I have to replace my rings, so I figured I'd put in the pistons to0, since it's included in labor. THe thing is, I can't afford the rods right now. Will I be allright with Honda OEM (stock) rods for boosting 10 - 14psi? Anything I should do to the stock rods?

Thanks, all comments appreciated!

 

just hold out and get some eagle rods. Only $350...you oucld get your stock rods shotpeened, but you may as well just save a little extra and get the forged rods.

 

From what I heard when you shotpeen it almost costs as much as Eagles any way.

 

What does it mean to "shotpeen"? What does that do to your rods?

 

maybe you should look at this https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=145940

 

Thanks for the link, 01geeser. Can someone answer my questions though?

 

I'm sure a local machine shop can answer this better than I, but from what I know:
Shot peening involves bombarding a surface with high velocity 'shots' or blast of material (metal) that behave like tiny hammers, in essence, compressing the surface, forcing it to become more rigid and resistant to flex and fatigue. It strengthens the material in question approximately 40%.

Shot peening the rods would be desireable over just stock rods. The eagles are a hell of a deal if you can afford them, as they are forged. But in a pinch, shot peening the stockers is a good idea if you're gonna be swapping out the rings anyways. Just remember, do what you can afford, but do it right !

 

OK thanks for clarifying that.

So, how bad do you think is it running stock rods with JE pistons at like 10 - 12psi ? Can they handle that?

 

I've run stock rods at 13psi on an LS with the crappy R/S ratio. IMO, I don't think you'll have a problem. I would really shot peen them if you have the chance tho... should only be like $10 per rod ($40). I wonder if they would or can shot peen the rod bolts too ?
PS, I think ARP rod bolts are like $50 new...

 

I would suggest you wait til you can drop in some forged rods. I don't know much down time you can afford, but it would be wiser since you're only cracking open the engine once and get it all out of the way. It would suck to break down that motor again to replace the rods in a month or two. Trust me, it's not something you want to do twice if you can avoid it.

Secondly, depending on the stock rod's condition, it's safe to say that you're running on borrowed time using the stock rods with 12-14psi of boost. You can probably run 8-10psi on stock rods easily. But personally, I wouldn't chance it...if the rods do go, that's going to be a whole new complete rebuild...and might even require new pistons depending on the extent of the damage if you should ever run into detonation. I've seen holes blown right thru a block. :D Just something to consider...

*Cliff notes* Get forged rods if you afford the down time. Stick with stock rods if you're a gambling type of man. :D



[Modified by Prelude_RCR, 7:19 AM 4/18/2002]

 

I don't see the correlation here .

 

theres a guy on super honda that runs stock rods in his gsr and run 21psi and ran high 11's

 

**** i ran a whole stock bottom end up 16psi on stock pistons and rods and head gasket

 

Thanks for all the info and advices people!

Should I worry about the head gasket if I replace just the pistons and rings?

 

No, just know you'll need a new one....

 

who's doing your install?

 

If I may paraphrase the thorough analysis of connecting rod loads in Maximum Boost - running a turbo at 1 bar only increases max load on the connecting rods by about 20% over stock. Power loading will NOT break or bend stock connecting rods. Severe detonation certainly could. If your engine is well-tuned, I'd say the 9:1 pistons and stock rods would be fine. Eagle rods are pretty but tuning is much more important than your rod strength.

 

put the pistons in there

 

If this is true, then I'd say LS rods can handle ALOT of boost.. I mean 20% more stress load @ 1bar over stock? That doesn't seem like a whole lot.. I wonder how much my D16's can take then, hrmmm...

 

If you don't have detonation issues, the stock parts are pretty damn strong.

 

just keep the timing retard u will be ok
i ran 15psi on a stock motor with my timing way retard

 

Yup

Whisper (my sig)

 

if you stay at 1 bar and the car is tuned correctly, you will have no problems with a gsr's rods. i would strongly recommend a dyno trip, but as long as the work is done correctly, your stock rods shouldn't fail. at 9:1 compression, i run 13 lbs on stock rods and pistons on pump gas for long periods. another friend ran 15 lbs on pump gas with forged pistons and stock rods. it lasted. honestly, get the rods if you can, but if not, tune it right and have some willpower(with the boost controller) and you'll be fine.