overZealous1

so is this the only rod and piston set up available? i am getting another engine delivered on monday and plan to be building also. what was the wait time?
pm with price and contacts? i am guessing about $2k for the set.

Sir-Boost-a-Lot

iTrader: (1)

Lol you're wayyyyy offfff

PACougar

I hope you don't mean 2K for a set of rods and pistons

e55amgrocket

Yea I hope you don't too lol. I had to pay full price on the rods without getting a discount for more rods if they are wanted. I've got over $3500 I want to say. Custom stuff isn't cheap plus the pistons are coated which added a decent amount to it.

Sir-Boost-a-Lot

iTrader: (1)

A set of rods/pistons from Weistec is $6100!

overZealous1

so these are the only option to do a built bottom end? i was under the impression there were already forged piston and rod set ups available. $6100 is a joke.

PACougar

Other then SLR pistons, I'd say everything else is custom.

overZealous1

i thought i heard mahle already made them,. but, it could have been referrencing these.
when i was doing the vq35 stuff we used aries. think they would do custom for not much money. like $1000-1200 set of 8.

Sir-Boost-a-Lot

iTrader: (1)

Mahle is who makes the SLR pistons, so you were right.

PACougar

I think once you do some research you're going to find that it's nowhere near as cheap as you're picturing. Good luck, I hope you are able to get a high quality set of forged pistons for 1000-1200.

overZealous1

after some research, it appears that is not far off. would need to sleeve, but had that planned anyways. will do more research as the time comes. lots of other projects in the works right now.

e55amgrocket

What's not far off? Even the direct fit Mahle SLR pistons are over $2000 I want to say. If your going to sleeve the block you are looking at $3000 and that doesn't include bore and hone. If you do dry sleeves your looking at $1200-1800 depending on who does it. Torque plates are also a huge problem I just learned and cost $1000 unless you have your block done by the one place that has the plates. My pistons were expensive because I fronted the bill on the design work plus the better ring package and wrist pins. I also fronted the R&D on the rods and paid a discounted $1800 for the first set. All said and done I've got $3700 in rods and pistons. The next set will be cheaper for whoever the next guy might be. The pistons are easy to do changes on now and being billet they can do them much quicker with the needed changes.

overZealous1

i have used the same machine guy for 15 years. he is always spot on and can bore and hone for $25 a hole. i would need to look at how the deck is and the bolt layout to see if torque plates would be required. quite a few things depend on if, or how much the bolts will
distort cylinders.
i do all the checks to any motor i build, then tell the machine shop exactly what i want done. i assemble it and it gives a chance to recheck all measurements. cuts down costs and a very small chance to machining error.
what i meant as "close" is yes, custom pistons can be made for about $150 each. after a quick search and learning about the cylinders in this motor, that price is doable since i plan to sleeve. or, just as you stated, i can follow your footsteps and work and take advantage of the time and money you just spent and order the next set.

either way it costs what it costs. which cost was pretty much my only question in the first place.

Sir-Boost-a-Lot

iTrader: (1)

There's nothing magical about any of the parts. Is not any more expensive than doing a build for a small block Chevy using some obscure bore/stroke/CH/crank pin diameter that no one else has.

Custom parts cost $$, and nice custom parts cost even more$$

overZealous1

i havn't had my sl55 for very long and have constantly been modding it since purchase. now all the other stuff is about done i was starting to look at doing a built motor. already have another engine, but had not sourced parts much at all. i had just thought parts were more readily available and alot more built engines had been done so far. guess that's not the case really and parts are still being developed.

PACougar

Unfortunately yes. Taking a wild stab in the air if you did the MID sleeves, rods, pistons, modded heads, you could probably build a motor for 12K-15K.

e55amgrocket

Pretty good estimate by the times it's all done. I talked to Steve@RED (the guy that designed the MID darton sleeves for this block) and he said torque plates are a must and not really an option with this block. My engine guy was going to bore and hone for $200 also but the $1000 extra to buy torque plates to use one SUCKS!

cij911

Steve - Is there still a group getting in on a rods & piston set ? Did RED give you an idea if he would build the motor for you (he is close to me) ?

overZealous1

i think i do remember seeing a pic of these blocks and they were closed deck. usually that does do some pulling in the cylinders. open decks are not as much of a concern.
is he making you front the cost of the torque plates? is he keeping them or you? i would be pissed if he plans on keeping them. he could rent them out and make the money back. same with you if you kept them, just rent them out.
torque plates are so easy to make i feel i could do it here in my garage! is there a need for 2 or is block symetrical and can use just one?

i do have alot of experience porting heads too. not sure about the cams yet. would need to see if they could just be turned or not. i have not seen how the valvetrain is set to see if using a smaller base circle on the cams is possible and keep the geometry correct, or how lash is set.
i am hoping that since i can do nearly all the labor and footwork, i can slide in for a bit under that 12-15k mark.

e55amgrocket

Wanted to make sure everything was right with these rods before ordering another 4-5 sets. I Didn't ask him about building the engine but I do know he is backed up also.

e55amgrocket

The block is a open deck block. That's the entire reason for MID sleeves to close the top of the block in to add strength. If it was a closed deck block it would be so much easier and cheaper. Aluminum blocks move much more than iron blocks and when your cutting the block up taking the integrity out of it while machining that's the reason for the need for torque plates. The price was to buy them. The first set he made was shipped to HKE in Houston and he will not rent them out he wants to do all the work and that's not an option for me. As for the price of the build I can't see it being less than $10k when done right. There are things that can be done cheaper but most of these are all without labor prices.
Sleeved block-$3k
Custom pistons-$1900
Custom billet rods-$1900
Arp studs-$450
Head gaskets-$130
MB bearings,seals,chains,tensioner-$1200
Custom cams-$2500
Ported heads with titanium retainers,springs,valves (more work to fit the cams still to be done)$4200 and climbing.
Torque plates-$1000 but should be able to rent them out possibly.

cij911

With all that work and $$, I sure hope you are running some crazy boost (turbos) ....

e55amgrocket

I'm waiting for the tuning to be there for turbos first. My plan is a Weistec with 24-25psi

overZealous1

i swore i saw a pic of it being closed, but must have been a pic of something else then. thanks for more of a cost break down.
i may not do as much to the heads as yours, but my rpm goal isn't as lofty too.
i am guessing the head studs had to be l-19 material. i have done many vq35 blocks/heads with 1/2" standard arp and stacking 2 simple helicoils in the block was able to get enough grab to surpass 250lbs tq with it (tq wrench stopped at 250 and still got another 1/2 turn!!). but, machining would cover the difference unless you could do them yourself compared to drop in l-19.
i think just the short block and some minor head/pocket porting will get me to my goals. you will have yours full boogey!
jerry seemed pretty set on being able to take care of the tuning because yup, i am heading the twin snail route. my main hang up is to drop the air/water intercooler type set up or go traditional air/air. alot less to go wrong on the latter.
right now my concern is finishing up the body and enjoy the car for a little while now spring is coming back.

suicidal4life

From the various pics I've seen it looks like all the E55's are open deck but the SLR has a closed deck. Perhaps you saw a pic of the SLR block by mistake.