With liteweight tool steel pins you can save around 100 grams of weight per cylinder! You can also lighten up the actual piston forging an easy 20 grams + without compromising strength.
While you are at it, have the shop completely remove the small end balance pad of the heaviest rod, then match the weight the other 5 rods. You can also do this to the big ends and save more weight, but the small end eod and piston weight reduction helps more because it is reciprocating.
You start it at the bottom, stop it at the top, then start it at the top and stop it again at the bottom. Every revolution.
Saved small end pin , piston, and rod weight is usually around 140+ grams, x 6 piston assys. = 840 grams.
That may not seem like much, but there are 454 grams per pound. If you beam detail and polish the rods too, you can easily save over TWO POUNDS of reciprocating weight!
Then, because I am really anal, I spend hours grinding/ lightening the casting or forging flash and machining targets on my crankshaft too. On my old 454 chevy CRANK, I removed 7 POUNDS! Not to mention the rods and pistons,
With TRW pistons and stock rods and crank, my bobweight was pretty close to a normal 350 chevy small block bobweight!!
This is not only rotating and reciprocating weight, but also dead weight that you are also moving that 1/4 mile.
I also didn't mention that I do the casting and lightening thing on my block, heads, intake, and all accessory brackets too.
Or, you can just turn the boost up, use more fuel, make more heat, more exhaust back pressure, get closer to detonation and have shorter engine life.......
Ever get yer ass kicked by someone with a smaller cam, turbo, boost, and fewer bolt ons?
JMHO
TIMINATOR
P.S. This partially explains price differences between machine shops on "identical" engines....