Sr20det Needs Rebuild

[JayDM420]

Hey zilvia my Redtop recently took a poo on me and has low compression/rod knock. I would like to find a shop in the California Bay area that can rebuild/forge it. Can anyone recommend a good reliable shop?

[Kingtal0n]

I would source a next longblock for $1200~ or less.

Rebuilds dont last long in general.

[bardabe]

^^^ you must not know any good machinist / techs. A proper rebuild is as good as OEM. But a proper rebuild cost much more than the usual kid who things he know what he is doing because he can click a torque wrench and slap a piston into a bore.

To the OP are you in the North Bay or South Bay?

[Kingtal0n]

^^^ you must not know any good machinist / techs. A proper rebuild is as good as OEM. But a proper rebuild cost much more than the usual kid who things he know what he is doing because he can click a torque wrench and slap a piston into a bore.

To the OP are you in the North Bay or South Bay?

It isn't just the machine work, there are other significant factors which I am willing to discuss openly. First is, sr20det engines using aftermarket bearing typically wind up with 0.002" clearance in the bearings, like any other engine I guess. Problem is, the rod bearing #1 will/may become scored with that clearance after just 5k miles or so, due to startup wear. The stock rod bearing can be as tight as 0.0008" iirc, tightness which facilitates cold start with thin weight oils. The combination of thicker oil and looser clearance is an anti-daily driver status symbol; you are more likely to trash the 5k longblock using that sort of setup even without boosting it, at all, or making any power. And we haven't discussed the loose piston/wall clearance typically associated with low silicone forged slugs, a whole other issue with the bore and carbon buildup, long warm-up times which are also anti-daily driver friendly. Its fine for race cars, but I don't drive any race car on the street.

Using an oil accumulator might mask the issue but I never tried, for the simple reason that it was cheaper to install a larger, cheaper engine, than to keep re-trying 5k longblocks over and over for a measly 500bhp or whatever. A stock lsx 5.3L engine supports a minimum of 500bhp for well over 10 years and doesn't need a single part changed, just add boost. At $800/each you can drive the car for five to ten times longer for less than half the price of using an sr20det rebuilt, with even more power, and far far more area under the curve which IMO is more important for daily drivers.