engine rebuild pointers

My engine is being rebuilt and I am wondering if I should put high performance pistons/ piston rings on my turbo 4g63 1G. I have a 3 inch race exhaust, boost controller, moderate porting, K&N filter. I'm considering HKS cams and eventually a bigger turbo (possibly a Evo 8 turbo). I am going to have some fun with this car and don't plan on using it as a Sunday car. I want reliability and longevity. Any pointers?
Thanks

The stock 6 bolt block is good to 500 whp reliaibly. The 16g you are planning to run is good for 350-375ish. So all stock is fine if its a 6 bolt. U[grading internals can sometimes have side effects that may be undesireable if there is no need for them in the first place. So there are two arguements. Keep it stock and have stock like reliability and life expectancy. Or "while you're in there" upgrade things incase you go big later. Your call :) A common upgrade though for 1gs, especially good for 16g sized turbos, is to use 95 pistons. There is a vfaq that you can use to see how the rods have to be machined. They are supposedly more robust, and of course you get the increased 8.5:1 compression which helps spool and off boost power. Again, your call.

might when want to remove the balance shaft while you're down there :wink:

Thats a good point. I tend to take these things for granted I guess. You always want to remove Bshafts if the motor is out of the car. Its a reliabilty concern. Get the good kit (mirage stubby shaft) and/or read the vfaq on it. Also all new timingbelt parts (~200), water pump, and oil pump cover and gears goes without saying. Also, if you have the 91-99 style "oil cooler" (aka "oil mixer") pick up the 90 style filter housing to run an external cooler, or the NT version to eliminate the cooler. Another reliabilty upgrade, even though that sounds backwards ;) Many many motors have been lost to that POS cooler, inlduing one of mine. Installing the 90 thermostat housing/water neck and front water pipe eliminates the need to plug those coolant lines making it even more reliable. ARP head studs on reassembly with stock gasket is also the best choice for your goals. When you are ready to assemble, remind me to post my shpeel on how to properly use head studs. Could save some headaches. Be sure to get the head trued as well, and new valve seals come with the upper engine gasket kit, so you might as well rebuild the damn thing.

I'm not sure you were specifically asking for all this, but these things will all make the motor much more reliable. Especially for high rpm/high boost use.

The vfaq archives are off line or some shit. I have always (last 3 weeks) had trouble getting in there. I assume that is were you're talking about. Can I remove the balance shafts permanently and leave that part of the block empty? What kit are you talking about? On the compression, what ideal ratio am I looking for with mild tuning? This engine is being rebuilt completely by a machinist that I have known for a few years. He's rebuilt many engines but he is more interested in leaving it stock so it lasts. My goal is to have a fast reliable car not a record breaker.

Thanks

Keep trying the vfaqs, the site works for me. There are two basic ways to pull bshafts. In either case, you need the mirage stubby shaft to replace the rear shaft (be sureits the mirage one, not the one that doesnt have the oil groove). The front shaft can either be left in with no belt on it, or replaced with a block off bearing or a stock bearing rotated 180 degrees so the oil hole does NOT line up. Leaving it in with no belt is thought to be good because you dont have to worry about screwing up the bearing install. But your machinist should have no trouble removing the bearing and properly installing the block off bearing. If you remove the shaft you also need the rubber lined plug to fill the hole in the fornt cover. ;o) See any of the popular venddors for the bshaft removal kit. ITs like 50 bucks. I get the parts individually from mitsu since my brother works there. Its best to keep compression within the stock 1g and 2g range, which is 7.8 to 8.5:1 respecively. Most people lean toward 8.5 using either 2g pistons in the 6 bolt block, or ross or other aftermarket piston with compression in the low-mid 8s. So a 6 bolt with the rods machined for 2g pistons is as stock as it gets and its good for up to 500 whp.