[sachin]

I have to spend the money for a new motor so I figued I'd do it right the first time. I have two concerns in particular--rod bearing failure & ovaled cylinder walls. From what I've gathered thus far rod bearing failure in our engines is mostly a result of detonation or oil starvation. I'm not worried about detonation so much(going with a safe tune and running at least 3-4 octane points higher than what I get it tuned for) and there's not much I can do in terms of combating oil starvation in my budget(other than some gauges & an oil cooler...) so I guess that's somewhat a moot point.

When it comes to cylinder ovaling though...that's a potential issue that I really can't find much information on. Has anyone successfully sleeved the EJ257? Do I have an irrational fear of thin cylinder walls? Should I just go with a closed deck block with iron cylinder sleeves?

Also, I am pretty sure I'm gonna go with an 8:1 compression ratio to give me a little headroom to achieve the boost I want.

I want this motor to last at least 50k miles with probably a good 15 track events(figure 30 hours of track time) plus some mild street abuse. The car will be daily driven with 400whp with a 100 octane map for probably around 450-475whp. I'll be running a GT3040 turbo, FMIC, oil cooler, larger radiator, UTEC on top of Ecutek, etc.

I'm just throwing some thoughts out there and looking for some opinions before I start throwing around ideas with different engine builders...

[eatV8]

Rallispec do sleeved EJ257's and also will do a closed block application if that what you want.
www.Rallispec.com
Give them a call and have a chat, I have delt with them and they are full of information.

[Ol'SaltyBastard]

Sounds like you've really got it planned. Sleeving is pricey, but should you have it done along with a "proper" rebuild, I think you can count on way more than 50K miles. If I was to have sleeves installed, I'd make sure to request that torque plates be installed prior to the final honing.

[sachin]

Thanks for the heads up OSB, I just did some research and it looks like you need to have torque plates made for each block so hopefully I can find a shop that has torque plates made for the EJ257.

For the rest of you guys, I just found this on google-- http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=786478 . Apparently Gruppe-S offers budget sleeving.

[Ol'SaltyBastard]

Best of luck in your search. Have you checked out Crawford blocks yet? Those guys deal heavily with Subaru engines, so no doubt they have an engine for your needs. Pricey, though, but nowadays, you get what you pay for.

[sachin]

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...hlight=ovaling <---This thread is why. I just don't approve of Quirt's techniques...trusting that the clearances are ok and then hey, if they're not, fix it after playing around with the customer for a bit. There were--what...2 S3 engines that were smoking and needed to be sent back, and two S2 engines complained of? Then he says he doesn't measure clearances because it's unnecessary? No thanks. And, although Crawford and I-speed are not formally a partnership--I wholeheartedly disapprove of a lot of I-Speed's business practices as well...

I'd rather not have another headache. If anything, I'll use Axis or Rallispec.

[donmei]

Cobb builds short blocks also, I believe.

[calisti]

I had bought a used ej257 bare shortblock with crank to get sleeved. I'll be taking my block to Benson machine in Santa Ana, (714)241-1284. Dan Benson is the most reputable and knowledgable machinist in the industry. He's been in featured in several articles of performance magazines such as Turbo magazine and one of the last ones was a shoot out between several engine builders. He also had collaborated with Crower on a tech build. I had called him up about sleeving my ej257 block and he returned my call and left a message about sleeving a customer's ej257 to a 4" bore. He uses Darton ductile iron sleeves and a $150k cnc to prep for the sleeves and step deck the block. He has to order the sleeves, so it will take some time to get them. Dan has the best customer service hands down. He did my b18b block for my 93 turbo integra sleeved to 83mm, step deck, polished and balanced the crank, and installed Manley rods and cp pistons.
If you want a closed deck, check out www.outbackmotorsports.com, they're located in Buena Park, CA. They were referred to by a tech from Sierra Subaru in Monrovia.