The History of JE Pistons

The origins of what we know today as JE Pistons can be traced back to 1912 and the Los Angeles foundry of William Jahns Sr. and his company W.H. Jahns. Employing the tagline, “Nothing but Pistons,” the W.H. Jahns company produced pistons and semi-finished pistons until 1948, when Jahns Sr. retired. Meanwhile, Jahns’ son, William “Uncle Bill” Jahns Jr., started and had been working on his company Jahns’ Racing Pistons since 1947. Shortly after, the business became Jahns’ Engineering Pistons, and was finally shortened to JE Pistons.

Through the following years, JE Pistons’ technology evolved, from mastering casting technology in the 60s to researching and implementing forging technology in the 70s. Numerical Controlled (NC) machines were introduced to manufacturing in the early 80s, which was quickly improved to the use of Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC) machines and a proprietary piston design and machining program in the mid-80s.

JE Pistons has continued to evolve their manufacturing processes, currently offering racing pistons either off the shelf or fully custom. JE pistons are all designed, forged, and machined in-house, allowing control over every step of the piston-making process. JE’s 7+ decades of experience in high-level racing has led to offering premium racing features, including full billet construction, EN plating, and purpose-designed coatings, to name a few.