Those of you who done it, post your findings here for posterity. We can all benefit from caveats of those who've started this route first.

With enough posts, mods may promote this one to a sticky up to you guys.

 

I am sure you have heard this before but "use the search feature". There is LOADS of info on this topic that would take weeks to read.

I read as much as i can when searching for answers and I only start threads when I have more specific questions that I could not find the answers to by searching.

A good trick is to search the "title of the thread" for the specific key word your interested in learning about.

 

I guess some advise would be do get a good builder who has the right knowledge to to the right machining for this motor. Don't go cheap with this motor. Knowledge costs. We have all seen several sources for pistons,rods,cams, hardware, etc. The most popular rod seems to be the Pauter rods combined with an Arias, CP, or Wiseco forged piston. ARP head and main studs are mandatory. Stock headgaskets seem to be able to handle the FI duty with no issues yet. Camshafts with FI are up to the owner. Many seem happy with the stock cams but there have been successes with JWT S1 cams, Tomei 264's, and Nismo. Depending on the choice of FI kit you may need to upgrade the fuel system. Some like the APS TT kit come complete with a return system conversion, fuel pump upgrade,injectors, and fuel pressure regulator .... others do not and need to be upgraded to make it to the higher power levels. I am sure there is more.....someone can expand.

 

I was basically going to go through with building my engine without the ARP studs. I knew it was an option but just wondering if you can elaborate why you feel the ARP studs are mandatory?

 

With high boost it is always a good idea to upgrade the fasteners in the engine. Most forged rods already come with them...so you don't have to worry there. The next most important upgrade..I feel....is the head studs. Especially with the amount of labour involved to change a headgasket if you blew one under elevated boost. They help with a little better seal on the stock headgasket.
If you are running increaded rpm's then the ARP main studs would be next.

 

The head studs cost under 200 for the set. That is well under 5% of the total cost to build a forged internal VQ35DE. I wouldnt even bother building up an open deck block like ours w/o upgrading the head studs.

In general, its a good idea to upgrade all the fasteners on the bottom end because with FI, they are subjected to twice the power they were originally intended for. Its hard to imagine but fasteners will stretch under enough load. Thats bad for the bearings and just about any other moving part attached to the fastener.

 

Head studs are suprior to head bolts...period. Studs allow for a more uniform torqueing of the head to the block, and the design of a stud is inherintly strong, more secure, and more even. And ARP has been making some of the best fasteners around for many many years.

As enron said, the studs are so cheap...although not $200...hehe...more like $350 or so for both sets of head and main studs.