2g pistons/1g rods questions

[Thor06]

Ok, so I decided to go with the 1g rods/2g pistons combo in my Talon. OEM 2g pistons from SBR are $200, but I found some on eBay last night for like $130 or something but they arent OEM. Should I spend the extra money for the OEM ones? Would used pistons be ok, or is that kind of a shifty deal? What would you guys do? How much do you think it will be to have a machine shop bore out the wrist pin holes in the rods? Thanks guys.

[defiancy]

Originally Posted by Thor06

Ok, so I decided to go with the 1g rods/2g pistons combo in my Talon. OEM 2g pistons from SBR are $200, but I found some on eBay last night for like $130 or something but they arent OEM. Should I spend the extra money for the OEM ones? Would used pistons be ok, or is that kind of a shifty deal? What would you guys do? How much do you think it will be to have a machine shop bore out the wrist pin holes in the rods? Thanks guys.

Well before I decided to do what I did to my car I was going to go with OEM stuff. 2g pistons to be exact. Now the guy at the shop told me that OEM is the only way he would go but if I wanted to be on a budget he could get some cheaper pistons that wouldn't have quite the life as the OEM's or the construction of them. It's up to you really, is it worth the 70 dollars risking your motor? With OEM you know they are built for your application and to spec for a turbo car. With anything else you run the risk of getting a lesser product. Have you thought of maybe going with forged pistons? They are more expensive but better buy if you already have the motor apart.

Also the wrist pin wholes. I would say maybe 20 dollars or so? Here it's 120 dollars for an entire engine to be bored and crap so I can't imagine it being to much at all. You might as well get the balanced while they are getting bored out as well.

[scottsee]

My internet is down at home or I would give you a link to an Ebay store that sells NIB Clevite 4g63 cast pistons for $50. Search for them if you like. You will need new main/rod bearings! & new Rod studs. If you want my opinion, I would suggest getting the Block machined and checked out first, Then buy your pistons.. Shit happens. Get your rods machined to fit and your new pistons, Then get the rotating assembly re-balanced with your flywheel then assembled.

When you redo your rods and pistons, you're doing alot more then you think. your budget rod/piston combo will cost your $400 in machining, $200 in new hardware and $300 parts. You can't reuse your old main/head/rod fasteners or bearings. Even though I know how to do something doen't mean I know how to do it. Assembly is a completly diffrent story. I strongly suggest having it done at the machine shop. That way its warrentied!

[defiancy]

400 in maching seems especially steep.

[Blackcrow64]

Originally Posted by defiancy

400 in maching seems especially steep.

Not really... Seems kinda low to me. My one friend had almost 800 in machining done on his block and head.

[scottsee]

Hot tanking, die testing, machining block, flywheel, rods, and having it ballanced will cost you at minumum $400. Thats before new core plugs, fastiners, and bearings.

[Talon69]

Originally Posted by scottsee

Hot tanking, die testing, machining block, flywheel, rods, and having it ballanced will cost you at minumum $400. Thats before new core plugs, fastiners, and bearings.

Hot tank and die testing cost me only $45 here in my town. And this guy is a big well known person.

[Thor06]

Holy, $400 in machining? Jesus christ, I never thought it would be that expensive. I knew I would have about $200-$300 but $400 sounds pretty high. I called one place, he said it would be $28 per cylinder to bore it and all he said was it would be spendy to bore out the wrist pin holes. I know I will need bearings, gaskets, hardware, blah blah. Would you trust those Clevite pistons? I did see them on eBay. My dad has a friend with a machine shop and I think he'll do this kinda stuff for me. I dont really want to get into the forged shit, this car is going to cost a lot of money as it is, I wont ever need forged pistons for my goals (which have been shifted from 450-500 to like 350-400). I think I will keep exploring this a bit more, I will call my dads machinist friend and see whats up. Another option is to just drop the oil pan, pull off the rod caps, and check the bearings. Heres what I have so far for a list:
OEM 2g pistons... $200 from SBR
ARP rod bolts... $40-$45 from SBR/extremepsi
ARP head studs... $90-$95 from SBR/extremepsi
ARP main studs... $67 from SBR
Clevite main/rod bearings... $73 from extremepsi
OEM metal hg... $90 from SBR
Then obviously the machining. Theres also a tech school here with a maching program. They may want/need/be able to do it for me too. Theres also the option of leaving the bottom end in, changing the head gasket, and checking it again. I really dont want to have to pull the bastard unless I have to. I want to be ready to hit the track in like the middle of June so I need to get some of the little mods done soon. Keep the comments and suggestions rolling guys, I really like to read what you all think. Thanks.

[Talon69]

i got a sweet deal on my arp head studs $55 shipped thats right and they look brand new, the guy on dsmlink forum sayed they only had 2k miles on them, they were perfect

[scottsee]

Thor06, I classify "machining" as the whole package from hot tanking to ballancing. My small point is, it's not as cheap as you think once you get into the ballancing, machining, and reserfacing. It's easy to spend $$ at the Machine shop.

Clevitte Main and rods are cheap. I bought my set on ebay from a huge parts store for like 30-40 for both + shipping. Search for 4g63 Bearings. You'll find his store, last time I looked he had a standerd size Main bearing NIB on sale for $5...

[Thor06]

Ok, I'll do that. Would you trust the Clevite pistons too or should I go with OEM? Also, what exactly are the main studs for? Thats what holds the crank in place right?

[defiancy]

I must have gotten a good hook up.

Because I got the whole shebang including everything balanced, crank, rods, harmonic balancer, flywheel resurface and balance, and it wasn't quite that.