Originally posted by Zardoz So, my two thoughts on the subject are build it solid (hopefully with a little more HP than stock) and replace the pistons when the time comes or run lower than stock compression pistons with a milled head to get the compression back up then when the time comes replace the head. I'm leaning heavily toward the piston swap for a number of reasons. What do you guys think?
If you're going to rebuild it now, might as well go with forged internals so you don't have to rebuild it again later. With boost in the forcast, I'd just go ahead and get the lower CR slugs. Each point CR is really only 4% change in BHP, so we're talking 5-6bhp. Not worth nitpicking. If it really bothers you, source a spare head and have it milled down to bring the CR back up a bit. Then, when the time comes to go really crazy, have the original head built and swap 'em.
Some good bolt-ons for now (and later) would be an underdrive pulley, the Jeep 60mm TB, and a nice clutch (check out SBC in our header). Otherwise, new upper and lower gasket sets from the dealership, water/oil pumps, and all the other little maintenance issues that come up. That should set you right.
