My original plan at this phase of my build was to ball hone and re-ring my b16 but the discovery of cracked ring lands on 2 pistons while cleaning them has pushed me into deciding to just go the complete shirt block route. Theyre all about the same cost, except 4p which is about $400 higher than jbr or rr. With the css route you supply your own components which I already have a set of Aries pistons and pauter x beam rod, which is a much better rod than the base options for any of the completed short blocks, but I’m pretty sure they need new bushings installed which is not necessarily cheap to have done. Basically I’m just having a hard time choosing which route to go. Not sure if I want to go all out with sleeves or continue with the open deck, which makes the css an appealing option because I could see myself going to a different turbo and exceeding the 500hp mark but I don’t know that it would ever be more than 550-600hp. I don’t feel comfortable assembling my own engine and there’s no local machine shops that I would trust to do the machine work anyways. Any other shops or options I should consider?

what about customer service? Any personal good or bad experiences with any of the listed companies?

 

I've bought from 4Piston before but never a full engine or assembly work. Have never read a bad review and as far as I know they've been top dog when it comes to high power Hondas for several years now.

I had my block CSS'd by Jeff, the turnaround was very quick for that machine work. I'm not sure if he offers full long block assembly, I know he does short blocks.

I agree with the idea of reaching out to one company and just having them do the whole thing. Laskey is also worth considering. I'd call a couple of them, see if they'd work with the parts you already have, and what their schedule looks like.

 

I also went the CSS route and Jeff did a fantastic job with the CSS treatment and machine work. I have had machine work done by other shops over the years and they were lacking. Jeff was very meticulous and matched each piston to a cylinder, which is something a lot of shops don't bother to do. The machine work was perfect and the engine doesn't burn any oil or smoke at all. He was also very quick to respond and helpful when I had a shipping issue after I got my block and pistons back. I assembled my engine myself but he does do shortblock assembly at least.

 

I’m thinking the css is the way I will go. It seems the most economical since I already have a set of pistons and rods and will be the best fit for the direction I want to go with the car. A sleeved block will be way overkill but staying open deck would be risky as I can see myself going over the 500hp mark if I ever decided to change to a different turbo. I’ll email Jeff again and see if he can take care of the rod bushings for me as well. Thanks for you guys feedback.