CarlosFley Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 Sooooooo I'm interested in knowing how far you G54B carrying peeps have gotten into your builds on stock internals, in other words, how far did you get into your quest for power before upgrading pistons, rods, cams, crankshafts and all the little goodies that make the little G54 go suck, squish, bang, burp. How reliable is our bottom end, if at all? I have a very tight budget, so whatever money I put into it has to be well spent. Any input totally appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott87star Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 (edited) Notstock88 has a stock bottom end (how ironic!) and was dynoed at 421 lbft torque, 380 HP. http://www.sqperformance.com/?page_id=29 Edited April 6, 2014 by scott87star Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasQuest Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 Bottom ends are rock solid. Pistons are where the concern will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott87star Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 Stock pistons too, bottom end referring to everything below the head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potamus Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 Notstock88's botom end has 140,000 miles on it too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlosFley Posted April 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 Daaaaaaaaaaaaammmmnnnn... well I guess that's one less thing to worry about then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 Bottom end is tough, it's not the pistons, it's the tune, or lack of that kills them. dad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlosFley Posted April 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 Hmm I see. Would I have to pretty much buy a new computer for it to properly tune it? An aftermarket one? Or what is you input? How is a tune achieved? Newbie here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 You need to get thing back into top shape as stock, then start building from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlosFley Posted April 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 Hmm okay. Well I guess that's my first goal now. Runs pretty smooth, but still have some fluids I need to change, and really just a heavy maintenance. Thanks for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott87star Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 Aftermarket ECU, the stock one cannot be changed so you have to go aftermarket. Don't fall for MAF-translators, they work to a point but when its all said and done you'll have spent 70% of the price of a real tuneable unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 ^^ Really, thats interesting Scott, what do you have? I run translator and gm maf. was about 250.00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionbull Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 Bottom ends are rock solid. Pistons are where the concern will be. who said the pistons are a concern?any piston will have issues with fuel starvation if the car has TBI and the owner is running high boost.What you mean to say is TBI is a concern.There is no reasonable "concern" with stock pistons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott87star Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 (edited) ^^ Really, thats interesting Scott, what do you have? I run translator and gm maf. was about 250.00 I'm starting to see the need for an entry level ECU, fuel only, as after my experience with exploding electrolytic capacitors in my flatty instrument cluster the factory ECU's won't be far behind. Megasquirt V2.2 board, MS1 processor, fuel only, CAN run MPI, CAN be upgraded for ignition control, $375. Comes with a patch cable to plug into the existing wire harness, it requires the exchange for your factory ECU as I need the connectors. You give up idle control as only the factory ECU can operate the ISC properly and you give up your electronic boost control gauge. Edited April 7, 2014 by scott87star Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 ^^^ Interesting, awesome that you can dive so deep into a system and make it perform better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasQuest Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 who said the pistons are a concern?any piston will have issues with fuel starvation if the car has TBI and the owner is running high boost.What you mean to say is TBI is a concern.There is no reasonable "concern" with stock pistons.I have been under the impression that the factory pistons was the weakest part of the engine internally. I heard that back when I first got my car 7 some odd years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikoFab Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 I'm starting to see the need for an entry level ECU, fuel only, as after my experience with exploding electrolytic capacitors in my flatty instrument cluster the factory ECU's won't be far behind. Megasquirt V2.2 board, MS1 processor, fuel only, CAN run MPI, CAN be upgraded for ignition control, $375. Comes with a patch cable to plug into the existing wire harness, it requires the exchange for your factory ECU as I need the connectors. You give up idle control as only the factory ECU can operate the ISC properly and you give up your electronic boost control gauge.^^^ Interesting, awesome that you can dive so deep into a system and make it perform better! I had Scott do mine on MS2 with a few more bells and whistles than this basic version he refers to here. Hopefully only a month or two away from having Scott login remotely to do the tune. Will keep you updated if interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopefull noob Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 Interested in above. Just in case that was an open question.Hn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionbull Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 (edited) I have been under the impression that the factory pistons was the weakest part of the engine internally. I heard that back when I first got my car 7 some odd years ago. you probably heard that from TEP.Many guys burned up forged pistons thinking they solved the piston issue on NON MPI quest. Edited April 8, 2014 by lionbull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pure_insanity Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 Aftermarket ECU, the stock one cannot be changed so you have to go aftermarket. Don't fall for MAF-translators, they work to a point but when its all said and done you'll have spent 70% of the price of a real tuneable unit. I agree completely. Once you go to a tuneable ecu the world just changes dramatically. Sure the maft gi es you a touch of tuneability but w a ms unit or something similar, there is just so many better options. Only downside is that there is a large learning curve to swappi g the ecu. But weve got people around like scott who have mastered it and it is possible to start small and have the ms controll fuel only on the throttle body and this simplifies the learning curve quite a bit. Then you have the option to upgrade to mpi when you feel more comfortable and thats when you can really start to see improvements. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
importwarrior Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 my 2 cents is that the head tends to lift or crack before anything else goes bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funky Phil Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 (edited) i agree about the headgasket. BUT, I truthfully think the stock ignition curve is the problem. Ive seen a handful of modded engines with fuel only pop from detonation. All cracked and melted pistons. Even forged. Thats why locking down the distributor is common place in low budget drag race setups. Im not saying MS isnt better than MAFT, just that your still leaving a big hole without ignition control. Just my opinion. Edited April 8, 2014 by Funky Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliConquestAlex Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 I personally just had my stock cast pistons fail and I'm over 300hp at the wheels. I dynoed at 15 psi and it was 300hp. When the engine failed I was running 23 psi. My head cracked and the ring landings on 2 of the pistons cracked. I'm unsure if it was detonation related or just too much power for the stock internals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funky Phil Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 Come on now. Your ring lands and head cracked. The head aint gonna crack from too much power. Lets see pics. Guarantee you detonated. Since when did 280 become greater than 300?? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starwolf Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 I have been running a TBI car for a while and i'ev recently broke 300whp (it was like 290 on a ******** up mustang dyno and only 18psi if I remember right). It's possible to have a pretty high horsepower car with a good ecu and a great tune even with a stock bottom end. Also, Randy, I paid like $350 for my ecu and it was used but it controls ignition,fuel, boost, and it has several other features. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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