Would like some input about bottom end building (sleeves, pistons, rods, etc)..

[2_Liter_Turbo]

So I'm going to start ordering my parts soon for my bottom end build. I have a GT3071R setup right now, that I want to push to the limit, and maybe upgrade turbo's down the road, so I want a indestructible bottom end. However, since I have very little experience in actual engine building, I figured I'd ask around to those who have actually had the experience or have paid for the work to be done, lol. Please, no internet bench builders!

First off, is sleeves. I've looked around at the Darton and HKS sleeves (HKS are about $100 more and only come in 87mm as far as I can tell). I figured two things between the two. HKS has been building parts for the SR20 a lot longer than Darton, however, all Darton does is sleeves. Reminds me of the saying: a jack of all trades is a master of nothing, lol. So is it worth paying the extra cash on the HKS, or will the Darton sleeves be awesome? Also, the Darton, I can order 86mm to 90mm if I wanted. I wouldn't go over 87mm myself, just so the walls are thicker, but if I went that route, should I just get the 86mm?

Next is rods... please post any experiences! I'm pretty open here!

Pistons: I want to run the stock 9:1 compression ratio (for the out of boost engine response, I plan to road race the car, it's not being built for drag racing), so what companies are good and why?

Bearings: Again, pretty open here...

Engine builder... This is probably my most important question. Who should I send the block off to, to assemble everything? Who has a stellar reputation, and that isn't a complete rip-off as far as pricing? I know I'll have to pay more to get the perfect quality build, but if two are equal except in price, I'll go the cheaper route, lol.

Hopefully someone will be willing to lend a little advice, lol Trying to keep the budget for both my top end and bottom end around 6k,. but we'll see!

[vanquish2]

No need to sleeve it......we had one of our blocks to 526 at the wheels on fully stock bottom end.....they are built just fine so don't mess with the sleeves....as long as you get it tuned correctly anyways.

Cp pistons aren't bad just don't use their recommend ring gaps.....they are wrong....they will even tell you that.

Shot peen the factory rods....they will hold a GOOD amount of power and that saves you quite a bit of money.

Stock compression is 8.5...not 9

raise it to 9....thats fine

acl calico bearings

stick with stock bore and stroke....unless you REALLY want to spend money just to spend it. Yes sleeving and boreing or stroking will improve things but your dealing with a superior engine to begin with. Trust nissan,.....they did a really really good job on this engine.

If you DO NOT want to do the work yourself send it either to enthalpy or send it to jim stewart race engines in indianapolis, in. He supported enjuku and built their engines when they were still around....he keeps sr heads and block around for people just like you. The guy is crazy smart and builds incredible engines.....if you were going to dump coin on one thing make sure it's the builder......you get what you pay for EVERY SINGLE time.

I think thats all

[Kalypso]

Shot peen the factory rods....they will hold a GOOD amount of power and that saves you quite a bit of money.

what is shot peening?

[Sabot]

what is shot peening?

Shot peening is a process used to produce a compressive residual stress layer and modify mechanical properties of metals. It entails impacting a surface with shot (round metallic, glass or ceramic particles) with force sufficient to create plastic deformation. It is similar to sandblasting, except that it operates by the mechanism of plasticity rather than abrasion: each particle functions as a ball-peen hammer. In practice, this means that less material is removed by the process, and less dust created.

Peening a surface spreads it plastically, causing changes in the mechanical properties of the surface. Shot peening is often called for in aircraft repairs to relieve tensile stresses built up in the grinding process and replace them with beneficial compressive stresses. Depending on the part geometry, part material, shot material, shot quality, shot intensity, shot coverage, shot peening can increase fatigue life from 0%-1000%.

thanks Wikipedia

[jr_ss]

Cryo treating them would be a much better option for treating the rods, rather than shot peening them...

If you go with Darton, I believe they'll install the sleeves for you. Simply ship them your block and they'll do the machining necessary for installation of the sleeves. Darton sleeves are tried and proven. There's no reason to run the HKS' simply for the name.

Any forged piston will do, I personally am a fan of the mahle pistons, but have Je's in my built engine. It's totally up to you. If you want to spend the money you could have custom pistons made from any company. Different companies make their forgings different from each other. Some will expand more than others because of the amount of silica in their metal...

Ideally, OEM bearings would be the best because you can choose different sizes, changing your overall tolerances. They are for longetivity though, so putting some serious power through them might lessen their life span. ACL or Cosworth bearings seems to be where it's at in types of cheaper aftermarket bearings, even though $150-200 isn't exactly cheap (Cosworth). You could run the Nismo's or the Tomei's, once again, entirely up to you, but you'll be paying about $400 worth in bearings, which was my initial plan for my engine. With the Nismo/ Tomei, you can pick the thickness'.

You want to find a reputable machine shop that knows what they are doing. Too often shops are picked because they have the cheapest prices. The old saying, "You get what you pay for", stands true here... Mazworx here in Fl does amazing work, infact I think there is a dude selling his complete Mazworx prepped engine... But be ready to pay for it.

Hope everything works out for you... I can't wait to get my built engine up and running, although I'm not going as serious as you...