[downest]

I've been thinking about doing this for a while, now it looks like I can get a set of A1 pistons from a friend here at school who is replacing the motor and tranny in his teg. One cylinder is running no compression, could there be a problem with the piston in that one? The others are all at 180-185. Anyway, can I just take mine out and put the new ones in (with new rings of course)? Will I need to do any balancing of the crank or modification of the pistons/rods? How will it affect my redline? I read that the A1 rods are stronger than the A6 rods, which are the weak point in the engine.

 

[grouch]

New pistons from http://acuraautomotiveparts.org/ will run you $40/ea.
$160 for new pistons vs trying to reuse old ones with questionable wear...hmm.

 

[downest]

They're free, and have fewer miles than my A6. I wouldn't think about doing it if I weren't getting a deal, all I have to do is help with the motor and auto-manual swap.

 

[grouch]

Ever heard the expression "penny wise, pound foolish"?

 

[Dren]

you will have to have a shop press out the pins on the old piston/rod combo to put the pistons on a new rod. I would just keep the piston/rod combo together and throw on new rings. of course you do not get brand new rods, but if you really were going to be careful you would buy ARP rod bolts, forged pistons and better than stock A1 rods. of course that's a lot of money too.

i put the A1 pistons onto my A6 rods. we'll see how she holds up soon. no clearance issues. compression goes up quite a bit too.

 

[downest]

I do have a press, but I thought the A1 rods were stronger? Grouch, you may be right, but I wouldn't really consider it if it weren't so cheap. Do you really think it's that bad of an idea?

 

[grouch]

I think its a bad idea...thats just an opinion though.
We're talking pistons/rods. If they get effed up, its not an easy or cheap problem to fix. Take a shortcut today (be it financial or labor) you might be paying for it tomorrow.

 

[downest]

Well is it a lot worse than reusing my 230k mile A6 pistons? I just don't see the big difference I guess.

 

[Dren]

the only reason why i reused my old A6 rods is because i got the A1 pistons by themselves. if the rods were with them i would have used the rod/piston combo.

i am reusing my crank bearings and everything too. just made sure it all went back in the right place. it ran great before i tore it apart, i just wanted to throw in the higher compressin pistons. this is a super budget rebuild. should run well.

 

[downest]

Will I need to rebalance the crank, and will it run fine on 93 pump gas?

 

[Dren]

Will I need to rebalance the crank, and will it run fine on 93 pump gas?

i'll let you know hopefully in a week

don't think u need to rebalance the crank, might be a good idea if you are going to get new rods, new bearings etc.

 

[grouch]

Well is it a lot worse than reusing my 230k mile A6 pistons? I just don't see the big difference I guess.

My point is that if you're going to bother swapping the pistons, do you want to be doing it again 10k later because you trying to save $150 bucks was the priority?

If I were you, I'd leave your 230k a6 pistons where they're at...find an ultra cheap(maybe even free) spare D16a6 block and do a slow build with a1 pistons, as budget permits. When its finished, just swap engines.

I'm not saying you can't reuse the free a1 pistons, but you have no idea what kind of shape they are in (one cylinder was dead?) or if they'll even fit your tired a6 block. What if your 230k block needs an overbore?