Solid forged piston/rod combo for stock crank LS1?!?

[WS6guru]

First some basic info I have a 2000 WS6 cam only car with 80000 original miles garage kept and well taken care of. In the process of pulling the motor and wondering what guys are using rod/piston combos. I want to utilize my stock crank but want to go forged pistons and rods. Keep in mind this is a budget build. I'm looking to have a rock solid engine build and doing all the build myself except machining of course. Any testimonies would be greatly appreciated thanks!!

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Also will be in the market for purchasing rod/pistons as well just fyi

[98TransAmWs-6]

It all depends on your budget and goals. I for one am using K1 and Wiseco for my whole rotating assembly which are really nice pieces for the price. Wiseco and K1 technologies are owned by the same company and will tell you exactly which pistons to use with what rods for what size stroke. It makes it super easy for people wanting to do the assembly themselves.

Callies also makes really nice stuff as well but some of their stuff is really expensive. Eagle and scat are another good one but me personally I would go with either Callies or K1 and Wiseco.

I am sure you know this but be sure you get your rotating assembly with the new rods and pistons balanced.

[WS6guru]

Thanks for the info. That's def what I'm looking for is to call an be able to get the correct setup and order parts from one place. What I'm looking for is around 500 horse. Like I said I want to utilize my stock crank as well. Yes I planned getting it all balanced thanks again. Anybody else that wants to chime in is more than welcome always up for some debate and options

[98TransAmWs-6]

Thanks for the info. That's def what I'm looking for is to call an be able to get the correct setup and order parts from one place. What I'm looking for is around 500 horse. Like I said I want to utilize my stock crank as well. Yes I planned getting it all balanced thanks again. Anybody else that wants to chime in is more than welcome always up for some debate and options

If you don't mind me asking what is your budget? Most rotating assemblies on the market today will handle 500 hp for sure. What are you planning to do to the car?

[WS6guru]

If you don't mind me asking what is your budget? Most rotating assemblies on the market today will handle 500 hp for sure. What are you planning to do to the car?

[WS6guru]

If you don't mind me asking what is your budget? Most rotating assemblies on the market today will handle 500 hp for sure. What are you planning to do to the car?

My budget is 2000 to 2500. Mortgage SUV 2 kids and 1 on the way bills not much but scraps left over for the ol bird. I plan on going N/A no power adder. The reason I wanna go forged is I wanna do it right the first time and I wanna a solid set up.

[98TransAmWs-6]

Hey I hear ya man. The only reason I have the parts I have are because of my tax refund lol. The parts I got which are a tad different, mainly in size were around $2300 but that included the crank. You could easily get a very nice set of pistons and rods for that price and have a good amount left over.

The big piston manufacturers are Diamond, Wiseco, and Mahle. I personally would go with Wiseco over the other two as you get both the rings and pins included with them for a lot of their pistons and pins included with all. Also I feel they are a better bang for your buck without sacrificing strength for the price. I will be running their pistons in my 421 stroker build and I got the pistons for about $750 with the rings and pins included. You can get pistons for as cheap as around $550 but they won't be forged. You can get real pricey too and get them for around $900 or so as well.

The main rod manufacturers are K1 technologies, Callies, Eagle, Lunati, Oliver Billet, and Scat. Lunati rods are about $1000 and Oliver Billet are $1300 which is plain over kill and would kill your budget for what you want. Those are what you get for serious forced induction. You can get rods for as cheap as $300 as well but they won't be forged. Most quality forged rods that aren't for extreme applications will more than support your needs and are around the $550 to $700 range.

For what you want and your budget I would go with Wiseco Forged piston set x series pistons which come with the pins and rings for around $750. I would then either get Callies Compstar, Eagle rods with ARP 2000 bolts, or K1 rods with ARP 2000 bolts. The 3 options range from $550 to $600. Like I said I personally have the K1 rods and they are nice.

[98TransAmWs-6]

Another thing to think about is with different manufacturers sometimes extra machining is needed to make them fit properly. If you want I can post some pictures of my K1 rods and Wiseco pistons so you can see actual pictures of their quality.

[WS6guru]

Yea for sure man. Thanks for the input I'm gonna call k1 and see what kind of setup they can do for me.

[98TransAmWs-6]

These are the Wiseco pistons I was talking about and everything that comes with them except in a larger bore and domed but other than that they are the same as what you would get.







These are K1 stroker rods which are the same as I mentioned except they have extra machining for stroker clearance.

[WS6guru]

Are those drop in rings or do u have to use a ring filer to install? I'm digging on that setup looks stout!

[98TransAmWs-6]

They are provided oversized so you will need to fit them and they supply the measurements of the gap that it should be for the different applications such as NA, forced injection, nitrous, etc.

[schmen]

If your on a budget , call Thompson Motorsports. They have designed their own LS rods rated at 1800 HP that are very affordable. They also sell Diamond forged pistons at a great price when bought with their rods.