I have a 96 eclipse gs that I recently acquired and it needs a full rebuild so I thought mite as well get some opinions on parts and whats the best. So far my list consists of parts that I found at PartsDinosaur.com great site nonetheless.

Most likely going to use the stock pistons and rods again, but is it worth getting new pistons or is it fairly easy to clean the old ones up? I've seen in the Chiltons take half a ring and scrape along and get all the build up out, but is this worth it or just get new stockers?

Main bearings $39.90
Rod bearings $23.28
valve guides $36.64
Valve stem seals $28.64
Head studs or stock head bolts?
timing belt kit $79.95
timing tensioner $169.95
water pump $34.00
oil pump $91.05
rear crank seal repair sleeve $5.95 is it worth it?
Brass Freeze plugs $6.00
Rear main seal $14.95 or should I get an oem one from the dealer?

Most likely be taking the head/block/crank to the machine shop to have everything looked over.


Also as far as headgasket should I get the one from parts dinosaur or some other brand? I know they are prone to leaking so I just want to get the best I can the first time around. As far as the rest of the stuff is there any other brands I should be buying that are better than PartsDinosuar.com or do they have pretty good stuff? I'm not going for performance on this engine it's going to be stock. Just need a good daily driver. Thanks for reading.

For stocker rebuild definitely partsdinosaur. I buy my "regular" parts from him and he is very good to work with.

Are you sure that you need valve guides. I generally don't need to replace them. Ask your shop to check them. Unlikely.

No need for head studs. I am still rockin' head bolts on my 12.5 comp engine. Unneeded.

I'm not a proponent of replacing the oil pump unless there was previous problems. I have personally seen 3 different instances where the new oil pump failed and ruined a rebuild (one of these was an OEM Mitsu). Unnecessary.

No need for the crank seal repair kit unless something goofy happened. I've never had a problem the crank seals I've put in. Just don't flush out the seal and don't lose the inner spring. And as for the crank seal, I've used the seals that come in the kits Bruce (partsdinosaur) has sent me. No problem. Just out of curiousity, I even bought an OEM one one time and that worked fine. Unwarrented.

As for buying your seals etc., what are you doing for engine gaskets? If you don't have any, you will need them. If you buy a kit (upper or lower etc.) they will come with the kit. Need to price that out.

About the pistons, can't answer any of that until you get them to the machine shop and they tell you if you've got to bore them. If you do, you can't use the old pistons. If the bore is fine, I would have no problem just doing rings. The slugs that Bruce sells will do just fine on a stocker rebuild. You might want to think about spending the extra couple/few hundred for some better (i.e. forged) pistons. This will allow for any possibility of future upgrading. Just a thought.

As for the headgasket, I have had no problem with the Felpro gaskets that you get from, say, Advance Auto. I have used one of Bruce's before with no problems. both my high comp engines I used OEM MLS, just to be sure. But for a stocker, I would feel very comfortable with the others.

One thing you might want to think about is valves. You should at least pull and regrind the valves. I would replace with new. And DO NOT put that back together without planing the head. Just one of those things that, IMO, should always be done with a high mileage 2gnt.

Just my 2 cents.

Captain Caveman

96 RS Turbo 11.414 @ 119.62 MSNS, Crower 2 NA cams, BW366, 10.5 comp, UDP, 60mm TB, W/A intercooler, 3.55 tranny 567.9whp 430tq
97 RS NA 13.188 @ 103.87 MSnS powered 12.5 comp, Crower 3's and 219.4whp with 175tq
98 RS DD 12.5 comp on stock ECU, LTH, Crower 2's, Koni, GC, Hypercoil, DG hats
99 OZ 5sp Stocker 15.856 @ 85.97
99 GS stocker auto 17.7@77mph!

wiki home page:http://www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=bullettdsm

Awesome, good to know. I saw he has some Moly-Faced rings. Not sure if anyone has tried those. Are they better or should I just get the regular ones? As far as the stock head bolts I remember reading something about one bolt is longer and needs to be cut down? Not sure if I need to, but just checking. Also the oil pump I'm not sure about because I never saw the engine run so I don't know how well it works. Is there something that pin-points the problem with the oil pumps failing or is it just luck of the draw?

Oil pumps are mechanical, they just wear out like anything else does. If you have high miles, look into getting a new Melling brand pump. They can be had for around $75 at your local auto-zone. As for seals... The upper gasket kit and lower conversion kit includes all of the seals you will need including rear main seals and valve stem seals. A new oil pump should come with the front seal already installed into the pump. Those 2 kits will cost you arond $150 for fel-pro brand. A fel-pro head gasket is an mls gasket and will work just fine.

Captain Caveman

96 RS Turbo 11.414 @ 119.62 MSNS, Crower 2 NA cams, BW366, 10.5 comp, UDP, 60mm TB, W/A intercooler, 3.55 tranny 567.9whp 430tq
97 RS NA 13.188 @ 103.87 MSnS powered 12.5 comp, Crower 3's and 219.4whp with 175tq
98 RS DD 12.5 comp on stock ECU, LTH, Crower 2's, Koni, GC, Hypercoil, DG hats
99 OZ 5sp Stocker 15.856 @ 85.97
99 GS stocker auto 17.7@77mph!

wiki home page:http://www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=bullettdsm

Good deal, I'll definitely go with a mls head gasket. Friend of mine works at carquest so I'm thinking i'll going with that oil pump, since the discount is pretty much the shit. Unless there has been some problems with them? Also about the moly-faced rings, are they any better?

If you plan to abuse your engine, ie: run it hard or at high rpm's, then moly would be a good choice for you. But if it's just a daily driver that will see minimal abuse, then plain cast iron rings would do just fine. Oh, and $169 for a timing tensioner is rediculous. Chances are, you may be able to reuse the one you have. But if not, you can find them a lot cheaper on ebay.

Every once and a while I plan to run it a little hard. Are the moly faced rings something thats going to wear faster? I guess I don't really know whats so great about them.

Maybe this will help you decide. http://www.hastingsmfg.com/ServiceTips/ring_set_composition_recommendat.htm

Not trying to hijack this thread or anything, but do you guys think valvesprings should be replace also? I'm going through the process of gathering parts as well and I have almost 188k miles on it.

The valve springs should be measured for height and spring tension(lbs). If the springs are out of spec, they should be replaced.