I have my rr's on the way and a friend of mine told me I should install pistons when I do my rockers. Summit has Keith Black set of 8 for $209, seems pretty cheap. I don't want to go to crazy yet, are pistons a hard job? what kind of gains would I see with them? No plans for heads or cam anytime soon.

 

nah, no need for pistons, ive had my 1.7 for a while now with no problems rolling on 143xxx. you will like the new giddy up

 

you may want to remove that friend from the list of mechanical oracles.

 

hahahahahhah

no man you will be just fine

 

lol. Yeah I always take what he says with a grain of salt. He's an old school guy, keeps calling my Throttle body a carburetor. I'll just stick with the rr's for now. the DIY on here makes it seems pretty easy to install. after the rockers Im getting a new si/do exhaust and maybe headers and that should be it for now. Wont really know where to go after that.

 

It is worth the extra time to remove the fan and fan shroud so you can step down on the sway bar then onto the ground so you will be standing straight up in the engine bay. It will save your back and knees from getting sore. Just lay all your tools on the cowl before you get in there so you don't have to keep getting in and out.
I cut the top off a 5 quart jug of oil and set all the rocker arms in it the night before then added just enough cheap oil to completely submerge them.

 

If you're looking for a way to make a $300, 2 hour job into a 2 week, $2000 job, by all means, get the pistons.

 

lol, touche

 

While you're in the neighborhood, you might as well replace the main bearings and rear main seal... I mean you are, afterall, working on the engine, right? And while you're working on the truck, you might as well change your lawn mower's oil too. Now that you are in a "fluid changing" mood, go inside and tackle that fish tank that is starting to turn green. Can't have too much preventative maintenance you know...

lol.

On a more serious note, almost all the guys on here with HS 1.7 rr are running stock pistons with stock bottom ends, without any problems. Maybe he was thinking your engine didn't have any pistons... then he's totally right!

enjoy the new power!

JT

 

That's not old school, that's ignorant. I'm old school (50 years old in 2011) and still have parts enough to tune any Carter AFB (or Thermo-Quad) for any conditions on Earth, but dammit there's no mistaking a throttle body for a carb if you're looking at it or even just know the model year of the vehicle.

Okay, all of my carb parts are in storage so if you need a green spring it'll be a while before I get at it, but still...