Originally Posted by
xspower
The engine should not have alot of mechanical pinch at the top. The engines are not like a Nova and when the pinch is gone the engine is worn. When the engine is free with very little to no mechanical pinch the engine should be real fast. You can get as many as 8 gallons from what I have seen at the max. I think it also depends on the fuel of course and also how hot it runs and all the rest how it was treated. And yes change the rod. For the pipe I do not know I have heard and I have not seen so just passing on the info that the engines run hotter with non picco pipes. Do not know you would have seen a change if any there yourself.
I agree that compared to a nova engine the engine almost feels free of pinch but that is about when it is broken in properly and has the most top end and will last gallons at that same level. You should change the rod when it gets to this free feeling and then the rods last a bit longer but one per gallon is a good rule of thumb because it doesn't seem to be something you can measure to determine when it will fail and cost you a piston/sleeve and possibly the case. I use one rod to break all my engines in for the first half gallon or so and then swap back to the one that came in the engine for the next half gallon.
I have tried the Skyline VR12 pipe with the evo3 and it's decent all around but the 2607 gets more run time and torque and the 2617 pulls harder than the 2607. I used to like the 2607 everywhere, but it seems like I can gear around the difference and use the 2617 all the time now. I can't comment on the temps though because I have no real idea what my engines run at.