bored block

[cre]

Originally Posted by CRE

...the original rods are more likely to fail than the original pistons would have been. New OEM rods would be fine, but I'd have them balanced and cryo treated...

In saying "the original rods" I was referring to the 20yo old rods which came with the car (we'll forget the fact that I was comparing the longevity of the 20yo pistons to that of the 20yo rods, it was merely academic anyway). With cryo treatment or shot peening (or both) they (new, OEM rods) can indeed prove very robust. Shot peening does not give you an end product which is as tough as a rod which was forged... in the absolute simplest of descriptions think of shot peening as forging after the fact. Shot peening is only surface deep; Forging goes all the way to the core.

What he needs is going to depends entirely on his long term power goals... yeah, I've heard of people putting down massive amounts of power on stock rods... BUT I've seen a LOT more people post pictures of their stock rods protruding from the engine or a hole where it had.

You can find sets of high end pistons and rods for a decent price here in the U; Sometimes for just a little more than the pistons themselves would have cost. It's all a matter of shopping around, waiting and sometimes just asking the right person... watch for group buys on all the different Supra related forums.