rebuilding motor questions

skipztt

skipztt

boost
ok, question #1:

how good are our stock rods???

question #2:

i know our pistons suck, so what brand pistons do everyone go with?? SRP, Ross, JE, Diamond??


Question#3:

can i buy a set of sbc pistons , that would work on our 4.3's? ive heard our 4.3 v6, is pretty much a sbc with 2 cylinders cut off.

reason why.. i thnking about going through my motor this winter. i dont want to dump a ton of money into this thing, :roll: lol. so im thinking a build kinda like this:

stock block
stock rods
??? pistons
l35 heads
valve job..etc.
maybe a 20g..

thats it!

i want to keep it my daily driver in the summer. so any feedback would be cool.:tup:
 
gaugeprower

gaugeprower

Doghouse Member
Re: rebuilding motor questions

X2 im looking to do a DD rebuild as well, but with better parts to leave a little room for some "minor" horsepower gains...

a question he didnt ask... what about the crank? should it be heat treated? or is it ok to just leave it alone for a DD applicaton?
 
silverblaz

silverblaz

Member
Re: rebuilding motor questions

ok, question #1:

at least get a set of L35 rods over the stock

question #2:

srp will be your best bet and $$


Question#3:

yes if you go to je or srp they are the same as sbc


stock block
stock rods or L35
srp pistons
l35 heads
valve job (keep stock size you really dont need to do bigger valves)
maybe a 20g( 20g would be good for DD
stock crank get it done 10/10
balance it !!!!
ARP bottom end and be done with it
 
Richard Le

Richard Le

New member
Re: rebuilding motor questions

There are several instances of people bending the stock rods. Go with Eagle rods if you are on a budget.
 
TYTILIDIE

TYTILIDIE

METH HEAD
Re: rebuilding motor questions

I'll tell you what has always intrigued me as a daily driver engine. The 01+ W motors. You get a better rod, better cam, vortec heads. You could realistically run the stock rods and just some new hypers. For daily driving and 20 at the most I would go with SRP. I ran my stock rods 215,000 HARD and ABUSIVE miles. Never had one problem with them. Lets also not forget that the 01+ motor has the shaft mounted rockers. You can pick up a decent core for not too much. There is one in our junk yard right ow for $260. Looks in good shape. I may snag it but not sure what I would do with it.
 
skipztt

skipztt

boost
Re: rebuilding motor questions

i think the stock rods are pretty strong, if you ask me. ive never heard of anyone bending one. im not gonna be pushing alot of boost, max of 20psi, if alky ever got on it.

i just think my motor has been hurt, since ive bought the truck, it runs a hell of a lot better, since i first bought it, but it just dont have "syty power" lol.. it seems like.

i dont want to do vortecs.. to much $$$$. i just want to be able to bolt it back together. im getting too old to mod the damn thing lol.
 
dgoodhue

dgoodhue

BuSTeD 4.3
Re: rebuilding motor questions

The stock rods are little stonger than the stock pistons, as mentions people have bent and broken them before. I would upgrade the pistons with the rods if your budget allows, if will give you a little margin of error if you make mistake with the tune..
 
Icarus-54

Icarus-54

Donating Old Member
Re: rebuilding motor questions

Hold a stock rod next to a L-35 rod and you'll see the difference,more meat in the right places.Also get the crank and rods cyro treated and you'll never have to worry.Cyro treating is fairly inexpensive and increases the strength considerably.
Jack
 
JSM

JSM

Active member
Re: rebuilding motor questions

Icarus-54 said:
Cyro treating is fairly inexpensive and increases the strength considerably.
Jack
Click to expand...

Cryo is basically a stress reliever, doesn't increase strength. It MAY and I say may loosely prevent a crack from starting due to relieved stresses.

Cryo is budget friendly and won't hurt, just doesn't INCREASE anything.

TRW forged pistons for price I don't think you can beat IMO, they are heavy but we don't rev that high to start with to worry a lot about weight.

stock rods bend, twist, do lots of things. Detonation will kill them, but detonation will kill the best motor money can buy also.
 
turbodig

turbodig

Active member
Re: rebuilding motor questions

TwinTurboV8Ty said:
Cryo is basically a stress reliever, doesn't increase strength. It MAY and I say may loosely prevent a crack from starting due to relieved stresses.

Cryo is budget friendly and won't hurt, just doesn't INCREASE anything.

TRW forged pistons for price I don't think you can beat IMO, they are heavy but we don't rev that high to start with to worry a lot about weight.
.
Click to expand...

If you can still find them, they're about the best bang for the buck. I heard the 2441s have been discontinued, so you'll be limited to what you can find in stock. Any of the others that you mentioned will be fine as well. Prices will vary quite a bit.

For a stock equivalent rebuild, TRWs on good stock rods with good quality rod bolts is a good low budget option.

If you don't intend to change the chip, don't change the cam or heads. If the engine moves more air, you'll need more fuel. (Assuming you didn't already have too much fuel before.)

On a stock truck, forged pistons with the original bottom end will go a long time.

Cryo on the rods sure won't hurt anything. If your intent is stock power levels, you probably can live without it.
 
turbodig

turbodig

Active member
Re: rebuilding motor questions

skipztt said:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FEM-MHP121-011/?image=large

opinions.....???

9.25:1??? idk less boost, same power???

:tup:
Click to expand...

Gonna need a fair amount of tuning to get that to work right. Not saying that it can't be done, but it'll be a above average amount of work.

Also, you'll need a bunch of extra gaskets... everything from the heads and up, essentially. I don't see the oil filter adapter gaskets, either.

Even money that oil pump is of the "break in half if you look at it funny" variety.
 
BoostedSUV

BoostedSUV

Active member
Re: rebuilding motor questions

I would put eagle rods in the truck while its apart. For the money it's worth the upgrade. I was was running a stock motor with stock turbo and blew apart a rod bad! It looked like it was frozen with nitrogen and smacked with an ice pick! Pieces were everywhere... Granted I had an overboost issue going on and that's what did it but stronger rods can't hurt! :2cents:
 
Osmosis

Osmosis

New member
Re: rebuilding motor questions

I used TRW pistons in my Z 28 that easily pushed 638 rwhp, and I would definatley use trw pistons again! They are heavy slugs, but they are strong and a greay buy for the price. I have heard a lot of good things about the gapless piston rings, forgot the name of them but I have heard they are worth the extra expense.
 
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