I'm looking into swapping out the pistons in my LS for the b16a (SI) pistons to complement a cam upgrade that I'm planning. With the longer duration cams I'm supposed to lose some compression, I'd like to compensate for that by adding the the SI pistons which are a direct bolt in, and will raise my static compression ratio to about 11:1

I called my local tuner shop and they said that they would have to refer me to an engine shop because switching pistons requires the motor to be removed from the car. Resulting in at least a week of down time for my car. Install will be quite costly he said. He said it would almost be cheaper to just buy another LS engine....have someone install the pistons on that-to cut down on the time my car is in the shop....and that way all they have to do is just swap engines.

This seemed EXTREMELY complex for just swapping out the pistons. I understand that its not exactly a "bolt on" mod.....but I'd like to hear what some of you guys were quoted on install fees for piston swaps.....and how long it took them to do it.

Last question is: for any of you LS guys running 11:1 compression.....any problems w/ increasing the CR that much?

 

i was quoted $500 for a piston install on my b18c, and it would take 1-2 days.

 

I was quoted $375 for mine, but that was if you gave the block and everything to them already out of the car. The price included balancing everything.

The 11.1 CR shouldn't cause too much of a problem at all. Many of my friends are running 12.5:1 on 93-94 octane on the street regularly.

 

I'm not an experienced engine builder, but I don't see a reason why you'd have to remove the engine for a piston swap. I would think it would only need to be removed for convenience or machine work on the block.

 

This is true....but I just asked around anyway. I did the work myself, just asked to see if it was worth saving my own time.

I had everything out because I was doing a complete rebuild at the time.

 

Thanks for the feedback you two.

keep it coming.