ok, so i want to get some new pistons and switch to total seal piston rings. my question is, would a person want to stick with the stock crank and rods after replacing the original bearings when the rotating assembly is put back into the motor? if not, what would you reccomend? this is on a tight budget by the way. this motor will be n/a and kept somewhere around stock compression. im not looking to make a massive ammount of power with the rebuild, just a solid bottom end with little blow by to be a solid foundation for a mild cam/head street machine.

 

by the time you spend the money to put better rod bolts in the stock rods you can buy a set of eagle or scat 5140 I beam rods. but the stock crank should be fine to reuse. if you take the block to 0 deck you can get about another you can get another point of compression out of it and have a more efficient quench area. also get a new standard volume oil pump and the moroso pn23035 solid windage tray, crank scraper & pan baffle kit.

 

If you are looking to freshen things up, put on a mild cam and heads, keep the same compression, and it's on a budget....I would say rebuild the bottom end with the stock pistons, rods, and crank. Install some new bearings and rings and leave it at that. If you were planning on some big hp numbers or juice or a blower i'd say go a different route but for your plans i'd say stock parts are just fine.

 

I know how to install new piston rings, but is it true that you have to take the block in to a machine shop to have the rod bearing and main bearings installed? ive seen it done before in a garage by a couple 'shade tree' kinda guys but i want my engine for longivity and consistency, i cant rebuild it once a month.

 

No they snap by hand into place, just keep everything clean.

As said before , if youre not planning on a power adder I would keep the stock pistons.
It should cost about 80$ to have the rod bolts replaced (including the price of the bolts) and it should be another 50 to 60 $ to make sure the big end is perfectly round. A set of Eagle SIR rods cost close to 300$ (but they are nice peices).

Also if you bought forged pistons you would need to get the crank rebalanced costing you another good 150$.

I would have the rods checked for cracks and roundness, put some ARP bolts in them, Check the block to see if it can remain standard, if not only then would I move to a different piston. Crank needs to be checked and see if it needs to have the journals turned.
Get a factory volume and pressure pump as stated before, on a stock motor nothing more is needed.
Look your lifters over and make sure that they are serviceable, the roller should be pretty smooth (no deep scoring) and roll freely, the roller shaft should be centered. The body should have no deep scoring on it as well.
Since youre wanting to change the cam ,sell the factory one to someone that wants it, its worth 40 bucks.

But to answer your origninal question, the stock crank and rods will work, you just have to determine if the stock rods are worth reconditioning or if it would be better to buy some new rods.

 

you will have to take it to the machine shop for new cam bearings tho. make sure the cylinders dont have low spots. if it were mine id go ahead and have it machined or just leave it alone, but thats just me.

 

yeah, ive already rebuilt the heads. im starting to think it might be a waste of time to rebuild the bottom end. its not like its ever going to see over 400hp.