im planning to do a rebuild in the future. hopefully this year. i have a 2000 B18c1 with 141k miles on it. the motor is still completely stock and planning to run all motor, smog legal ofcourse(live in CA). its starting to burn some oil, so if i replace the rings...might as well do a rebuild right? i also want more power, but keep it street and smog legal in CA. so i need some recommendations on parts. this is my first swap btw, im still kinda new at this.

things im already planning to get:
skunk2 stage 1 cams
skunk2 manifold
skunk2 dual valve springs
skunk2 retainers
oem rebuild kit

things im still unsure to upgrade to:
pistons?
rods?
valves?
rockers?
bearings?
oil pump?

is there anything else that i should replace or upgrade? what do you suggestion? thanks

 

buy weisco pistons. not cp pistons cause they light too expand when motors warm cause alot of piston slap even when clearences properly met. go with eagle rods. personally skunk2 from what ive worked with is only good for cams, go with supertech springs and retainers for a quality build or go power is a really good choice.

 

First, you can burn oil and it not be your rings. The valve stem seals can wear out and while using the engine to slow yourself down, if you see smoke then or right after, it's probably seals. If it's while accelerating under load, it's probably rings. Or just say heck with it and build the motor and just use this as an excuse. haha.

If you're going all motor and doing a mild build, OEM rods and ITR pistons will be fine.The OE rods are lighter and people have done turbo builds using them, so they're strong enough. Just get ARP bolts to be safe. ITR pistons will give you around 11:1 compression which is good for a daily driver since it's still safe on pump gas, but if you get super aggressive cams, you may need more compression to take advantage of it. Compression alone doesn't make power, so no need to run 13:1 with GSR cams.

For pistons, pay attention to silicon content. There's a lot of information on this and you should do some research and see which brands have the right amount for what you're doing. Basically, more silicon will make it harder, more brittle and expand less (quieter, better for ring life). Less make them softer, less brittle and expand more (noisier, worse for ring life). The excuse that there are more choices with forged pistons is irrelevant. There are enough cast pistons and ways to manipulate your compression that if you can get away with it and want to save some money, you can run cast pistons.

Proper engine building procedure is to go .020 oversized (.5mm) when you put new pistons in. Some people just hone the walls and drop the new ones in, but it's not a bad idea to overbore and make sure it's all straight and you get the correct piston to wall clearances.

Valvetrain is fine until you get stage 2 cams or increase your redline. Stiffer springs will only be more drag and cost you power unless you have the need to run them.

New valve guides wouldn't be a bad idea, as well as a valve job. Get OEM, bronze guides wear faster.

Valves are ok, you could get ITR valves, they're undercut on the intake side I think. It's supposed to help airflow.

Get steel retainers for the springs or stay OEM. The titanium ones are meant for racing. Some people have had no issues, some have had them mushroom after 20k miles.

The Skunk2 intake will move the power band up. It's like a modified ITR manifold... You'll lose a little bottom end, but you can gain a little up top.