Diamond Pistons

[SupStk]

I've recently switched from another maker to Diamond. At first I had no problem, pistons were nicely done, they came in on time and exactally the way I'd ordered. I'm working on three builds now each needing custom pistons. I've been trying now for three weeks to get a set of custom pistons coming for a stroker "FE" Ford. Finally got the order confirmation and there were several mistakes, (Their's not mine). Corrected those and resent the order along with another order for a 410 SBC. I noted on both order if any question, Please Call with my number. Since then its like I've fallen off the grid... no faxs, no email, no calls. The receptionist says they are really busy and to leave ANOTHER voice mail. Like I said, this has been going on for three weeks. BTW I've been trying to deal with Jason Barna.

Questions;
Has anyone had similar experience with Diamond?
Is there a better sales rep to deal with?

Thanks for any suggestions and help!

[donc]

Had a similar problem a while back, of course they never make mistakes, was going to try them again on some stocker pistons, after countles phone calls, with no return calls, I went with CP, They have made 8 sets of stk. eliminator pistons , on time and no problems, They call back within hrs. not days. I wont use Diamond again. They make a good product, but time is money.

[Alan Roehrich]

I know several people who have had serious complaints with Diamond. The best guy at Diamond is Andy Anderson. I like Andy, he's a good guy. But I don't buy Diamond pistons, I have had customers who did, and I've used them, with success, they're just not my favorite.

I buy a lot from Trend, of which I guess Diamond is a part, I just got some Trend stuff today. I like dealing with Trend.

But I am a dealer for JE, CP, and RaceTech. Those are my preferred suppliers.

[engine101]

Wow that is weird. I just got 3 sets of Custom Pistons from
Jason and got them just outside of a couple of weeks. Haven't
had any issues with them at all. Done tons of business with them!

[Strange Magic]

I deal strickly in CP and Diamond as well. I am a dealer. I own an engine shop. I build engines.

The problem or issue might be that when dealing with the manufacture, you better have all your ducks lined up, and if you don't then maybe you might be better off dealing with one of thier dealers. When I place an order, it has everything in the order from cylinder head manufacture and model, intake valve size, exhaust valve size, vr depths both intake and exhaust, material make up, ring lands and grooves, 1 start ring land, second start ring land, oil groove position. bore size, It has root diameter of the 1st, 2nd and oil. It has the total amount of pieces, a P.O. number, wrist pin diameter, wrist pin length, double spiro loc, single spiro, or wire. It has compression distance. It has pin boss inner demensions (example 1.250, 1.300). It's got area above the connecting rod as well. It has dome or dish in cc's. It has dish style if so. It has piston to wall clearance and it also indicates if I want them to pin fit or I will pin fit.

If your having trouble, then get with a dealer or an engine builder and they can take care of it for you. Sometimes going direct might not be your best option. I have a friend that went direct and he thought he could save some money. Round two and he is into 2 sets because he tried to go direct and engineer it himself. He is on round three and he insists on still doing it himself.

[SupStk]

I deal strickly in CP and Diamond as well. I am a dealer. I own an engine shop. I build engines.

The problem or issue might be that when dealing with the manufacture, you better have all your ducks lined up, and if you don't then maybe you might be better off dealing with one of thier dealers. When I place an order, it has everything in the order from cylinder head manufacture and model, intake valve size, exhaust valve size, vr depths both intake and exhaust, material make up, ring lands and grooves, 1 start ring land, second start ring land, oil groove position. bore size, It has root diameter of the 1st, 2nd and oil. It has the total amount of pieces, a P.O. number, wrist pin diameter, wrist pin length, double spiro loc, single spiro, or wire. It has compression distance. It has pin boss inner demensions (example 1.250, 1.300). It's got area above the connecting rod as well. It has dome or dish in cc's. It has dish style if so. It has piston to wall clearance and it also indicates if I want them to pin fit or I will pin fit.

If your having trouble, then get with a dealer or an engine builder and they can take care of it for you. Sometimes going direct might not be your best option. I have a friend that went direct and he thought he could save some money. Round two and he is into 2 sets because he tried to go direct and engineer it himself. He is on round three and he insists on still doing it himself.

Guess this ain't my first rodeo, been ordering one off piston sets for about 30 years now. So do know how to spec out a set of pistons.

Now for the good news, Jason just called and we went over the specs. Seems he was hung up on the idea it was a road race application instead of drag race as I spec'ed it. That must of raised a red flag in engineering.

[Strange Magic]

I would be interested in how a road race and a drag race pistons differ? Is it material? Can you not use a 2618 over a 4032? Can you not use a 4032 over a 2618? Vr depths differ? pin diameter and length differ? ect...ect..?

The only thing that I could see differ is the use, or non use of vacuum in the crankcase, and that has nothing to do with road race or drag race and at that point the decision of the ring package should be made by the engine builder and not the piston company.

Now for the good news, Jason just called

After this topic was put up, I would assume. Maybe coincidence.

[SupStk]

I would be interested in how a road race and a drag race pistons differ? Is it material? Can you not use a 2618 over a 4032? Can you not use a 4032 over a 2618? Vr depths differ? pin diameter and length differ? ect...ect..?

The only thing that I could see differ is the use, or non use of vacuum in the crankcase, and that has nothing to do with road race or drag race and at that point the decision of the ring package should be made by the engine builder and not the piston company.

Now for the good news, Jason just called

After this topic was put up, I would assume. Maybe coincidence.

yup he called about an hour and 25 mins after I posted this thread.

The areas of conflict was he wanted to do a conical dish instead of flat-top, 16 degree valve angle instead of 13, And.165 thick H-13 pins instead of .100.

[Avadoo]

Diamond did me two very nice sets of pistons... on time and good sizes... but the detail finish is very much left to us.. The Mahle product at about 35 -40% of the cost, seems excellent all round. ( no free burrs to deal with around pin bores, rings lands and the like)

[rookie]

That's one thing manufacturers need to get use to, is with these sites if you drop the ball the whole world will know in 30 days, I found in my buis communication is the most important thing...if you don't return your calls you probably jut lost a customer.

The free market rules!

[CREngines]

After the debacle at JE pistons, we used CP for awhile and became fed up with the cost and the wait. I tried the Diamond deal out but after they sold a set of pistons to a customer of mine for less then i could buy them for and quoted me 980.00 with no pins and rings for a very basic custom, i said the hell with it and very recently went to RaceTec. Im not looking back, the service is amazing.

I did give Ross a call and they offered me a deal if i did a three set buy in. That was all well and good until i saw i could buy a set from Summit for 50 dollars cheaper then what they offered me if i bought three sets. Absolutely ridiculous.

[Alan Roehrich]

While I recently signed up with RaceTech, I have not had any real problems with JE or CP. There was the fight with NHRA over the ZL-1 piston we co-developed, but JE did very little wrong. The issues with CP were even more minor, they could not meet the promised delivery date, but they stepped up and did the right thing on the cost. I've used Mahle and been happy, other than the one set they tried to do custom was a real problem. The Ross stuff I've used I did not like at all. The few Diamond pistons I've use were okay, but I know a couple of good teams that found the Diamond stuff to be off a fair amount.

[iadr]

Ron Bouvian (spelling??) @ Diamond took excellent care of me. No complaints at all. I completely caused some issues , and he kept a cool head.

Not a rush job at all, which may have helped.

[Barry_R]

I buy a LOT of FE pistons from Diamond. Probably a set or two every week. Five years running. And I really have very, very few issues.

I deal with Ron Beaubien, he's been with them a very long time and knows my applications pretty well. He does not add to or alter my specifications but will offer up ideas or advice where he thinks it's warranted.

For shelf stock, inventory style pistons I have been using Probe most often. I have not really seen a significant differnce in function or performance between the two. The decision is based purely on economics and delivery timeline. While I will consider alternate suppliers, I tend to be pretty faithful to the suppliers that I started out with, and only change if and when one of them stumbles repeatedly. So far Diamond has not stumbled.

[dfree383]

IMO They make nice stuff, but for whatever reason I've had some issues with them changing things on orders. They made everything right, but it did cost time.