I for one have never let my auto insurance lapse or missed a premium payment and I sure have enjoyed the benefits when getting into an accident. So, for me, I opted to take the same mentality when building up my "race" block. I needed that added insurance that the engine could take the beating that I'm planning on dishing out.
Now, for the 3L Turbo Contour that I'm working on, I don't plan on pushing it any harder than existing proven setups, so I stuck with stock rods/pistons ONLY because it's an 02 Escape block with the revised pistons. I did however opt for a complete block refreshening (reringed block & reworked heads with valve job & new components) as a little insurance since I wanted a "blank slate" to develop my turbo kit on.
