I am looking into rebuilding my engine before I add a turbo. I just wanted to know some info from people who have done this. What's the cost involved? What parts are recommended? Not recommended? Good sites to buy the parts? Is it worth it overall? I am eventually looking to get as much power out of this car as possible, so any type of engine mods are fair game. I'm thinking port and polished heads, oversized pistons, cams, rods, studs, and springs. Also what kind of whp can I expect from these mods before adding a turbo?

 

hmm i actually have asked some of my turbo friends the same questions...they said that if i build the motor and lower the compression the car will be a little slower than it is now because i will be lowering compression but granted it's ready for turbo so you can just slap one on there and go for high whp and not worry about risking the motor it all depends on if you trying to build the head and get n/a hp or f/i hp if you want f/i then you wanna lower the compression btw if anyone wants to correct me if i'm wrong but i think thats the idea of it as for the parts they said the best bet is buy it piece by piece get everything you need and have someone install it all at once (saves you $$$) unless you install yourself.

 

not worth it really.

overal cost total would be about 8 grand including parts and labor.

you can make 300 whp easy on the stock engine.

having as much whp as you can on a frontwheel drive car is very hard to handle and drive.

after you build the engine, you have to build up the axels to handle i think over 350-400 whp.

and you will have one beefy left leg from working that heavy duty clutch.

unless your building a dragster, which a tc and most other front wheel drive cars aren't the best platform to begin with, a cars performance is about balance, the car with the highest hp doesn't mean it is the fastest around the track.

most stage 1 turbo kits range from about 250-300 whp depending on tune.

 

You can run stock internals up to 300whp assuming good tuning.

Over and above the internals will need to be addressed.

You can check out our site: www.dezod.com as we have over 200 tC parts!

 

i spent about 6Gs. but that was cuz i threw a rod on my stock block. then again my the owner of the performance shop hooked me up with a used engine and we went with after market internals.(CP pistons, Carillo rods, ....etc. ) with a boost controller & air diversion panel. but its been 3months now and i still havent got the negine back yet.

 

Ok. that's all good information. I want to achieve somewhere close to 400 hp. Somewhere above 350. What engine parts should I upgrade and what turbo kit should I go with to achieve that? In other words, what parts cannot handle above 300 hp? Im pretty sure I know what Paul@Dezod will say. I do like the kit though. I have been looking into the Turbonetics also.

 

pistons, rods, bearings, cometic headgasket, arp studs

dezod has all that stuff just talk to them.

 

if you are shooting for 350-400 whp, you do not want the turbonetics kit. it really isn't designed to be taken to those levels.

consider a dezod signature kit, or tuner kit, or a turbo toyota's kit.

 

Turbonetics won't get you there. It has a hard time reaching 310 WHP even with standalone and hours of tuning. Trust me. I've tried. That turbo really struggles and things get really hot really fast. To be honest with you you can reach 350-360 WHP on the stock motor and drive it everyday without having any problems provided you do two things. One get a decent Garrett GT Series Turbo which increases efficiency by quite a bit (sometimes over 10%). Two, get a standalone ECU (Hydra EMS). Do those two things and you can reach your goal or pretty darn close without even taking the valve cover off. If you want even more pump fuel power you can go alcohol injection but I prefer not to as it can cause motor damage if it ever fails.

 

Hey Guru, I see you are in Novi. I am in Milford. Do you do work yourself, or do you go somewhere? I probably need some help once I get the parts. I also don't know where a good dyno is except for Royal Oak.

 

I'm sure Dan can help you out. He has done all the tuning on my tC. I'm in Novi as well if you ever wanna see or ride in a fast tC...hehe

 

Fast and Lambo green don't forget Ben! I work on a lot of projects. I am building a motor for mildmodtc on here. You can do a search and check out her GT35RSS setup. It is the same setup I made for Ben's brother Bob although he has not installed it yet. Let me know if I can help in any way. What kind of setup are you doing ekqaudio?

 

Not completely sure yet. Thats why I started this topic. I want a turbo kit, but something a little different than just a turbo kit. Thats why I want some engine work done so I can get more out of the turbo. I still have alot of work to do. Just having some good old budget issues. My TC is basically stock right now, full exhaust and short ram. Some basic add ons to change the look, but nothing huge. I have the Tsudo headers and catless downpipe and the CEL is on. I have had so much trouble working with those headers because the downpipe is made bad. O2 bung is in the wrong location, so anti-fouler's won't fit. Also the downpipe is shorter than the stock setup, so now the rest of my exhaust is short, which makes the axle back piece rattle against my crossmember. Sucks! So I think im gonna take it to an exhaust shop and have them make something up. Any other ideas? Ben, I would really like to see your TC. Maybe when the weather gets nice. I am also interested in the type of clutch and flywheel you recommend?

 

Cheap headers will always have issues. You get what you pay for. You will ditch it anyway if you go turbo which makes me wonder why bother? As for the clutch it will very depending on your power goals you have in mind. Be prepared to spend at least $5000-$6000 to go turbo the right way so hope you have your pennies saved up.

 

Yeah. I have not saved quite enough money yet. That's why I was looking into fixing my CEL for the time being. I realize the cost in f/i and I am saving up.

 

watching

 

around 400whp you may need to address the ignition. i will be using a msd box, and others have used an hks. the factory coils just have a hard time operating properly when you start making that kind of power.

you guys are talking about 6k-8k lmao... i got 10k+ already wrapped up in mine, and the car is on jackstands witht he transmission sitting off in a carner, and the motor bolted in on one mount but when your shooting for 550-600whp, you can't just bolt ____ on and go!

 

I don't have any ignition problems and I'm over 400 WHP at the track. Are you sure?

 

yea, you need a new ignition.