Cadillac 331 pistons

[engineguyBill]

Mickey Thompson manufactured a variety of engine parts back in the day, including headers. Most of the old M/T parts could be considered museum pieces now, EXCEPT the M/T valve covers which have may survive into eternity.

[piston guy]

M/T used Alcoa forgings and experimented with magnesium and other odd alloys for pistons. Mag was not a good choice even when a special Dow coating was applied. He only made pistons for about four or five years. Mainly small block Chevy and early hemi parts. Back then piston skirts were "cam ground" on an actual crank/cam grinding machine . Ovality was done off of a "master" , the taper was set like is was for a cam lobe. They were crude compared to what is on the market now , but did the job.

pistonguy, you might comment on the piston-to-wall clearance required in the bad old days of M/T, ForgedTrue, et al, as well as the weights thereof. Looking at today's jewels versus the full-skirt stuff from the early '60s is a reminder of how far we've come.

Sure Jack ,
In the "old days" of ground skirts we typically ran around .008-.010 piston to wall some were as much as .012! The straight taper designs needed plenty of piston to wall or the would scuff under the pin if too tight or have terrible ring seal if too loose. When the industry began using CNC turning centers , more complex "barrel shaped" skirts could be made adding stability and rat the same time reducing drag. 2618 ( high expansion) material) could be run as tight as .005 at the ''gauge point"with these new shapes without fear of scuffing. The long "tab" older designs used to use ( as an attempt to stabilize) have disappeared as a direct result. Big budget ( F1 , Nascar) racing venues are THE reason for the last 25 or so years of huge advances in piston technology .

[piston guy]

Holley ( Colt industries by that time) bought the M/T name and kept the valve cover deal going ( through Ansen IIRC) Yes M/T had a HUGE variety of products . Stroker cranks , rods ( steel , aluminum and titanium) pistons , intakes , SBC blocks , headers , Marine equipment, Air cleaners , wheels , tires. headers. and other stuff. He even had a "speed shop" outlet in Garden Grove Ca. All of that changed with his murder. (rip Mick) I spent many dollars at his Long Beach ( Anaheim st) shop buying Ford parts. John House gave me some good deals.

[DCal]

Nick Arias bought the piston dies from Colt, there was probably 18 or more. His plan was to bury them so another piston company couldn't get an easy start with that tooling. But Moe Mills and Ken Robles had started Ross using some forging dies they got from Jahns. I don't remember if Jahns even made any pistons from those dies.
Nick had purchased Ansen's (Louie Senter) piston dies when he left Venolia to start Arias so then he had dies from M/T and Ansen and his own newer style. I spent about a week seeing what we could make out of those dies and I was only allowed to remove (cheaper) metal but I narrowed the skirts and pin bosses and increased radii on 10 of them. I didn't personally machine them I just called out the specs.
This post has been interesting to me, it makes our industry a tighter group than you might think. We all go to the same trade shows, the same races, the same airports and the same funerals so I've tried to not burn bridges an be cordial to all.

[Mark O'Neal]

We bought up a bunch of the last small block forgings they had and made something out the them, but I don't remember what.
That was long before we had our own piston factory.

[Mark O'Neal]

Nick Arias bought the piston dies from Colt, there was probably 18 or more. His plan was to bury them so another piston company couldn't get an easy start with that tooling. But Moe Mills and Ken Robles had started Ross using some forging dies they got from Jahns. I don't remember if Jahns even made any pistons from those dies.
Nick had purchased Ansen's (Louie Senter) piston dies when he left Venolia to start Arias so then he had dies from M/T and Ansen and his own newer style. I spent about a week seeing what we could make out of those dies and I was only allowed to remove (cheaper) metal but I narrowed the skirts and pin bosses and increased radii on 10 of them. I didn't personally machine them I just called out the specs.
This post has been interesting to me, it makes our industry a tighter group than you might think. We all go to the same trade shows, the same races, the same airports and the same funerals so I've tried to not burn bridges an be cordial to all.

That's true, but there's a change a brewing with the large corporations dominating the piston world. Mahle, Wiseco, JE, Diamond, et all, are going to change the market segment, and I don't think killing the mom and pop shops is good for the industry as a whole...but you can't stop the world.

[piston guy]

Some of the "mom and pops" aren't interested in competing with the "big three" ( Mahle , RWB , CP/Carrillo , IMHO). The flexibility that a small company can excercise often speaks as loud as the "household name" parts.Advertising takes a huge bite out of the profits of ANY company and can (and HAS) lead to many a company's downfall.

[pdq67]

What ever happened to Badger and Simplex/Triplex, (don't really know which name??)..

pdq67

[engineguyBill]

What ever happened to Badger and Simplex/Triplex, (don't really know which name??)..

pdq67

Possibly bought by United Engine & Machine? I don't know.

[pdq67]

Please AGAIN!!!

"pdq67 wrote: ↑
Mon Sep 17, 2018 8:55 pm

What ever happened to Badger and Simplex/Triplex, (don't really know which name??)..

engineguyBill wrote, -- pdq67 Possibly bought by United Engine & Machine? I don't know."

Does anybody know??

Mark, do you by chance remember who bought them??

pdq67

[AaronMcCoy]

Please AGAIN!!!

"pdq67 wrote: ↑
Mon Sep 17, 2018 8:55 pm

What ever happened to Badger and Simplex/Triplex, (don't really know which name??)..

engineguyBill wrote, -- pdq67 Possibly bought by United Engine & Machine? I don't know."

Does anybody know??

Mark, do you by chance remember who bought them??

pdq67

From another forum from 2004:
"History:
Badger Pistons, LLC was formed with the acquisition of the piston manufacturing plant and the remaining piston inventory of Dynagear Corporation in February of 2003. Dynagear had manufactured Badger pistons since its acquisition of Manley-Badger in 1995 from Kolbenschmidt. Shortly after Dynagear acquired Ertel Manufacturing Company in 1998, all piston production was consolidated at the New Albany, Mississippi location.

In March of 2003, Badger Pistons also acquired Manley Valves from Dynagear.

Present:
Badger’s manufacturing facility is completely self-sufficient with on-site aluminum foundry and piston machining facilities. Our manufacturing process is highly automated with state-of-the-art equipment yet flexible enough to respond to customer needs. We, at Badger Pistons, realize that customer satisfaction is the key to the success of any business. Our goal at Badger Pistons is to supply our valued customers with pistons and valves of the highest quality at a reasonable price and to provide service second to none.
Future:
Continuous improvement, both in product and process, is vital in staying competitive in today’s global market. This, with the inevitable increase in customer satisfaction, is the primary tool we will utilize for expanding our share of the piston market. As the need arises, and we predict it will, we have ample room for expansion at our 35 acre site."

There is still a listing for Badger Pistons in New Albany, MS.

A google image search of Triplex V8 pistons brings up a couple of pics, no info what happened to the company. So its probably not Simplex.

20 minutes with Google.

[pdq67]

Thanks Aaron,

I looked up Badger and about all I came up with was the sports team!

pdq67