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My new shortblock with manley drop ins. I'm hearing a tick from the bay that is probably normal but I because it's got forged pistons I am really paranoid. Here's a video of the sound. Sound normal? Easiest to hear it at :40. https://youtu.be/gs_-glby-W4

Thats coolant temp, not oil temp. Coolant heats up before the oil does is my understanding.

Well the heads are not on yet so I suppose I could have the oem pistons put back in. I dont think its fair to say I dont have a plan. The plan was to have a safe build for the power Im running. With as tight of clearances as I can get on the manleys with a fresh shortblock, offset wristpins reducing piston slap and proper break in am I really "screwed"? The latest best advice has been to trust the builder. Builder thinks I should relax.

New oem with gradeds and arp studs. The shop has a great local rep and I've had the best experience with them of the 3 local subie shops that deal with performance cars. Their race history isn't as extensive as some other local shops here but their customer service and communications is the best from my personal experience. They have not been working with the manleys long enough to see how long they will go though which makes sense since they've only been on market for 3 years.

Well, Builder is already in the middle of putting the manley's in now. Here's hoping I didn't screw this up.

So no one but Fahr Side likes the Graded Manley drop ins for a new block? Are there graded 4032's that don't require splitting the block?

Turns out it was a spin rod bearing, not a bent rod. So oiling issues.

Before my engine blew this is exactly how I would have described it. Hoping the new engine comes without this quirk.

Oops, I thought both measurements were metric.

So, it should be obvious I have no clue what I am talking about. That said .003 is 25 times smaller then .08. I am pretty sure I saw some folks saying their own bore and hone to match their purchased pistons led from .0015 to .005, with .005 claiming to be loose. So, how much stupid did I just type out?

Rootbeer most likely just blew a ringland on newish block. Yeah, oem pistons can go take a hike.

I dont see myself going bigger then dom 1.5 on e85 because I don't want to wait till 4500 to feel boost, so that limits me to the 400hp range. This car has car seats in it, and there is a limit to how much power I can use on the highway without getting my license taken from me and my kids kept alive. 500 hp is just not going to happen. If I start looking at that then I'll buy a dedicated track car. As for 4032 vs 2618 there is more evidence for 4032 piston breakage from what I've read on nasioc and since there is not a graded a b drop in for 4032 like the manley's I'll have to pay more for machine work. In addition the ptw for the graded manleys is .0023-.0031 which seems to be in the same range is what people get boring and honing with 4032 pistons. In some reports even tighter. That with the offset wrist pins and coated skirts makes me think the manley's are probably the safest bet for reliability. I don't have to rely on a machine shop getting it right and also not and paying extra for the chance. I would absolutely stay oem except I am not certain the ringlands will last 90k with my vf52 on e85, and I am even less certain that the dom 1.5 would be safe with stock pistons. Heck my vf52 holds 17.+ psi to redline so I might be able to get more then 330 out of it on e85. I have a few days yet before he drops the manley's in even though the parts are already ordered, so if someone wants to convince me that the oem can take it or that 4032 is better then 2618 I'm all ears. Until Boxita showed up with that long post history and "moderator" status I was accepting the sage advice of the respected Mr. Fahr.

The builder has seen me add more and more bolts ons since I bought the car and his assumption was I will keep wanting power. So he suggested fully forged internals. But after discussing my concerns about longevity but balancing it with the pile of pistons with broken ringlands they have in the shop, the graded manley's seemed like a good idea. As long as I can warm it up by driving mellow and staying low revs it shouldn't be too bad. The primary people suggesting oem are people talking about high hp builds they've seen that have not blown a ringland yet. And I'd just like the peace of mind. You hear of random piston failures on stock cars all the time and so I just don't want to be unlucky in 60k miles. What were the ptw clearances on your forged build? I've read many people using the A B manleys and being happy with them.

I don't know why you were hot to blame the tuner before. He advised me against 21 psi but I see lots of vf52 dyno plots with 21psi so I thought what the heck. Yeah it was an older car and I should not have pushed it so that's why I am here. I won't be paying the shop extra labor to tear apart the engine beyond pulling off the things that can my transferred to the new block. If they see something when they drop the oil pan I'll update. As it is I think the low end torque either bent the rod, heads lifted which led to a bent rod, or the bearing gave out from abuse. Either way I think I am good going with just the drop ins and arp studs with the next block.

Oh I hear yeah, mostly was posting that information for the other guy. I've gone with your advice and am doing the drop ins and arp studs and the rest oem except for my bolt ons. Only thing is my builder won't be able to retorque the studs at 1000 miles per arp's instructions.

I was road tuned. Mods: intake, tmic, 3 port bc, bpv, up, dp, elh, dw850, dw65c, group n mounts, jmp billet vf52. Let's assume the tune was knock free. Let's assume this guy does conservative tunes. Could the tune bend rods or spin bearings? Bending rods is low end torque which I honestly have been in pursuit of. Spun bearings is oiling issues which despite positive blackstones doesn't discount cumulative damage that may have occurred with previous owners.

Woukd a bigger turbo like a dom 1.5 or 20g be better for our cars since they spool later and push the band to the right which is safer in terms of low rev/high load?

I am not sure how the tune could've bent the rod. The rod wasnt bent when I drove it away. It could also be a spun bearing, they have not tore the motor apart yet. The assumption is rod or bearing based on the sound. I assumed the failure was bad mainenuence the first 100k.

Was that for the graded drop ins?

Fahr_side, f&$@ yeah! You da real mvp!

When I asked the builder about 4032 pistons this is what he wrote. "We called them and the information we got was the 2618 material that the Manley drop in pistons are made of are actually designed to have better longevity then the older pistons and if clearances properly along with proper brake in shouldn't have any issues with engine noise or longevity. This is what all the companies were basically saying and that's what they are all using now a days. The 4032 material has been basically outdated and replaced I guess."

Im 90% sure im just going to go with the manley graded dropins. The shops tuner said the stock bearings and rods aee good to 450 if I change oils every 1500. I just want to pound on the vf52 and not worry about it.

Your opinion is to stay with my current mods on a new short block and forget about it? Yeah.... For the last 2 years I have had the car I was always paranoid. I kind of like the idea of insurance for a couple of forged internals. I've asked a few places about this and people who have gone forged all suggest I do the same and the people who didn't again the same. I think your opinion is the right one but the insurance of not worrying about ringlands seems really nice especially since I might try a dom someday.

I read through the thread and all it does verify I am right on the line. I am not going to track my car. It just wont happen. I think I either just want drop in pistons or full oem. Not really interested in screwing with it further then that. The wiseco point is interesting but my builder did not mention those and I have seen pictures of broken wiseco on nasioc.

So I bent a rod within 15 minutes of picking up my car from having it tuned for e85 @21 psi with a vf52. I am the third or 4th owner and the guy I bought the car from was vague about oil changes, (my blackstones always came back good though...) I knew something was going to happen at some point and now I am in the inansb club. Minnesota is blessed to have a large subaru crowd with lots of great guys and gals locally. I feel my mechanic is great and trust him to do well and his prices quoted are already good and fair. Right now I am running a vf52 with practically all the supporting mods. I was thinking about the dom 1.5 in a year or two before the engine went boom, but I wanted to see what the vf52 could do on corn before I dropped more money on the fire in my engine bay. I didn't even really get a chance to really drive the car on e85 to know if I liked it or not. Right now I am debating between going full oem or adding some forged pistons. If I knew I was going to stay with the vf52 on e85 I think I would just go oem and be done. I am fairly confident that if I wanted more power I would stop at dom 1.5 power levels. I like the idea of full oem for longevity, quiet, lack of blow by, and less engine wear then forged. I am worried about oem only for dom 1.5 power levels. I know though if I went dom 1.5 with oem I would tell them to go conservative on the tune. Also if the vf52 on corn is enough for me then I saved a bit of cash. Forged comes with the inconvenience of warms up being far more critical. Forged pistons sometimes make less power then stock. A forged build can go wrong (though I trust the builders). A forged build might not last 200k where as oem will. At the end of the day I think I'd rather go oem because it's cheaper and less fussy but I might throw a 20g or dom 1.5 on in 2-3 years also. Lots of people tell me it's all in tune and everyone else says stuff can go wrong at any time. Looking for good advice from the folks who have been at this a while. Thanks!