PRODUCTS & PRESS
UNIQUE BUTTONS: PISTON PIN RETENTION
DESIGN FOR PRO MOD AND BIG TURBOS
Gibtec Pistons has announced unique piston pin
retention buttons. Their latest design for Pro
Mod and big turbo racing engines incorporate a
radial locking feature.
The advent of the piston button and its subsequent popularity came about because of the convenience it offers. Changing pistons with buttons
not only reduces the time taken to replace pistons
at the race track but also ends the frustration
of fiddling about with round wire locks or the
double spiral types.
“Some years ago when we were developing the
original concept,” says Gibtec Piston’s Robbie
Giebas, “the button seemed to offer a further
advantage.
Where the piston pin bore breaks into the oil
control ring groove, we thought the button would
prevent the expander in the oil control ring from
distorting around the half-moon opening, a deficiency particularly prevalent in power adder
race engines.”
Though partially true, they later discovered
the original button could, in fact, damage the
oil control ring by pushing upward or rotating
against it or a combination of both.
Now Gibtec Pistons has redesigned the button
with a radial locking mechanism and has filed
a comprehensive patent to protect the design.
Rob Giebas and
Gibtec’s ascension
by agility and
intellect
It was a decisive moment
when in 2013 the then
40-year-old Detroit native
founded his piston-making
venture in Denver, Colorado. The formation of
any new business is almost always a protracted
struggle, and Gibtec Pistons’ prospects were no
less challenging; how could it survive in a diminished market? In fact all markets were dealing
with vast cultural changes but more importantly
the bitter, adverse effects of the recession were
still about, so were a dozen other well-established
competitors.
But Giebas had been devoted to nothing other
than the production of racing pistons since he
was 20 and renowned for his thoroughness; work
orders arrived, albeit slowly. Yet could his triumph in thoroughness guarantee growth? Engine
builders tend to remain steadfastly loyal to their
suppliers; that is, until costly mistakes are made.
“Mistakes exact a heavy toll on an engine
builder,” says Larry Allen of Allen Automotive
in Winamac, Indiana. Allen, who specializes in
NHRA Stock Eliminator and known for his Super
Stock successes with Arnie Martel and others says,
“Two successive piston-making mistakes on a 427
engine cost me $3,000 not including my labor.
The first destroyed every wrist pin in the engine;
the second pitched a rod off the crank—I was
lucky not to wreck the motor. Though Gibtec rid
me of the bitter experience, it was a grim lesson
that brought me to their door. Their product and
service saved me. ”
You are the size you deserve to be
In racing, facing the toughness of the competition
and working at your craft until you prevail are the
crucial elements that bring triumph. Same is true
in piston-making. The greatest threat to growth
is an uninspired team. “It’s a silent menace,” says
Giebas, “a handicap where problems outrank solutions where indifference outranks enthusiasm.”
Tough business leaders
point out that you are
as big as you deserve to
be. Maybe so, but assembling the best team you
can muster and imbuing
it with quality is another
route to dominance.
Consistently conquering high quality, argues
Tom Martino of MB Race
Engines, “isn’t easy. It’s just one demand of many
competing on a small firm’s resources. But it is a
firm’ s greatest strength—it allows it to prosper,”
says the noted NHRA Pro Stock race winner. “And
Gibtec have a gift for it; we use their flat tops in
our Small-Block Modified engines and in every
Comp Eliminator engine we build.”
For more information visit gibtecpistons.com
JOHN’S INDUSTRIES DEBUTS NEW ORBIT
480° THIRD MEMBER ASSEMBLY TOOL
John’s Industries, a premier provider of 9” Ford
third members, rear axles and housings to street
rodders, drag racers, off roaders and muscle car
enthusiasts, introduces the Orbit 480°, a patent
pending fixture that eliminates strain and injury
while increasing speed and precision for the assembly of 9” rear differentials. The design and
development of the Orbit 480° was a culmination
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I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
of John Melchiori, owner of John’s Industries,
30 years of experience in the classic car and motorsports industries. With a focus to increase
safety by eliminating potential injury causing
actions during third member assembling, the
Orbit 480° keeps the assembler in a comfortable,
upright position.
For more info visit johnsindustries.com
Issue 109