$2500 for rebuild what pistons etc should I get?

[havlc2u]

Ok here is the deal I have a 99 GS-T with a 1st Gen swap.
I am looking to hit some where close to 400hp. Currently the engine is locked up.
As far as why not sure yet but I am going to rebuild and I want to do it right.

Current budget is $2500.This could go a little higher but it will take more time. On the car currently as long as the rods are good they are eagle rods,arp headstuds Big 16G turbo full 3"Apex exhaust,Large intercooler double row aluminum radiator. geddy BOV.

One thing I know is that I will get it bored .30 over.
Just not sure what pistons etc. I should go with.


Give me some opinions please

Thanks

 

[hypergenesis]

Ok here is the deal I have a 99 GS-T with a 1st Gen swap.
I am looking to hit some where close to 400hp. Currently the engine is locked up.
As far as why not sure yet but I am going to rebuild and I want to do it right.

Current budget is $2500.This could go a little higher but it will take more time. On the car currently as long as the rods are good they are eagle rods,arp headstuds Big 16G turbo full 3"Apex exhaust,Large intercooler double row aluminum radiator. geddy BOV.

One thing I know is that I will get it bored .30 over.
Just not sure what pistons etc. I should go with.


Give me some opinions please

Thanks

Go with some weisco 9:1 comp pistons,
ACL bearings - im not sure of the Tri metal or Aluminum, many say the aluminum is more forgiving to the crank, but others say the tri metal lasts longer from wear.


Also are you doing a bottom end rebuild ? Or are you doing the Head as well?

Also look into some GSC s1 or s2 cams. They can regrind your stock cams for like 230-250 or so from what I remember. Also the s2 are good for about 450-800whp. The s1 is good till about 450whp.

Also I recommend investing some money into porting your exhaust manifold and o2 housing along with the turbo to allow for some better flow.

Also what do you plan on using to tune it?

 

[hotrodssnova]

I would find out what has it locked up first. Might be 12 bent valves....easy and cheap fix. Sounds like the bottom end has been built. You normally wouldn't hang stock pistons on eagle rods, so find out what is in a bind.

 

[havlc2u]

Go with some weisco 9:1 comp pistons,
ACL bearings - im not sure of the Tri metal or Aluminum, many say the aluminum is more forgiving to the crank, but others say the tri metal lasts longer from wear.


Also are you doing a bottom end rebuild ? Or are you doing the Head as well?

Also look into some GSC s1 or s2 cams. They can regrind your stock cams for like 230-250 or so from what I remember. Also the s2 are good for about 450-800whp. The s1 is good till about 450whp.

Also I recommend investing some money into porting your exhaust manifold and o2 housing along with the turbo to allow for some better flow.

Also what do you plan on using to tune it?

It will more than likely just be the bottom end. for tuning I haven't thought that far ahead yet but I am thinking I will either have the local shop here tune it or I will get a ecmlink v3 but that might have to wait depending on what the shop charges to tune it.

I would find out what has it locked up first. Might be 12 bent valves....easy and cheap fix. Sounds like the bottom end has been built. You normally wouldn't hang stock pistons on eagle rods, so find out what is in a bind.

Yeah I bought the car just recently the guy said the engine was just rebuild. The Issue I have is I let a buddy drive it and he went to shift into second and missed the shift. The Car died and would not engage the starter correctly sounded like it was grinding the flywheel. I was told to try and turn the crank by hand and I can't get it to move. Not that I am that strong but I did put some force behind it. I did remove the valve cover and it looked ok from there.

Would you suggest removing the head and seeing if I can see any bent rods?

I was also told to drop the oil pan and look and see if I can see anything from there would that also be a good thing to think about doing.

Thanks for all the help and insight

 

[SupremeDsm]

It will more than likely just be the bottom end. for tuning I haven't thought that far ahead yet but I am thinking I will either have the local shop here tune it or I will get a ecmlink v3 but that might have to wait depending on what the shop charges to tune it.








Yeah I bought the car just recently the guy said the engine was just rebuild. The Issue I have is I let a buddy drive it and he went to shift into second and missed the shift. The Car died and would not engage the starter correctly sounded like it was grinding the flywheel. I was told to try and turn the crank by hand and I can't get it to move. Not that I am that strong but I did put some force behind it. I did remove the valve cover and it looked ok from there.

Would you suggest removing the head and seeing if I can see any bent rods?

I was also told to drop the oil pan and look and see if I can see anything from there would that also be a good thing to think about doing.

Thanks for all the help and insight

Yes drop the oil pan and take a look. Also take a look inside the pan itself and see if you can see any metal shavings.

 

[thomyd]

you can hit 400 on a stock 6bolt rebuilt bottom end with supporting mods pretty easy. look for evo pistons and rods and rebuild a 99 7 bolt and you should be good as well for well under 1200 work included

 

[hotrodssnova]

Did you wiggle any of the rockers? Is the timing belt missing any teeth off the belt. Sounds like an over rev and then popped into gear and jumped time. Your belt probably floated and bent some valves. Pull the pan too. That will tell you more if you don't see any problems with the timing belt or valves....my stock pistons have lived thru a couple of broken timing belts. And the engine wouldn't turn because my valves were shaped like an "s"and wouldn't let the cams rotate.

 

[Tyeler18]

So.... your buddy overrevved the car and now that motor won't turn over. Timing belt slipped, anyone, anyone?

You have bent valves. You need to pull the head and make sure that it didn't mark the pistons at all. That's where I would start.

 

[WES_393]

you can hit 400 on a stock 6bolt rebuilt bottom end with supporting mods pretty easy.

This.

But before you can even begin to budget the build correctly, you need to find out what can be reused, what can't, and why the engine failed. You also don't want to bore the block .30 over if you don't have to. There are very minimal performance gains by boring our engines. An upgraded head would be nice, but isn't totally needed for a 400hp build.

 

[havlc2u]

Did you wiggle any of the rockers? Is the timing belt missing any teeth off the belt. Sounds like an over rev and then popped into gear and jumped time. Your belt probably floated and bent some valves. Pull the pan too. That will tell you more if you don't see any problems with the timing belt or valves....my stock pistons have lived thru a couple of broken timing belts. And the engine wouldn't turn because my valves were shaped like an "s"and wouldn't let the cams rotate.

I will check this out later tonight or tomorrow I have heard this but when looking at the marks on the camshaft sprockets look lined up but I am guessing that don't really matter. The belt looks on unless it is something down low at the top it looks fine.

So.... your buddy overrevved the car and now that motor won't turn over. Timing belt slipped, anyone, anyone?

You have bent valves. You need to pull the head and make sure that it didn't mark the pistons at all. That's where I would start.

Yeah no one will touch my car once it is running again lesson learned. He is paying to have it fixed if it is something major. I will pull the head either today or tomorrow and check it out.


Thanks everyone for the help and tips

 

[Tyeler18]

I will check this out later tonight or tomorrow I have heard this but when looking at the marks on the camshaft sprockets look lined up but I am guessing that don't really matter. The belt looks on unless it is something down low at the top it looks fine.







Yeah no one will touch my car once it is running again lesson learned. He is paying to have it fixed if it is something major. I will pull the head either today or tomorrow and check it out.


Thanks everyone for the help and tips

Looking at just the cams doesn't mean anything, you need to look in relation to the crank mark as well.

 

[havlc2u]

This.

But before you can even begin to budget the build correctly, you need to find out what can be reused, what can't, and why the engine failed. You also don't want to bore the block .30 over if you don't have to. There are very minimal performance gains by boring our engines. An upgraded head would be nice, but isn't totally needed for a 400hp build.

Yeah I am going to pull the head either later tonight or tomorrow and see if there is maybe some bent valves. So a maybe a upgraded head is the way to go if other damage isn't to bad.

 

[WES_393]

Yeah I am going to pull the head either later tonight or tomorrow and see if there is maybe some bent valves. So a maybe a upgraded head is the way to go if other damage isn't to bad.

Yeah if the bottom end is good then go for fixing up the head. But if the bottom end is truly built with forged pistons, the valves can make quite a mess of the pistons. So just be ready for that.

 

[havlc2u]

Ok I removed the valve cover so far.
Only thing funny I see is this. All the valve springs look like this but the one in the picture below

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Here is the compressed Valve spring its the only one compressed. Is this normal.

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[solson1041]

I had my head rebuilt a few months ago and was poking around. To my untrained eyes, the topside of those valves don't have anything huge, but you won't know until you've got the head off the block. I assume that's what the more trained eyes will say as well. It all sounds like a textbook case of jumped timing and bent valves, possibly marked pistons. If you're not looking to upgrade, rebuilding the head with new valves should run near 300..

So that leaves 2200 to play around with .

 

[ENICKB]

I like MAHLE pistons. I have some for sale on here for 400.. obo...