[parish8]

Yes I did the work myself. There is a lot of time in it. No idea what a shop would charge.

[Eldi Z]

Originally Posted by parish8

Yes I did the work myself. There is a lot of time in it. No idea what a shop would charge.

Planning on doing the same once I begin modding.
I was looking at the Compstar-Diamond option that GPI offer. It is also expected to retain the stock C/R

1.) How long did it take you?
2.) Did you hone? I was told as long as the hash marks are still visible / cylinders in good shape, it is not really necessary (Flex hone can hit the squirters, therefore I would like to avoid it if I can)
3.) Did you have to pull the motor? I am told it is not necessary to pull the motor

[parish8]

Originally Posted by Eldi Z

Planning on doing the same once I begin modding.
I was looking at the Compstar-Diamond option that GPI offer. It is also expected to retain the stock C/R

1.) How long did it take you?
2.) Did you hone? I was told as long as the hash marks are still visible / cylinders in good shape, it is not really necessary (Flex hone can hit the squirters, therefore I would like to avoid it if I can)
3.) Did you have to pull the motor? I am told it is not necessary to pull the motor

I pulled the motor since I was doing a cam and converter. With the turbo kit and aux injection just pulling the motor is a decent project. Then having never really dug into a motor I took my time. Honing was quick and easy, something like 45sec per hole. Cleaning off all the gasket surfaces took awhile and filing the rings took several hours. I bet I had 10 hours in the motor after it was out of the car.

My motor only had 3k miles on it but I honed anyways. There was nothing too it. You don’t really have to get near the squirters.

[parish8]

Oh yeah. I haven’t asked anyone about this but I believe I have a substantial amount of piston slap until the motor is nice and warm. It definitely gets quieter after it warm up.

[laynlo15]

But, there is a big difference in pulling the motor and doing the drop in pistons from the top and not pulling the motor. What I said was I wouldn't do this without pulling the motor which is very labor intensive. Top fuel and top fuel funny car do the drop in piston and rods every weekend with the crank left in the journals. I just think the average person that's not ever done this is not understanding what it will take to do the job.

[Drsagacity]

Ok. I have it from a pretty good source that doing this kind of piston/rods/rings kit is reasonably priced and having it installed is also reasonable. Let's say buying the entire thing and having it done will be in the range of $6k.

Now I have a few questions based on a hypothetical. Let's pretend that you are already running boost and let's pretend that the LT1 fuel system is really only ideal up to about 550-575rwhp. We saw the fuel system dropping off at 550 and even though we ran more, we dialed it back to be safe.

1. If you are already running boost and you do a kit like this, it will lower compression. I think that means boost will be lowered...you can switch to a smaller pulley to get boost returned...

2. If you do this kit, it would make sense to do cam and stuff at the same time (I don't think it would change labor much). On a supercharged LT1, the cam will add another 100rwhp, but the fuel system can handle the extra load.

Hypothetically speaking, could someone add this sort of kit to a car along with a new cam on the stock LT1 fuel system? I don't think you can add a cam with 7psi with the stock LT1 fuel system because that would generate about 650rwhp.

[oldman]

Originally Posted by parish8

Oh yeah. I haven’t asked anyone about this but I believe I have a substantial amount of piston slap until the motor is nice and warm. It definitely gets quieter after it warm up.

That is because the piston is both forged and made out of 2618 aluminum. Super strong but far more expansion. I think it is total complete overkill, just the way I like it.

[oldman]

Originally Posted by Drsagacity

Did you do the work yourself? What do you estimate for the installation?

I put on heads and supercharger and headers, and motor mounts, really would have been quick to pull the engine at that point.

That said next year, I'll do a cam, piston, rod bolt (yep the stock ones are torque to yeild) LS1 should fit. I'd estimate it would add about 8 hours to the work I already did above if I did it all at the same time... I'm old and slow,

[Eldi Z]

Originally Posted by parish8

I pulled the motor since I was doing a cam and converter. With the turbo kit and aux injection just pulling the motor is a decent project. Then having never really dug into a motor I took my time. Honing was quick and easy, something like 45sec per hole. Cleaning off all the gasket surfaces took awhile and filing the rings took several hours. I bet I had 10 hours in the motor after it was out of the car.

My motor only had 3k miles on it but I honed anyways. There was nothing too it. You don’t really have to get near the squirters.

Interesting that you decided to hone. With such low millage on the motor, the stock crosshatch should still be perfectly visible - just as new. Even a 40-50K Miles well kept motor would exhibit a decent crosshatch not requiring a hone

[CylinderKing]

Hand honing is a terrible idea based on the fact that you have no control over crosshatch angle. Crosshatch angle will directly relate to ring seal and potential oil consumption issues.

Doing “drop in” pistons brings up the question of weight. Are they the exact weight of the stock piston, ring, and pin combination? If not, you are throwing the Crankshaft out of balance which would need to be addressed at a machine shop. Changing rods as well would only make matters worse.

I could only recommend getting advice from an engine builder who has plenty of professional experience in this area.

Cheers

[parish8]

Originally Posted by Eldi Z

Interesting that you decided to hone. With such low millage on the motor, the stock crosshatch should still be perfectly visible - just as new. Even a 40-50K Miles well kept motor would exhibit a decent crosshatch not requiring a hone

Not a motor guy. What I was told is you don’t need to but we would. That was Cunningham. It did have some light golden colored glazing, the quick hone cleaned that off.

[parish8]

Originally Posted by CylinderKing

Hand honing is a terrible idea based on the fact that you have no control over crosshatch angle. Crosshatch angle will directly relate to ring seal and potential oil consumption issues.

Doing “drop in” pistons brings up the question of weight. Are they the exact weight of the stock piston, ring, and pin combination? If not, you are throwing the Crankshaft out of balance which would need to be addressed at a machine shop. Changing rods as well would only make matters worse.

I could only recommend getting advice from an engine builder who has plenty of professional experience in this area.

Cheers

99% of engine builders will(and did) say it is stupid to do drop ins. The same guys were 2 months out from having time to touch my shit. All I can say is watch me make 1000+rwhp and run some 8’s with the drop ins. Or watch me blow up

So far I have about 1000very hard miles on my motor and the oil level hasn’t moved and it doesn’t smoke.

[solobaric]

Originally Posted by parish8

99% of engine builders will(and did) say it is stupid to do drop ins. The same guys were 2 months out from having time to touch my shit. All I can say is watch me make 1000+rwhp and run some 8’s with the drop ins. Or watch me blow up

So far I have about 1000very hard miles on my motor and the oil level hasn’t moved and it doesn’t smoke.

Well said sir. Lol.

[laynlo15]

The ball hone will not take any material from the cylinder wall. Just puts a cross hatch in the wall for better ring seal.