So...
Stock block with drop in pistons.
IAG stage 1 block which is bearings, pistons.
or
IAG stage 1 plus block, bearings, pistons, bored and honed to 99.75mm for a tighter fitting piston.
My radiator failed, as soon as the temps spiked I got off the road, not sure what failed or is failing but something happened.
When the motor is cold, it sounds perfect. once the motor is up to temp, it has a sound coming from the drivers side head. at 95K miles I'm surprised something in the block didn't fail, but something in the head isn't right.
Almost like a rocker arm starts to stick once its up to temp.
Car goes to Andrewtech soon, pretty sure the motor will need to be pulled to fix the issue. with that being said I'm not fixing it even if its a $500 fix. no point in putting a 95K mile motor back in.
Originally I wanted to do a OEM short block and be done, MAYBE drop in pistons, but I just dont trust OEM stuff, it's a luck thing, it either last because you got lucky, or you spin a bearing or lose a ringland. 2015s are still having bearing failures within 2-3K miles of being brand new. Crazy...
Plan right now is to pull the motor/tran and have the transmission redone since the owner before me jacked up 4th and 5th, the cocktail made it better but still not right.
I use the car 99% of the as a backroad toy, debating on sticking with my VF48 which has around 10K miles on it, or selling that and getting a Blouch sp? 18G XT or 18G XT-R