Engine rebuild...might as well stroke it?

Searched, couldnt find exactly what I wanted, so:

Lately, I've been fearing the worst from all the knocking and ticking sounds coming from under the hood. Car goes to shop tomorrow.

Considering I may need an engine rebuild, with new pistons and rods (car has 125K miles, recently driven hard by me but only 10psi boost), I thought I might as well pay a little extra and get a stroker kit, in anticipation of a larger turbo later on. (Though I HOPE I wont need any heavy duty work under the hood right now, I was hoping to squeeze more life out of my engine, but you never know what the mechanic says tomorrow).

1) Which stroker kit should I get with so many on the market? I was looking at SBR, but they had different rod and piston combos. I eventually want to run a bigger turbo with AFC, so I thought I might as well lay the grounds for the setup now, as opportunity presents itself, instead of having to stroke it later on.

2) I live in CA, and smog is always a PITA. Would a stroker throw on a check engine light? Would the ECU be needed to be upgraded in any way to accomadate the stroker?

Thanks. I really hope that knocking/ticking sound isnt what I think it is :( Here's the link for the thread I posted concerning that issue:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=3293079#post3293079

replace it with a 6bolt, or just stroke the 7bolt?

I hope DSMlink is on your list. The stroker question is just a matter of money. The extra torque will be nice and you'll laugh at turbo lag. Downside is that you have to add (2.3) to all of your sentences because nobody will understand how a 60-1 spools like a 14b.

I hope DSMlink is on your list. The stroker question is just a matter of money. The extra torque will be nice and you'll laugh at turbo lag. Downside is that you have to add (2.3) to all of your sentences because nobody will understand how a 60-1 spools like a 14b.


DSMlink is on the list for sure, but a large concern for me is the CEL and passing smog. I wouldn't want to "un-stroke" the car 2 years from today to pass smog, lol. The smog guy says that stroker kits arent a problem as long as the car isn't running rich, and enough of the fuel is burt up :eek7: .

I just took the car for a drive and the knock sound is worse and louder. I'm hoping against hope that it's just a bad plug or something cheaper to fix for now.

The stroker question is just a matter of money

But if it does happen to be an engine job, Joe, you said its a matter of money for a stroker kit. What stroker would you get if you had a $1500-$1700 price range? I'm basically looking for something in between a basic stroker kit and a high end one, something that's middle ground cost and performance wise as far as strokers go (whatever that mean, lol). A kit that can handle good boost and high RPMs. I eventually want to run a SBR TDO6H 20g, Kevin regards that as a good streetable turbo, and hence so do I :) God, I want everything, don't I.

well i was told buy the car expert himself TEDX that if you get a stroker kit, the car doesn't rev as high becuase, well because thats all i remember as him

20g will be way too small on a strocker. I wouldnt go smaller than a GT35R. The extra 20% displacement moves 20% more air at the same boost ;) I ran the same 56 trim wheel in a TDO6H configuration and had full boost (25 psi) by 3700 rpm, or the same rpm I had 25 psi at with a 2 liter and 6H 20g, for reference. You can run whatever variant of the 35R wheel you want, but I wouldnt go smaller.

I never bought a stocker "kit." Its just the crank and pistons. Rods are the same as what you would normally use. I was using eagle rods, which obviously held up fine to all of my abuse. They are cheap too. Figure about 300 for a crank, 300 for rods (IIRC), and 400 for pistons. The rest is all machine work you would have to do anyway, I pay around 500 depending on what needs machining. Running a stroker will have no effect on emmissions, the ECU still does it job the same way it always has. Thats the beauty of mass air systems ;)

If you buy a kit, make it because a vendor is packaging it so that you save money. It doesn't matter who, really, because you'll need to select your components anyway. I assume you're looking at 2.3 from a 6 bolt 4g63 block. Magnus has a lot of piston options, but don't ask me what's worth it or not. http://www.magnusmotorsports.com/Pistons.htm

So, Kevin... :D

If you buy a kit, make it because a vendor is packaging it so that you save money. [/url]



That was the main drive behind getting a "kit", because purchasing the parts separately would be a little more expensive. I e-mailed RRE, and they want to do a 6-bolt swap and a 2.3 stroker on that. I told them that I was hoping my motor wasnt blown yet, but theyr'e like "get it done anyways!". haha.

Well, I'm now losing boost and power accross all RPM ranges and gears, and the knocking noise is louder (similar to an VW microbus, or a a 60's bug). Very scary stuff. Car goes to shop tomorrow morning, and I'm hoping its just a timing / spark issue, and not a rod knocked lose or something horrifiying like that :rolleyes:. The mechanics are people I know and do great work, but their DSM knowledge is limited. Since RRE is 1.5 hours driving north of me, and the engine does turn out to be fcked, I'll probably knock and tick my way up there to drop my car off to them.

I hope its not that bad I hope its not that bad I hope its not that bad. Amen. :icon16:

Magnus QPD pistons are the nuts, I can now personally attest to this. We were tuning a friends car on the street with w dual intank 255hp fuel system, and were running out of fuel. Badly. Like 16:1 AFR badly... The motor survived! Repeatedly! Rock out with your cock out...

For the record, the problem was fuel slosh at high Gs starving both pumps. Who would have thought. Its most likely going on a dyno tomorrow to verify this (the car wont be moving, makes it easy).

I have a question about strokers too. If someone were to get a 2.3 kit, how much would they have to bore the block over?

I'd be willing to bet your car wont make an hour and a half drive... I would just tow it up there if it's f*cked man. Otherwise there's the chance you'll be stranded on the road for several hours.

Also i'm still new to imports, but when you stroke something it's usually because you're trying to more power in lower RPM's, or is it different with 4 cylinders?

Here's a kit that's close to the price of buying everything seperate (I was planing on doing a stroker so i did some research) http://carshop.carshopinc.com/product_info.php/products_id/59245/CS23KIT

Also i'm still new to imports, but when you stroke something it's usually because you're trying to more power in lower RPM's, or is it different with 4 cylinders?

Thats the case on low reving V8s, but with 4g63/4s, poeple are still taking then to ~8500 rpm. I know I was. So the benefit becomes more about the added 20% displacement moving 20% more air, without having to run a turbo that wont spool on a 2 liter till very late. 20% more airflow at the same boost is 20% more power at the same boost.

The overbore will depend entirely on what the block you are building needs. Typically you'll end up with a 020 over bore just to get to clean material in the block to start fresh. Sometimes the block is in real good shape and it just needs a hone, but this is uncommon. A block that was blowed up might need 040 or 060 to get all the scoring out. It has a minimal effect on displacement, 95% of the increase comes from the significantly longer stroke.

Well if you decide to go with a 6bolt swap stroker call me at my work (509)922-1450. I work for Hyundai, and can get you a new Forged 6bold g4cs 100mm crank at 10% over dealer cost. $462 and some change. I havn't checked on the g4cs big rods that come in that Sonata. but from what i understand they are as strong, if not a little stronger then the 1g's. Also heard the Main caps are stronger, never the less i dont mean to pollute your thread. open invite for AF guys.

It's the setup im going to run next year.

Thats the case on low reving V8s, but with 4g63/4s, poeple are still taking then to ~8500 rpm. I know I was. So the benefit becomes more about the added 20% displacement moving 20% more air, without having to run a turbo that wont spool on a 2 liter till very late. 20% more airflow at the same boost is 20% more power at the same boost.

The overbore will depend entirely on what the block you are building needs. Typically you'll end up with a 020 over bore just to get to clean material in the block to start fresh. Sometimes the block is in real good shape and it just needs a hone, but this is uncommon. A block that was blowed up might need 040 or 060 to get all the scoring out. It has a minimal effect on displacement, 95% of the increase comes from the significantly longer stroke.


So it's just for power when turbo isn't spooling or spooled up all the way. Makes sense, but .040+ for machining the cylinder walls seems like an awful big cut to me. Is it pretty safe to bore it out that big without sleeves or anything? Wouldn't it be better just to replace the block if you're going to bore it out that much...it just seems like cylinder walls would get awfully thin on a 4 cylinder pretty quick.

So it's just for power when turbo isn't spooling or spooled up all the way. Makes sense, but .040+ for machining the cylinder walls seems like an awful big cut to me. Is it pretty safe to bore it out that big without sleeves or anything? Wouldn't it be better just to replace the block if you're going to bore it out that much...it just seems like cylinder walls would get awfully thin on a 4 cylinder pretty quick.

No, it's for added power at high boost still. Just a bigger engine, really. .040 isn't too big at all. If you got a used block, you'd end up boring to .020 anyway just on a rebuild.

If you're talking about a 2 liter block, it would take a 060 over bore just to get the stock bore of a 2.4 block, and they take plenty of power as we've seen, even with a 020 over bore on that (080 for a 2 liter). The 2 and 2.4 blocks are from the same casting/dimensions (like bore spacing), so what is good for one should be good for the other.

So it's just for power when turbo isn't spooling or spooled up all the way. Makes sense, but .040+ for machining the cylinder walls seems like an awful big cut to me. Is it pretty safe to bore it out that big without sleeves or anything? Wouldn't it be better just to replace the block if you're going to bore it out that much...it just seems like cylinder walls would get awfully thin on a 4 cylinder pretty quick.


pretty sure limit on the 4g63 is .08 over.

Thanks guys.

I got the car back today. They flushed the engine a few times with syn oil, but it made no difference. The tick is worse, and the engine has no power at all. It's like someone "disconnected" the turbo. The mechanic insists its lifter tick, but I thought that lifter tick had no ill-effects on the running of the car, and was just a mere nuisance. New lifters go in Monday.

I would take it to a dealer. Their tech's know the cars the best, and can probably tell you a little more about your problem. Don't spend any money until you know exactly what the problem is. Hmmmmm....1997......4g63 7 bolt........god I hope not. :uhoh:

I'll be praying for ya man.

loss of power, and loud lifter tick. how's your oil pressure?

Oil pressure on the stock gauge seems to be doing ok.

I took the car to another place to get a second opinion, and they said that it could well be a piston, because lifter tick doesnt accompany massive power loss. Theyre going to open up everything. I know lifter tick, and this aint no lifter tick, or if it is, there's a lot more going on also.

The car jerks at throttle and hisses like there boost leak everywhere, and is currently slower than a salvaged 1989 civic with underbody neons and a campbell's soup tin exhaust can. The knocking sound really sounds like a piston or rod coming lose and banging against something, but there's no smoke or smells coming from the engine, which confuses me. This is really wierd and I'm not taking any shortcuts on it, but it could well be the time for a 2.3 ltr 6-bolt. Now, let me go say hi to all the rich relatives I havent seen in a while and put in a request for some green bills :icon16:

Just fresh anough not to start another thread:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Slowboy-Racing-2-0L-Stage-II-9-1-1-4G63-DSM-CLEARENCE_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33613QQitemZ7 991056058QQrdZ1

What do you guys think about this motor? The compression ratio is a little high, though the high RPM redline is nice.

That thing looks nnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiiicccccccceeeeeeeeeeee. I can only imagine that thing being in your car. You would have a beast and a half with that thing, and your car would look fuckin sweet at the same time. Get that shit man.

if you got the $ laying around.

Thats a good price for that motor. I've run SBR motors with pretty good success too. I know the one bidder there too, sweet :D

Considering I buy exactly that motor and swap out my 7-bolt, what other major parts would I need to buy for a successful swap? Aside from the obvious 6-bolt flywheel and a 1G 6-bolt head?



Edited: http://www.slowboyracing.com/more.php?id=1045&mods=23-3043

got it!