What makes you think that they arent ALL made in china? from my research SCAT and Eagle are. So are my china ebay rods. Not trying to argue here, just provoking thought.

Bogus SVU, i am also glad you are back. you were long gone when I joined, but your old posts about engine tech were and still are, awesome.

well im not suggesting that they are not all made in china. problem comes in where a company wants to uphold their standing as making good and reliable products, and chinese companies tend to go as cheap as they can get away with for "good enough" reliability. who cares if 1 in 1000 rods break before they reach their rating, they are not likely to get any fallout because of it.

i have heard decent things about cheap ebay rods, but my brain likes to worry about things, at least if i spend a little extra i wont have to worry about a critical part of my engine bend/breaking and causing the whole thing to go Kaput.

I just purchased those maxspeeding rods and they all weighed the same with arp 2000 bolts in them.

Just spoken to my machine shop, to bore it the cylinders they and to acid dip, clean bore and then deck the head.

I asked how much just a hone and pressure clean would be and he said £150.
Which still seems a bit on the high side.

So I'm not sure what to do now. I might use the stock pistons and get them coated like I was going to before.... Hmmmm

Seems a bit on the high side compared to what?

you think an engine build is cheap?

have you priced shop equipment?

Lets see.....

Clean a block.. $50
Bore/hone $15 per cylinder
use a torque plate $30
Deck block $70
grind crank $100
Balance rotating assembly $200

That is average pricing in my part of the country, its more in other and less in still others, all dependent on what equipment is used and how many shops are in the area

Now I have heard up in North Carolina that some shops still bore and hone for $8 a cylinder
and you can get a head belt surfaced for $20

I can see your over the puddle from most of us here in the US of A, and pricing is going to be at a different rate

DO NOT ORDER FROM FAB9

They may have the lowest price but they suck to deal with.

Yea, no i know. Not sure what i was comparing it to in my head. thinking about it, its really not unreasonable.
you know when you just get an arbitrary number stuck in your head!

Ok, i have been told this twice now.
And i am all ears, can you point me to an alternative that has the parts i was going to order from Fab9 and ships internationally?
i was going to order my:
uprated oil pump
Rods
Pistons
ARP main studs
ARP head studs

if someone can point me somewhere that has decent pricing on those and will ship to me, that would be great :bigtu:

Ebay or FM over fab for pistons.

Anything else you need is at 949racing and trackspeed engineering as pointed out below VV

Trackspeed engining.

Before you start buying parts you need to recognize some items:
1) look at some dyno graphs posted here and notice the difference in the torque curves from 1.6 and 1.8 engines.
2) spending money on your block whether you stick with 1.6 or be smart and get 1.8 is an absolute necesity. You are going to be spending over 2k on parts so cheaping out on machine work is a no go.
3) to meet your power goals you will need a solid turbo system - do you know this cost? I have been encouraged to understand what happens when you exceed 250 hp and things start to break and items need to be upgraded.
4) if you are tracking the car being at your aforementioned power goals you need to be ready for some additional costs like turbo locking hardware from Trackspeed, coolant reroute, aluminum radiator, and understand the effect of heat soak on your parts at the track.

Everyone is willing to help here but I think you need to read some more stickies and build threads before you start buying parts. You could be in for an $8000 build.

Hope that helped.

I just paid 150 to have my cylinders honed, at a pro engine shop. They only build race car engines. I felt like I got a great deal.

If that sounds expensive to you, you're in for a big surprise. My total for JUST machine work for my fully built engine was close to $1,200 maybe $1,500. I dont know, I stopped keeping track. Head work, block, crank, rod and ring fitting.

@ryansmoneypit... you can drop $1500 on the head alone if you chose too, that is if you want a full tilt boogie woogie head

But depending on the shop and equipment, thats not a bad price

OHH yeah, I was just looking at labor at the machine shop, And no porting. Throw in all the parts- grotesque money for a 9-5 guy.

1) and 2) im keeping the 1.6. you wont convince me otherwise. this car came with a 1.6, it was registered as a 1.6 and is staying a 1.6. im aware of the torque and power differences. :)
i am also aware that i will have to spend money on my block, and the rest of the car!
3)i'll be honest with you, i have not priced up my turbo system yet. i do not intend to turbo this car until next year, probably in the summer. im aware it will be expensive, i have also stated earlier in the thread that i dont intend to start off at 250 or above, i'll start probably around 200 and then after a bit turn it up.
4)i have already costed up most of the additionals for tracking the car and just general upgrades, coilovers, upgraded radiator, rollbar, coolant reroute. and a bunch of other stuff. will also need a diff at some point as well.
as i say i am new to the world of aftermarket stuff. i have fixed cars and maintained them, but i am still getting the hang of aftermarket and expensive mods!
im not a car noob by any means, but this is my first engine and car build, so i have a very limited idea of what to expect, especially when it comes to machine shop work!

im expecting this car in total to cost me around £6.5K~. £3K of that being the engine build (current price i have sketched out is £2.9K with that additional work), £2.5K~ of turbo supporting mods (wideband, ecu, rad and stuff) and suspension stuff and £1K~ for the turbo, intercooler and exhaust
not sure if that is unreasonable expectation or not? from the costing i have done it sounds pretty reasonable.

Yea, ok. thats fair. i will probably just go ahead and do it. im not sure where the number came from in my head, but after actually thinking about it it's not that bad.
I am a bit salty that i'll have to repaint my block though :squint: i guess its my own fault though for painting it and then deciding to go over!

i going to my machine shop tonight to pick up head and crank, i 'll have a chat with him there. he did say to me on the phone that he can't push the wrist pin off the pistons as it will damage them, if that is the case then i will 100% just bite the bullet and go for both pistons and rods.

yes, for the most part, press fit wrist pins are a 1 shot deal.
https://www.miataturbo.net/engine-pe...ce-rods-65019/

Glad to see my link list still works

:rolleyes:


:confused:

:giggle:

:rofl:

Just wait till you're in the thick of it. Painting a block is going to be the least of your worries.

Oh ok. fair enough. i was under the impression they you could push them off as they are only shrunk into the rods.
Ha, i know... i know....

You would be correct, but you have to support the piston to push the pin out of the rod. and more times than not, you deform, crack or just out right bust the piston

Psyber pretty much nailed it, 100%, with each of those emojii.

Track turbo miata....8k minimum.
In a year, paint will be the absolute last worry.