Is there a way to tell the difference between the 1G big rod and one that is not? Are there markings or something on them?

All the 6-bolt 1G's have the "big rods". I think they got that name from comparing to 7-bolt rods, which are considerably smaller.

Thanks man!

Now it is time to find some 2G pistons!

If this is going into a 2g car then machine work will have to be done for them to fit. If you have a 6bolt with 2g pistons I have heard that they are harder to tune than the 1g pistons. Lots of factors involved. I am in the middle of a 6bolt swap and my advice is to make sure you talk with some who has done the swap or the machine shop because things become pricey quick.

Not sure why there would be tuning issues with a specific type of pistons. There are plenty of people out there with 2G pistons in their 1G motors and no problems.

It is not possible to put 1G rods in a 7-bolt motor. However, it is possible to put 2G pistons on 1G rods in a 6-bolt motor with a bit of machine work.

I believe the real benefit is a slight bump in compression and slightly bigger bore. Not sure on that, it's been awhile since I've read up on them.

Machining guide:
http://hometown.aol.com/rcm1061/myhomepage/auto.html

Here's some very insightful information about the combo copied and pasted from DSMTuners.com:

In the conversation I noted above, the gentleman said the following about his buildup (VPC, 18G, FMIC, 660s)... he said his Extrude Honed intake gave him 35HP on TurboTrix Dyno, his 272 cams gave him 25HP on TurboTrix dyno, the 2G pistons gave him zero HP on TurboTrix Dyno but cost about as much as the other mods. He also started going thru headgaskets pretty regularly (higher compression = more succeptable to knock). Granted he did not have a means to control timing, which with the 1Gs can be pretty radical after 5.5K RPMs (big spike at 6K).

I don't dispute that higher compression pistons will help power production if have control over timing/fuel and properly tuned for it. But for the person whom looks to do this swap as a mod to perfectly fine 1G engine, I still say money is best spent elsewhere.

Also spending the money for parts (rings, HG) / machine work (machining rods, honing of bore..bla..bla..bla) to stick in used cast pistons is a bad idea all around. Forged pistons that fit the 1G rods can be had for ~$400 (I'm sure even cheeper) and will stand up to misjudgements in tuning much better-er



Overall, there's no real advantage to them that substantiates spending the money for machine work and new pistons. Keep your stock 1G pistons or go forged.

For the most part I agree with you, Brett. But there is a noticeable difference in spool time with the higher compression 2G pistons. Again, probably not a big enough difference to purposefully modify the engine with 2G pistons, but if you need new pistons anyway and don't want to spend the money on aftermarket forged, 2G's are the way to go.

I would have to agree Nate. You've got personal experience whereas I can only rely on information relayed to me by other people.

The 2.0 ltr motor was 9 to 1 compression and it ran awsome.
Robert at Road Race Engineering suggested going with the Higher compression.