Engine makeover, Anything missing here???

[srdrifter]

I finally go to talk face to face w/ the pro shop owner. He had the engine all broken down and was diving into it. Here's all that's going to happen:

Aries Pistons - machined & ceramic coated = about 9.0:1 comp.ARP head studs, main studs, rod bolts Complete engine balance & blueprintBalance & polish crankMachined Cams - he's going to minimize overlapping as much as possible by grinding lobes in specific places. Port & Polish engine/heads as much as possibleRod Bearings - (can't remember brand)Port & Polish valves as much as poss. (we were going to get a new set but they were 30$ per valve so he's gonna get some kind of aluminum ring for them and port the stock ones)O-Ring the block (a.k.a. Total seal pistons)Rods are going in a beading machine where a bunch of litlle metal beads will be shot at them at high pressure, he says this will "relax the rods" - which I guess is good, he then is going to coat the rods w/ - teflon - I beleive, ( I very well may be wrong on that though but coat them w/ something none the less) to strengthen them. To top it all off they are going to clean the hell out of the block and powder coat it yellow (my choice of color, Going to look sweet in a black 2-4)

I may have left one or two things out but I hit all the main points. Anybody see anything that's missing. And, I did have a long conversation about the rods w/ him - he has built a s*** load of motors - lots of Porshes and he was very impressed w/ the stock rods He strogly beleives they can pull 400-500 hp w/o any probs.

Anybody see anything that's missing??? (aside from the turbo of coarse, which I am looking at the C.A.R.B. approved Greddy package for later on)

[Colton]

I wouldn't know first hand, but reusing your stock rods no matter what your doing to them seems to be a short cut when you already have the engine apart. Buy some strong aftermarket rods (check out some current threads)

-colton

[alkemyst]

I wouldn't know first hand, but reusing your stock rods no matter what your doing to them seems to be a short cut when you already have the engine apart. Buy some strong aftermarket rods (check out some current threads)

-colton

You do realize if you can get by with stock rods you save about $700+

In general many engine rebuilds for performance re-use rods with some conditioning on them (ball peening usually)....

Pistons are always replaced....

Now if you are going all out, then rods should be done.

[Checkered-Member]

Machining the Cams is a waste; the KA cams don't have THAT much overlap so don't bother.

Port the intake mani is always a good idea, removing the secondary butterfly system will give you better flow top end, but you will loose some low end tq, it's a trade off/balancing act, most people had it done with good results.

how about a Bigger throttle body?

About the valves, you can buy already polished oversized forged valves, seems like a better alternative then the one you mentioned.

Cleaning the block I assumed it will be hot tanked?

All gaskets should be replaced, and I mean ALL gaskets.

About the rods, if he can guarantee them in writing that they wont fail for at least one year, go for it, if not, why risk it?

[hannibal]

O-ringing the block isnt the same as installing new piston rings...

[fabio420]

It seems that in the past few weeks, a lot of people have snapped their rods. I wouldn't save money there, because it is a big chance. Some [peple have taken their rods far and some haven't. Do you really want to spend that much to take the chance of it all going to S#@T because of the rods? If the rods snap, the damage doesn't ussually stop there.

[nismofly]

how much hp are you looking to be making?

[frsh13]

read some other posts going on right now....i say def change to aftermarket rods

as somone in the ka-t section said "your engine is only as strong as the weakest link"

[srdrifter]

I'm planning on breaking in the motor for about 6-8 months while saving up for the turbo. After i get it I will run low boost (8-11psi) for a while but eventually I want to push 20-30psi hopefully putting out around 4-500 hp. I have read through about 4 posts on the rods and I really want to have them done, I am still debating though. There are tons of people who have blown rods recently, but still there are some that still run stock rods w/o probs. I guess it's better safe than sorry though.

[Checkered-Member]

I'm planning on breaking in the motor for about 6-8 months while saving up for the turbo. After i get it I will run low boost (8-11psi) for a while but eventually I want to push 20-30psi hopefully putting out around 4-500 hp. I have read through about 4 posts on the rods and I really want to have them done, I am still debating though. There are tons of people who have blown rods recently, but still there are some that still run stock rods w/o probs. I guess it's better safe than sorry though.

Do what ever you want, but don't be coming back here crying about when you snap a rod, and say "I don’t understand, my mechanic used magical stainless steel ball bearings to shot himself in the head"

[97ka-t]

Do what ever you want, but don't be coming back here crying about when you snap a rod, and say "I don’t understand, my mechanic used magical stainless steel ball bearings to shot himself in the head"

[Tulsa_S-13]

If your spending all this money for a rebuilt engine you might as well replace the rods with an aftermarket set. Also if you plan to run 20psi or more in the future you're going to have to get them, no doubt about it. I'm about to start rebuilding my spare KA and one of the first things on my mind is FORGED RODS!!! Do it the right way, have patience, and your engine will set to run high boost.