. I plan on putting it in next month...got to wait for the stripes to be painted this week and the week following get the electric fan set-up complete.
Thanx guys...will keep u posted.
Ryan