Hey everyone i am planning a 402 build an i have questions on what pistons to use. Its gonna be a NA motor most the time but i wouldnt mind spraying it with a small shot in the future. Im gonna use Callies rods and crank but i dont know what pistons and rings to use. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Diamond weisco eagle, any major brand would be a good pick.

 

Perhaps get in touch with an established sponsor and get an entire rotating assembly from the same place. You'll get a better deal and better support for questions that might arise down the road.

 

What type of piston should i use. Flat top, dish, ect?

 

You clearly have no clue what to look for, you should either
A buy a complete rotating assembly or
B have a reputable sponsor or shop build your motor

If your parts dont work together, you may have yourself a $60000 coffee table.

Flat tops are just that, flat
Dome, well the name kinda gives it away, comes with and without valve reliefs and helps raise compression
Dish also come with and without valve reliefs and usually are used to help lower compression but can also raise it depending on what you had

 

Your right i dont know exactly what i am looking for but i have rebuilt several Gen 1 sbc that ran great. Im asking for advice because i am not sure what would be the best for my application. Like the title says this will be my first LS build.

 

And thats cool man, but lemme tell ya lsx world is quite a bit different, and so is the machine work involved.

Heres my suggestion, go up to a 408, that makes a 4.030 bore and will help open up a lot of head choices for you.
Also, like I said, stick with a rotating assembly already matched. Eagle is a great budget friendly choice and theres more too. If you are a street driven car 11:1 is the norm for what most people shoot for, for compression. 11:5:1 is about the max for pump gas without some extra attention to tuning and other details.

 

Basically im building a brand new motor cause my LS1 is destroyed from a thrown rod. How much is machine work on a new block. And is all the bad things i hear about eagle true.

 

Youre gonna hear good and bad from every manufactuer, I dont know anyone myself thats ever had a problem. Machine work probably gonna run you somewhere 5-700 -/+

Also, instead of forking up money for a new block try a junkyard, if you are gonna redo it all then as long as the block itself is ok youre fine and you could save a pretty penny. But if youre starting from scratch I def gotta say go for ls3/L92 block. That big bore would really open up head choices and give you some serious power too especially in stroker form.

 

So is the LS3 block a direct bolt in replacement into LS1 engine mounts or will i have to rearrange my engine bay. Also what size is the LS3 block. And lastly i have to have all this back together by march.

 

Direct replacement. Ls3 is 6.2L with a 4.060 bore

 

So if u stroked a LS3 block it would be a 408?

 

A 4" stroke in an LS3 block will give you 416 or 418 ci depending on the overbore.
You'll end up with some sort of dish to the piston at that ci. If you're planning on staying NA.

 

Thanks for all your info guys. So its sounding like dome pistons would be what im looking for. Now what size valve relieves should i get with them. I know valve relieves are based on heads and cam but what is a good middle of the road depth that will give me the most options.