stock motor rebuild - seeking recommendations on upgraded components

[srdigital]

howdy,

long story short, my motor has a bad piston and i'm planning on having it rebuilt. goals/supporting mods are a whipple 2.3L, 17-20 PSI range, 91 pump gas (e85 down the line). sub-700 HP.

other than the pistons, is there anything y'all can recommend that i might want to have improved over the stock components during the rebuild? not looking to have a gnarly built motor, stockish is ideal for me. i've got plenty of headroom in terms of cooling, fuel system etc. but able to be smogged in CA is a must!

thank you!

 

[01blckcobra]

Covered many times. Depends on how crazy you want to go. Usually diamond, gibtech, and or CP pistons, Non-Moly coated rings.... (I use stainless piston rings, never any issues) ,arp head studs, arp main studs, arp jack screws, Compression bump for e85 usually 10.5:1 + (could do a 8.7:1 through 9.2:1 if staying 91-93 gas), billet oil pump gear. Could do molnar power adder rods and not worry. Stock would be fine. with or without arp2000 bolts. your choice.

 

[jrgoffin]

My build thread has been up for several years and has tons of info and detail (aluminum block, however, but same idead):
Aluminator Gibtec Build