High Comp piston install

[Tom03es]

Just a gauging interest thread really....

What all is involved in installing these? I imagine from underneath, you need to pull the exhaust off, oil pan, windage tray or whatever is under there to get to the crankshaft. From the top- the valve cover and cylinder head has to come off. Drain a little coolant out. Is that basically all there is to it? Do you really need to have the cylinder walls rehoned or anything? I know I'll need a bunch of new gaskets. Once you open up the connecting rods to slide them out the top, do those bearings need to be replaced?

Can the engine stay in the car or does it need to be pulled?

Any specialized tools needed? Piston ring compressor I know. Anything for the connecting rod bolts or anything else?

About how long would an install like this take? I've pulled the intake manifold off my first time in an hour without rushing.

Or about how much do you think it would cost for a shop to do it?

 

[blueprotegelx]

i think it really depends on how hard you've ran your car and the miles on your engine. when i put pistons in mine i will probably do it in a spare motor and have it honed and all and just drop the entire thing in.

when i had my TSI, we did not hone it the first time and i forget what happened, but we then realized it needed to be honed so we took the engine out again and sent the block out to be honed. i think the car wouldn't start or something and realized the compression was low...

i'd also get the block decked as well just to make sure there's no warping up top

 

[Installshield 2]

I would never recommend installing pistons within the engine bay...pull the entire engine out...it makes it much less of a headache, but also makes the job a very time consuming one...

there is absolutely no real reason to go without pulling the engine...as the only thing it saves you is time...and this is not something you should be doing as fast as possible...

the inside of an engine likes only clean things being put in it...it also likes it when you have it on a stable mount and are able to nail every single torque spec pefectly...that is critical...its the difference between a nice healthy engine when finished...or a grenade...

because of just these variables alone, the only non-ghetto way to go about it it is to pull the whole thing out...mount it properly on stand...clean it...and make sure you have plenty of open work space around the engine...then go from there...the actual process of breaking down the engine and installing the new parts is not difficult at all...its just tedious...it takes a lot of focus, double checking, and patience...

i'm not saying that it can't be done in the engine bay...as it can be...but you'll be constantly getting underneath the car, then above it, the entire time...you'll be cramped up big time in there, and it makes it a lot more difficult to get the proper specs on everything when going through the process...not to mention how dirty it will be, which is never good for a freshly rebuilt engine...

some special tools are required depending on what condition the engine is in currently...scraping the carbon from the upper portions of the cylinders will most likely be needed, of which its easy to rent the tool to do it...everything else is pretty straight forward...I would also very much recommend at least honing it...you can do that yourself also, but its not exactly the best way...it would be best to have a properly fitted shop do that work, at a cost...but if the engine is out, and you just take a block to the shop...it can be done for under $100 on a normal 4cylinder engine...

 

[jimmysuite]

I would never recommend installing pistons within the engine bay...pull the entire engine out...it makes it much less of a headache, but also makes the job a very time consuming one...

there is absolutely no real reason to go without pulling the engine...as the only thing it saves you is time...and this is not something you should be doing as fast as possible...

the inside of an engine likes only clean things being put in it...it also likes it when you have it on a stable mount and are able to nail every single torque spec pefectly...that is critical...its the difference between a nice healthy engine when finished...or a grenade...

because of just these variables alone, the only non-ghetto way to go about it it is to pull the whole thing out...mount it properly on stand...clean it...and make sure you have plenty of open work space around the engine...then go from there...the actual process of breaking down the engine and installing the new parts is not difficult at all...its just tedious...it takes a lot of focus, double checking, and patience...

i'm not saying that it can't be done in the engine bay...as it can be...but you'll be constantly getting underneath the car, then above it, the entire time...you'll be cramped up big time in there, and it makes it a lot more difficult to get the proper specs on everything when going through the process...not to mention how dirty it will be, which is never good for a freshly rebuilt engine...

some special tools are required depending on what condition the engine is in currently...scraping the carbon from the upper portions of the cylinders will most likely be needed, of which its easy to rent the tool to do it...everything else is pretty straight forward...I would also very much recommend at least honing it...you can do that yourself also, but its not exactly the best way...it would be best to have a properly fitted shop do that work, at a cost...but if the engine is out, and you just take a block to the shop...it can be done for under $100 on a normal 4cylinder engine...

Where have you been! Welcome back! Car Update please!!!

 

[Captain KRM P5]

i would definetely want to pull the engine to do this. it is in all honesty the 'right' way to do it.

 

[Installshield 2]

ha...i've been around...car is doing well...just been really busy...

I never really left these boards, as I was usually checking in monthly or so...but just been busy with other stuff that I didn't find as much time I would like to put into this hobby...

and the car...its still great...actually I just got it back about a month ago after I lost a rather violent argument with a dear...but, body wise, the car is now OE brand new from the windshield forward...which is nice, hasn't looked that good since 2002...

the engine has been in and out...i'm actually having some pretty annoying problems with cold starts...as the microtech I am currently using is dumping fuel like crazy at anything under 40 degrees for a cold start...it back fires like crazy, and the whole car smells of fuel...and its an issue more with the tolerances of the engine, as it simply has to have that much fuel to start to sustain itself when the block is that cold...13:1 compression + fixed high duration cams + cold start = lots of gasoline

so i'm working on retrofitting and oil/block heater that will be permanantly wired and installed on the car...a normal dip stick heater works great, and almost entirely solves the problem, but obviously needs to be plugged in some where...which isn't always an option...I could wire that into the car, but the cranking amps it takes to turn this thing over when cold is like starting an airplane...as its a tall order even for my optima...

the oil heater I'm working on will be able to heat the oil up and circulate it in the engine in minutes...and wouldn't need to remain on all night...making much less of an order to the battery...

so hopefully, when the engine goes in next spring...it will be there to stay...I definitely miss the sub 6 second 0-60's right now...but the engine is safe and not getting any abuse...so I can live with it for now...

 

[jimmysuite]

^^^ any power output updates? (sorry for the threadjack)

 

[Captain KRM P5]

ha...i've been around...car is doing well...just been really busy...

I never really left these boards, as I was usually checking in monthly or so...but just been busy with other stuff that I didn't find as much time I would like to put into this hobby...

and the car...its still great...actually I just got it back about a month ago after I lost a rather violent argument with a dear...but, body wise, the car is now OE brand new from the windshield forward...which is nice, hasn't looked that good since 2002...

the engine has been in and out...i'm actually having some pretty annoying problems with cold starts...as the microtech I am currently using is dumping fuel like crazy at anything under 40 degrees for a cold start...it back fires like crazy, and the whole car smells of fuel...and its an issue more with the tolerances of the engine, as it simply has to have that much fuel to start to sustain itself when the block is that cold...13:1 compression + fixed high duration cams + cold start = lots of gasoline

so i'm working on retrofitting and oil/block heater that will be permanantly wired and installed on the car...a normal dip stick heater works great, and almost entirely solves the problem, but obviously needs to be plugged in some where...which isn't always an option...I could wire that into the car, but the cranking amps it takes to turn this thing over when cold is like starting an airplane...as its a tall order even for my optima...

the oil heater I'm working on will be able to heat the oil up and circulate it in the engine in minutes...and wouldn't need to remain on all night...making much less of an order to the battery...

so hopefully, when the engine goes in next spring...it will be there to stay...I definitely miss the sub 6 second 0-60's right now...but the engine is safe and not getting any abuse...so I can live with it for now...

awesome updates. always wondered where you've been. guys like you make me want to ditch the turbo and go N/A. blasphemy i know!

 

[Installshield 2]

yeah cool...i do miss this place...haha...

power is still around 195'ish @ wheels...I was able to top 200 with about 200 more revs, but specs on the build weren't up to that...as the piston acceleration even with the higher rod ratio would drastically cut engine life...

the limiter is set at that though...so 'its there if I need it'...

1/4 miles are still all over high 14's...14.345 is the best official I managed, but that was with the car stripped down pretty hard (no alternator at that point, was literally charging the battery and then doing runs and then limping back, and it was running on the universitys Motec back then...the alternator was mounted, but was not producing any load, as it was not wired in for that quick test)...managed mostly 14.75's in street trim...give or take a few 1 hundreths...

I gotta dig up my dyno sheets and 1/4 mile times for you guys...as I haven't even tested it in about 3 years or so...

NA is fun...in the end everything was worth it..i was just lucky to get to do it on my own, as it would have been a $10,000 job otherwise...still awesome though to get reactions from others when a P5 winds up to almost 8,000 rpm, especially when its someone familiar with these cars and especially the FS...crapping on a stock Si never gets old....especially when it idles like a truck at an intersection...

 

[Tom03es]

Thanks for the responses guys. I've only been deep enough in an engine to replace the head gasket before.

Glad to see you posting again Install.

 

[blueprotegelx]

I think something that should be recognized is what should be replaced while the entire engine is apart. I was looking at protegegarage and saw there was a front case available, bearings, caps, gaskets, etc.