High milage car mods
 

Have got a UK 97 Turbo with 95K miles.

I get piston slap for a few minutes from cold, but not burning oil and flew through MOT emissions test.

Planning to add a sports cat down pipe and straight through centre section, but I'm a little worried about deterioration of the piston slap problem.

Anyone got any experience with this sort of thing.

Will hold off ECU upgrade as I expect this is asking for trouble ?

Cheers

(Incidentally no replys on technical formum and no one interested on group buy either :( )

You haven't got leprosy or something have you? ;)
A 97 with a bit of piston slap is not unusual! If the engine is in good condition - regular servicing, good quality oil and fuel etc. your mild mods should not give any problems, even a re-map (new chip on a 97 I believe?) with sensible boost level should not over-stress the engine. Just be aware that it's knocking on a bit (pun not intended!)
JohnD

Well, I wondered if I had '*wat' on my forehead, but leprosy explains it now.

I knew piston slap was a feature :Whatever_ does this indicate what will go pop eventually and any ideas on milage left ?

Cheers

As long as the engine quietens down as it warms and there is no perceptable slap when hot, it should be ok Drive gently when the car is cold as slap tends to be heard when the engine is under load. Piston slap when cold is more common than you might think and manufacturers sometimes incorporate various methods of minimizing the problem. Early Sierra Cosworths for instance had a comment in the handbook about it! Revised piston design in later versions cured the problem. (As did Subaru with the "phase two" engine - 99 on)
JohnD