Help me polish my silver lining - please

[SpydieNut]

OK, so I'd booked my 09 plate STI 330s in for a major service. I've had it 7 months and have done 2.5k miles (72500 in total now). In the week before it went in, I noticed blue smoke from the exhaust on cold starts .

Took it to Prosport and the upshot is he thinks it's a cracked ringland. I'm taking it back and dropping it off next week for further inspection and then fixing.

So, assuming it's going to need an engine rebuild, what upgrades would be worth doing while it's all apart - like forged internals etc.

I plan to keep it for years to come, as I think it's just a fantastic package and is an absolute animal in power and handling.

I don't really want to go down the modification route to gain more power etc, as I really don't think it needs it (for me, anyway).

Many thanks

[paulmoonraker]

Forged pistons, uprated head studs, ACL bearings, modified fuel pump, Killer B oil pick-up (shipped from the USA - this is well worthwhile given the failure problems).

Get decent pistons. I have Omega which are expensive but really good. Yes, they are a harder alloy which means they rattle on cold start, but if you have had the block properly machined then they should be as quiet as standard when the engine is up to temp.

[SpydieNut]

thanks paul - that sounds good. i'll have a chat to him on Saturday, when I drop the car off and he's had a chance to do some more tests and see exactly what's wrong. then we can have an idea of what it'll cost to put right - ranging from just replacing the broken item, to upgrading the internals, as you suggest.