Piston replacement or 6 bolt swap?

[Jk95GSX]

I just bought a 1995 Eclipse GSX, everything about the car is beautiful, it has low miles, almost no body damage, interior is exquisite. Only problem is that there's a huge hole in one of the piston heads from part of the turbo. The guy I bought it from was the 3rd owner, the 2nd had put a 16g from a Galant VR4 on along with a GReddy BOV, and the turbo popped on him while he was driving it. That's the only damage I can see SO FAR, the guy I got it from had already pulled the head off and I haven't dug into it yet. My main concern is should I just replace the pistons and rods or should I try and do a 6 bolt swap? If just the pistons than what's the best option I can get right now, and what should I check for during teardown? Is it worth it to invest and do the swap or is crank walk just a myth? I'm new to all this and I could really use some help from experienced members. Thank you!

 

[3parks]

A big part of the answers you'll get will be based on what goals you have for the car or how you'll be using it. I would state what your intentions are.

 

[Jk95GSX]

Now, it's going to be my daily driver. I want good quality and good performance out of whatever I do but also reliability. I understand you can't have all three, but quality and reliability are my top priorities now. I want what's best in the long run because I don't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon.

 

[BogusSVO]

Then it comes down to your budget.

If you are going to stay in a reasonable hp range, 300-400hp, stock rods/pistons will be fine with a good tune.

Then rebuilding what you have will not break the bank.

If you want more than 400hp, I would recommend going to H beam rods and forged pistons

 

[Denver GSX]

If you dont have high hp goals it might be possible to find a good used engine close to you and swap it in for cheap and then youre back on the road again

 

[finesse49ers]

To me it's very simple, if you just want to get the car running so you can drive it from point A to point B then (in this order) get a '97-'99 7 bolt or a 6 bolt or rebuild yours. You say you want the best in the long run and don't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon which tells me you want to obtain more power from it so you might as well get in the mindset of not daily driving the car now and prepare to do a engine build which obviously takes time. OR unless you have the money, time and patience to put another stock engine in it then down the line swap a built engine in you can do that.

I'm actually surprised people still buy these old cars to daily drive.

 

[Jk95GSX]

I think I might do the rebuild now and find either a 6 bolt or a later 7 bolt and build that up and swap it out later. I really appreciate all the input. Is crank walk in the early 7 bolts really as big a problem as I hear? Or is it mostly a myth?