[00quicksilver]

I know this topic has been beat to death but I want to ask some things specific to doing the turbo swap with the N/A motor. I have been pricing out some things and think I could do the swap between 1000-1500. Now, is it ok to use ebay turbo/intercooler or not? Also, if keeping MAF then should i use a universal and should it be blow-through or draw-through? Also, for swapping pistons into the N/A block, do I need to do anything other than a compression test? My N/A motor runs well but I don't know what to look for to make sure it can handle boost. Anyone have any experience trying to tune a MAF turbo setup? This is alot of questions I know, but I prefer to use the motor I have rather than buy a junkyard motor (they are going for around 600 around here with turbo too). Thanks all.

[Mikel89us]

First off, dont buy an ebay turbo. The ebay Intercooler kit is ok, i got one and only had to make 2 cuts to make it fit.
Second, do not try to turbo a stock n/a bottom end. It will end badly. Go .030" over and buy low compression forged pistons.
Third, do NOT make the mistake i did and try to use a stock ECU without a tuner. It will not work. Your best bet is to buy a turbo coupe harness and ecu for starters. You can do it without but if you are just getting into it things will be very difficult to tune properly, and impossible without a tuner.
Your stock bottom end is all fine except the pistons. Your ECU is not fine for a turbo unless you buy a tuner. And if you get a turbo coupe ecu and harness you will also have to do a top-end swap and put in a distributor.
Your best bet is to find a complete turbo coupe engine and harness and rebuild the engine (rebuild the engine either way).
I hope this was helpful.

[03 R Code]

I've seen t/c motors go for $250 before on line. It would be cheaper to buy a junkyard 2.3T and find a harness/ecu/vam that fits it and go from there. With some searching you could have a motor/harness/ecu/vam for less than a grand. And at that point it's only really necessary to replace some gaskets in the engine unless it was known to have an issue before being scrapped.

[Mikel89us]

Originally Posted by 03 R Code I've seen t/c motors go for $250 before on line. It would be cheaper to buy a junkyard 2.3T and find a harness/ecu/vam that fits it and go from there. With some searching you could have a motor/harness/ecu/vam for less than a grand. And at that point it's only really necessary to replace some gaskets in the engine unless it was known to have an issue before being scrapped.

Honestly, i would never put a used engine in one of my cars unless it has less than 40k miles on it. It never hurts to make sure your engine is perfect before putting it in the car.

[brianlepard28]

I have a 93 n/a and looking at doing a turbo. I talked to a guy here and he is going to do it and when it's done he is going to dyno it and tune it. If u go mass air u have to put a bigger mass air on it.

[00quicksilver]

I haven't responded back to this in awhile but I do plan on running a lighting MAF or something similiar (not too sure what to run, used to modulars). I don't like using a "used" engine either. Since I would have to have it torn down and rebuilt, I don't see why I wouldn't just use the one I have in my car. My major concerns are with the tuning aspect but I believe it can still be done. Hopefully I can learn enough through tuning to get it to run to a dyno. Let me know how the build goes brianlepard28. I want to shoot for 300rwhp or so in this build to run mid to low 12's at around 115 in the quarter. I could be way off but with the weight of our cars this should be possible at this power level.

[Mikel89us]

Well if you are going to have the one in your car rebuilt, all you should need is forged pistons, and an oil return machined into the block. Just to make sure that you know, you cant just slap a bigger MAf on it and go, you will have to buy a tuner.

[00quicksilver]

Yeah, for the power level I was going for I know I would need to have it tuned anyways. Can most normal machine shops put an oil return machined into the block?

[Mikel89us]

Most can do the oil return, you could do it yourself with a drill and a pipe tap and the right fitting. And for higher HP than stock for a 2.3T yes you will need a tune.