Oh yes big price difference - somewhere around 3 for 1 forged are more expensive.

Way back when, I got what alloy my cast ACL pistons were made of wrong. Turns out they were standard cast aluminum, not hyperutetic.

The cast pistons are about $120 and I usually upgrade the rings to Hastings for another $80 or so. My spare motor gets a set of Weisco forged pistons (about $400 with really good rings). That build may take a while.

All my motor have ballance shafts. Ballancing the entire motor does not eliminate the second order vibration that they cancle. Some may claim their motor does not vibrate and there is no differance. In my opinion they just cant tell the differacne, I know that I can.

Kevin

IMO the only reason to go with forged pistons is if you go to a stand-alone fuel/ignition computer. If you mess up the fuel or timing and start getting detonation the forged pistons can withstand a little more abuse. With the stock setup you shouldn't have to deal with detonation unless you do something really stupid.

My car has mech. lifters and the truck has hydraulic. Mech are supposedly nosier and require adjusting about twice a year. The hydraulics are basically no maintenance unless a lifter goes bad. I don't really have an opinion one way or the other. Just be sure you use the right camshaft, there is a difference between the two.

I tore down and assembled both of my G54B turbo engines and pulled the balance shafts from both. I don't regret it at all. The MPI engine in my Conquest was machined at a machine shop that does stuff for high perf. Mustangs. It's balanced and has Wiseco pistons. Other than some slight piston slap on cold startup it runs nice and smooth. The 2nd one in my truck was a re-manufactured engine that had the BS's pulled when I got it. It runs smooth. Some guys report a nasty vibration afterwards...so consider it a bit of gamble. The upside is less rotating mass and a simpler timing setup. So less stuff to break and a very slight increase in HP and possibly MPG.

The stock exhaust manifold isn't great, but unfortunately it's still probably the best option. It'll take more abuse than any other option (especially Chinese-made headers from Ebay)...any header or exhaust manifold you put on there will crack eventually.

I'm not a huge fan of the Eclipse MAS. I did back-to-back tests of the stock vs. Eclipse MAS with a scope and I found that the Eclipse MAS made the engine idle richer and run leaner under boost. Some guys like it because it makes their car idle smoother and puts out alittle more power under boost, but the potential downside is lower MPG's and higher EGT's. You make the call.

Keep us updated on how you make out.

If you find an uncracked exh. mani, or buy a new one, cut the head flange between each cylinder before you have it faced, or installed in the case of a new one. If you do, it's much less likely to crack, or to pull out the rear exh mani stud from the head.

I like the clearwater hyd head without the jet valves, or an Alabama head, or an AMC head

I have forged pistons for two reasons.

1: A little more head room for when I set up my MPI.
2: The Wiesco have a thinner steel ring available. Steel conducts heat better and the thinner rings reduce drag significantly.

Stock pistons will take a lot and hold up well. As far as balance shafts go it not just that you may get a vibration, the motor runs quieter with them.

It is a mater of preferences and I just might be a bit too particular. Installed correctly they hold up quite well.

Getting rid of them does reduce oil demand on the pump and that may be an advantage if you use the stock pickup from the truck. IMO the pickup is a little restrictive.

I'm looking for a 2.6l Gen 1 oil pan and pick-up if anyone has either sitting around collecting dust they are willing to part with.

What are the tricks to get to 250 to 300 hp and similar numbers for torque?

Stock cam, intercooler with 2" pipes, better air box, free flow exhaust with a down pipe and 15 PSI wil get you a lot of torque. HP SB at least 225 - 250. Past that and a larger turbo makes sense. Past the 265 HP range and you will need to start to think about your fuel system.

These are not hard numbers... just in the ball park. Some have take the stock stuff pretty far.

Torque goes up very quickly, easy to get to 240 - 280 ft lbs... Peak HP numbers not as easy.

Start out easy and add boost over time to keep the addiction fed.

Kevin

Pretty basic, amazing engines!




What about E85 capable?
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I have new ported EM, stress relieved, ported IM for 54mm TBI with new trilogy Turbo injectors, and 1g MAF parts. PM me if interested. I'll be out of the country until the end of the month but we can talk price and savings on package deal when I get back.