My block has 184k. I am planning within the next couple months to rebuild the whole engine including rings, rods, pistons, etc. I am looking for more power through this rebuild of course. So good brands, tips, tricks, rules, etc are what I’m looking for. Let me know how I should start this project and what procedures I follow. I only replaced my head with an rmw head so I am a newbie to rebuilding engines so any information is appreciated. Thanks!

 

Before buying any parts you'd need to fully disassemble the engine, measure the cylinders in the block to determine if you need to bore them or not, and therefore - if you need a plus size pistons or not. Or, you can just buy another block and work on it.
Forged pistons / rods will cost you an arm and a leg. Pistons themselves will cost you 550 - 850, plus ~450 for forged rods. Check the www.sneed4speed.com

 

^^ This ^^
You may end up needing less than you think, my cylinder walls still had cross hatching at 213k

 

Make sure you don’t buy fel pro for head gasket or studs , learned the hard way

Worst

 

If only I saw this post 3 months ago. I installed my rmw head with a felpro gasket and blew it right when I cranked it resulting in an overheating engine. Thank the lord I did not manage to warp my head. Grabbed a $110 gasket that MiniMadAdam sent me and redid the whole job, installed it yesterday and it went perfectly.

 

Give some serious, consideration to buying a Remanufactured short block from a reputable supplier.

By the time you buy all the parts and do the machine shop work, you may be the same price, or cheaper.

 

Yes - Definitely something to consider.
The operative word here, being = REPUTABLE.
In my previous (non Mini) experience - I'd made that mistake ONCE (based on lowball price).

 

oh no, I just replaced my timing cover gasket with a Fel-pro. I hope it doesn’t blow up on me.

 

So in relation to my other thread. Who is the reputable engine builder? I'd go with any of the stand bys, rmw, thumper, way, etc. Some are hard to trust, some are asking far too much, others are just plain fickle and if you don't buy all of the parts from them they won't work with me. If there's a definitive answer of the shop to use then...I really wish this was easy. Please advise in my thread.

 

Have your trusted local machine shop do it or do it yourself. Its actually straightforward once all the measurements are done. Dont want to do the measurements? Again Machine shop should do most of them when you bring them pistons fot p2w/bore. What pistons to get? I used and trusted the original engine engineer on that one. Alex designed a set that can be had.

 

We just moved here and I can't seem to find a machine shop closer than 70 miles away. Plus I wouldn't know if they are reputable. I guess back to square one. Thanks for the continued suggestions. I appreciate it.

 

Where are you?

 

Northwest corner of Montana. Six miles from the Canadian border. I think I've located a good shop in Spokane. It's about 3-4 hours from me which is doable.

 

Ok I am in western WI near the twin cities. I do get to the Dakotas in the spring.

 

So I actually got the chance to measure each cylinder and each cylinder is around 77.7-77.8mm. Is that good or is that a worn out cylinder and requires boring?

 

in looking at some pistons only. It’s a set which comes with the rings and the wrist pin lockers aswell. Also added rod bearings and arp rod bolts, came out to 559. It’s a sale online. It’s wiseco. So it’s a really good deal. Planning on just doing piston heads for now and than soon upgrading literally everything