The LS2 I am swapping unfortunately has corrosion pitting in the number two cylinder. This will necessitate boring and new pistons for the motor. I don’t have any plans for forced induction or nitrous. So I would rather not deal with the cost, clatter, oil consumption, and short lifetime of forged pistons when I don’t need the strength advantage they offer. There doesn’t seem to be much (if anything) posted around here regarding stock rebuilds. So I was wondering what might be a good stock-type hypereutectic piston for the LS2.

There are a few that I have been looking at. One is the DNJ P3170. This piston has the advantage of accommodating the correct 1.2/1.5/2.5mm ring pack for the motor. It is also the cheapest (available in places for less than $200 a set). But it is almost TOO cheap. In other words, is this truly a quality part?

The Sealed Power H1129CPA is another option I have been considering. They cost about $250 at Summit Racing, which at least suggests a decently good product. However, even the flat top LS2 pistons use the 1.5/1.5/3mm ring pack used by the truck engines. Not sure if this is a problem.

Mahle makes the 224-3665, which is another one that I have consided. But I don’t like the fact that compression height is reduced by .01 inches. This piston also uses a 1.5/1.5/3mm ring pack. But I am not sure I want this one due to the reduced compression. Price is similar to Sealed Power.

Silvolite also makes a set of hypereutectics for the LS2. These cost around $350, which is the most expensive set. But I would be willing to pay this if they are truly the best of the bunch here. They do, however, still use the 1.5/1.5/3mm ring pack. These appear to be the pistons sold with the rebuild kit available from WS6 Store.

Finally, there is OEM. We know these pistons are good, as people put hundreds of thousands of miles on these motors without rebuilding. Many folks here even get some pretty respectable power levels from these pistons without too much fuss. But they are quite expensive, possibly because they don’t come in sets (only individually). There are, however, the fewest unknowns with these pistons.

Anyone have any opinions on these options or possibly know of other options worth considering?

Silvolite is also available in .01 over. Not sure that will be enough to clean up my bore, though. As for forged, I would probably pony up for forged if it wasn’t for the downsides of running forged pistons.