1911 build from 1.7 which budget parts from AA, Hold my hand like a child Options

[nditiz1]

So I'm debating doing the top end on my 1.7 I recently dropped a valve on.

Looks like I can buy all items from AA performance. Can I just buy the 1.7/1.8 96mm P&C and the 1.8 AMC heads and call it a day? I'm getting confused on what I read about opening to 105mm bore on the 1.7 heads for 96mm Pistons. The AA website talks about modifying heads to 103mm bore. I guess I could also just use 2.0 heads, but my tin wouldn't match.

Sorry for being dumb...

[914sgofast2]

The quick and dirty thing to do would be to buy a new set of the 1.8 liter heads, since they won't need to be fly cut for the outside diameter of the 1911cc P&C kit's cylinders. Then remove your connecting rods and take them to a machine shop so they can straighten the rods and install new piston pin bushings. (You also have to buy new piston pin bushings, but they are relatively cheap).

If you are on a tight budget, you could then just reinstall the connecting rods with the old connecting rod bearing shells, but I would never recommend it unless the old bearings were perfect. It is better if you also install new connecting rod bearing shells when you put the rebuilt connecting rods and new pistons back into the engine.

Many "internet keyboard mechanics" are now writing that the Silverline brand of connecting rod bearings should be avoided because they are poorly made. (I have no opinion or experience with using Silverline brand bearings, so I will not opine on their claims) However, I suggest you start looking for a set of connecting rod bearing shells made by Mahle, Kolbenschmit, or Glyco -- and preferably made in Germany (the gold standard) or in Brazil. Avoid Chinese made engine bearings at all costs.

At all costs avoid the temptation to put a bigger than 96mm sized set of P&Cs in your engine. If you are still running the Djet FI system, the engine will never run correctly. If you are running carbs, then you will spend many hours and lots of money trying to tune the carbs and find the right jet sizes to work with the larger displacement. In addition, going bigger than 96mm piston sizes creates engine air cooling issues and oil cooling issues.