How-To : Piston Install

[cmiller8006]

On the coolant in the thread hols, we cleaned those out with shop towels and brake kleen, when I talked to arp, they told me the re tq'ing was for the old white pack of lube sent with bolts, with the new blue pack its not as necessar
y......but I do anyway

Good to know. I think I will do it anyway.

[Tennpenn83]

the only thing i see wrong with this is the leftover coolant. the problem being, the coolant will get down into the thread pockets for the head studs and it could make them to seem as if they are bottomed out when really they have just compressed all the coolant in the bottom. over time the coolant could work its way out or evaporate and could be a potential cause of a head gasket failure or lifting/warping the head. its not a for sure thing but i believe this is what happened to my buddies first build. its a long shot but its possible

On the coolant in the thread hols, we cleaned those out with shop towels and brake kleen, when I talked to arp, they told me the re tq'ing was for the old white pack of lube sent with bolts, with the new blue pack its not as necessar
y......but I do anyway

i was just about to type this same thing.

One more thing. I didnt see if you said to retorque the headstuds at the 500 mile service. It does not say you have to but I spoke with ARP and they say it is a good idea. I am not critiqing you either just so you know lol. Just trying to make it easier for the next person.

as billa said, there shouldn't be a need to recheck these with the newer lube, but for reassurance, i have checked them since the rebuild and haven't noticed any backing out. they seem to be tight still.

[Jn2]

so how are we suppose to balance the new piston set up with the engine still on the car? just curious, thats my main concern for not doing it in this manner...my LK9 is going to need pistons for the mods im planning on...i would do it this way if balancing wasn't a issue to be worried about, have you had issues just swapping out pistons in this manner?

[Tennpenn83]

the motor is pretty well balanced from the factory (the LSJ anyway, not sure on the LK9) and the diamond pistons are made to spec to be balanced pretty well already..

i never balanced mine and have had no issues. that being said, it would still be best to balance the entire rotating assembly if you can. but unless you're spinning to 12k rpms, i don't believe it is really needed

[USMCFieldMP]

the motor is pretty well balanced from the factory (the LSJ anyway, not sure on the LK9) and the diamond pistons are made to spec to be balanced pretty well already..

i never balanced mine and have had no issues. that being said, it would still be best to balance the entire rotating assembly if you can. but unless you're spinning to 12k rpms, i don't believe it is really needed

Same motor. IIRC, the only difference between the two are the items bolted onto the outside of the block.

[qwikredline]

Same motor. IIRC, the only difference between the two are the items bolted onto the outside of the block.

agreed and correct. no need to balance cant be beat what you got and Diamond do it right

[cmiller8006]

agreed and correct. no need to balance cant be beat what you got and Diamond do it right

Shouldnt you have the crank rebalanced tho, the new forged diamonds are prolly lighter than the stockers so wouldnt that throw off the over all balance? When I had my lnf crank balanced he had to take out some material.

[qwikredline]

that scares me. dont bet on diamonds being lighter.

[ndbalt07]

I brought my crank in but there is a 10 day wait! gonna go home and grab my pistons and rods and flywheel and bring it all in. They quoted me 100 bucks to do it.

[cmiller8006]

I brought my crank in but there is a 10 day wait! gonna go home and grab my pistons and rods and flywheel and bring it all in. They quoted me 100 bucks to do it.

Not a bad price. My guy weight matched everything to within a tenth a gram, set the ring end gaps, measured for proper bearing clearances, cleaned up the cylinders and made sure there was the right amount of piston to wall clearance, and hot tanked for 150.00

[StevesBlack06]

i blew my coolant out of the pockets w my air compressor, just held a rag over it so the coolant didnt shoot everywhere, glad you guys knew about it. just helpin clarify. good write up thus far guys