Problems with Machine Shop 2g Pistons/1G rods

[tight_tsi]

Dropped off my block yesterday to be checked out/cleaned up/evaluated so I know what size pistons to get. I told him my plans for installing the 2G pistons on the 1G rods and the machining that needs to be done to the rods to get them to work. He knew exactly what I was talking about, but suggested against it. Said that when opening up the small end of the rod if it isn't perfectly centered it can mess up the travel of the piston or something like that. I don't remember his exact wording. He told me there was only 1 shop in Lincoln, NE that has done that before and it was like $100 per rod to do it. He has build plenty of 4g63 engines and has a good reputation and is very knowledgable in his profession. What should I do? Just use 1G pistons and call it good? Is there somewhere I could send the rods to be machined?? I don't want to go forged because of the cost. Any advice will be appreciated - thanks in advance!

 

[Mitsubishified]

If cost is the main concern and you have not yet purchased the pistons i would stick with the 1g pistons. 100 dollars a rod is an awful lot of money, for that you could go forged . Seriously though the 1g pistons are just as good as the 2g pistons they are the same thing except for compression. The 1g pistons more than likely will get your to where you wanna be, since many have got into the 300-400 range using them. You could ask some of vendors by phone if they machine rods to fit 2g pistons (which im sure most do). But my opinion if your low on money just get the 1g stockers, youll be happy because you have a fresh rebuilt motor and you saved money

luke

 

[nightspeed87]

iam currenlty on the verge of finishing my engine swap, and im dropping in a 6bolt that ive been rebuilding part for part for the past 6 months, and I am going to be running 2g pistons also, because I am convinced that I like that 8:5 compression ratio much better than the 1gs, and both pistons are known to go at least to 400whp so I think im content with that setup... My tuner/mechanic is sending my pistons and rods to be machined together next week after he finishes the cryotreating, and they quoted me like 120 dollars for the job.... ( Much cheaper than 100 per rod ) I also printed out the instructions on www.vfaq.com upon doing this... Seems like a straight forward deal, but I also had concerns of the longevity and durability of the job, but do know a few 1gers with that piston set up cranking over 350hp daily driver with no problems...
Anyone have any trouble doing this 2g pistons swap, and any pros/cons on it from another view point?

 

[JayRolla]

Yea look around and find a place that will do the 2gpiston/1g rod combo. Its well worth gettting done for the extra compression. The machinist who did mine is an old guy that has built 2000hp funny cars and charged me $80. I asked him if there is any negative to doing it and said no its fine all those other people dont know what they are talking about. Ive seen him do the best porting jobs ever and also some really nice knifed and hacked cranks.

 

[tight_tsi]

Yea look around and find a place that will do the 2gpiston/1g rod combo. Its well worth gettting done for the extra compression. The machinist who did mine is an old guy that has built 2000hp funny cars and charged me $80. I asked him if there is any negative to doing it and said no its fine all those other people dont know what they are talking about. Ive seen him do the best porting jobs ever and also some really nice knifed and hacked cranks.

The guy charging you $80, has he already done the work to your rods? If so, would he do my set if I could ship them to him/you??

I finally found a machine shop locally here that will do the machine work on the rods. Without seeing the rods, he quoted me over the phone $50 per rod. That is half of what the first shop quoted me but is still $200 total for all 4 rods. He wants to see the rod itself to determine how it will fit into the machine because it could lower the cost some depending upon how he can mount it? I'm going to take a rod to him in the next few days for him to evaluate. But $80 for the whole set sounds really appealing.....

 

[JayRolla]

He gave me a group discount for machining head, block, rods ect.... So it would be around that and also it took him almost a month in a half because he was so busy, I wouldnt reccomend my guy because of that.

 

[brute]

With all the money you'd be willing to spend on this, it'd almost be easier and worthwhile to buy some forged pistons. You're getting the 2g pistons brand new, so that's $200 right off the bat, and like $20 shipping. Now, you want to ship them to JayRolla ($12.73 UPS Ground), get them machined at his guy ($100), then shipped back to you (another $12.73).

This is a total of $345.46. If you were to buy some forged Ross pistons from Slowboy, it'd be like $440 + $20 shipping = $460. With the forged pistons, you'd get them faster and your local machine shop could do it.

That's just my opinion, though.

 

[tight_tsi]

With all the money you'd be willing to spend on this, it'd almost be easier and worthwhile to buy some forged pistons. You're getting the 2g pistons brand new, so that's $200 right off the bat, and like $20 shipping. Now, you want to ship them to JayRolla ($12.73 UPS Ground), get them machined at his guy ($100), then shipped back to you (another $12.73).

This is a total of $345.46. If you were to buy some forged Ross pistons from Slowboy, it'd be like $440 + $20 shipping = $460. With the forged pistons, you'd get them faster and your local machine shop could do it.

That's just my opinion, though.

Thanks - I appreciate that outlook on the situation. One more question though, if I go forged pistons, wouldn't it then be smart to do forged rods at the same time? That is like another $200-$300?? Are there any downsides to using forged rods/pistons for a daily driver? Maybe I will just stick with new 1G pistons....I don't know.....

 

[JayRolla]

brute is pretty much right about that. I got real nice used pistons off of ebay for like $50 and they where perfect. So my set up was pretty cheap. Also since the guy took to long he might of felt bad so he charged me less but that is what it said on the receipt when I got it. If you really want me to find out how much and how long I will ask my mechanic.

 

[brute]

There are no downsides to using forged internals on daily drivers. You might want to look into one of these combos that Slowboy sells... It's a pretty good deal.

http://www.slowboyracing.com/shop.php?sid=&cat=4128

I'd get this one:

http://www.slowboyracing.com/more.php?id=5107&

 

[JayRolla]

You dont have to go with the rods but if you want over 450whp I would do it now. The 1g rods are no joke and have put down some power set up with forged pistons.

 

[tight_tsi]

brute is pretty much right about that. I got real nice used pistons off of ebay for like $50 and they where perfect. So my set up was pretty cheap. Also since the guy took to long he might of felt bad so he charged me less but that is what it said on the receipt when I got it. If you really want me to find out how much and how long I will ask my mechanic.

No don't bother him at this time - I guess I didn't really think it all the way through. I'm going to research forged internals or just stick with 1G pistons for now. Thanks for all of your help and advice. Does anyone know anything about ACL bearings? I have another thread that no one has replied too about my bearings and the part #'s. It seems I got the wrong ones....???

 

[nightspeed87]

if your going to be in the block replace as much as possible in my opinion and goodluck with your decision.