I4 modification FAQ

[M.Hicks]

my question is simple I have a stock l4 2.0 with atx now what is the best way to go?

I'd have to say your question is somewhat subjective, in that, you have to assess your application? Is it a daily driver? trailor queen? or a non-street legal track only car? If it's a non-street legal, gutted, 25psi turbo, 150 shot NOS car, obviously thats not your daily driver... so what's your application?

[Stage36]

Originally posted by noocluee
As far as price I think mine were like $690 for pistons and Rings. I had the compression ratio lowered on mine too though so that may have cost me a little more.

wow... i had an overbore and a non-stock compression ratio and mine were right around $460 IIRC...



Jeez, i really missed out on this thread... oh well, no computer, no MX6.com

now that i am out of school, ill have the time and money to put the stage 3 back together again... i have some special goodies that are going to be implemented that have never been used on cars before and some other things that havent had much play in the street car world... i also have a spare tranny that i can take my time to build and wait on parts. im hoping to make so much power that its difficult to hook up with the track. itll be a freeway monster, plain and simple... 35MPH and up.


This should be fun...

[ssaiyan4m]

Hey Stage36, I want to rebuild my engine so, what is my first step in taking this procedure? Can you tell me how you went about it when you rebuilt your engine and how much total did all of this cost?

[Stage36]

well, i did it the wrong way. i didnt have the fuel system up to par yet but i ran the engine anyways. after i broke it in, i stomped on it a few times and melted 4 valves... after that i started going to school and ran out of money so it just sat. im getting it shipped down here from albuquerque (old home) pretty soon to start the project again.


anyways, i spent about $4K on engine goodies but sorta went overboard. i didnt really have a plan, i just sorta started ordering [shizzle] hoping it would work. anyways, get a REALISTIC power goal in mind, then figure out what you need to do to get that power. then you will need to take into consideration the side effects of this power. for me, the car would idle all over the place, torque below 4K was almost absent, and overall not a good daily driver. once you get over that, then find out how much it will cost to make that amount of power reliably. if you catn afford that or arent willing to pay that, youll need to decrease your power goal or use a different method.


if youd like to build your engine, id say thats a good start. keep emissions and inspection in mind. make sure you cover all your bases to get a good RELIABLE build...

[Phat6InVA]

Hey I have 94 I4 daily driver atx, I will have to rebuild my engine as it is old (almost 200k) I have a brand new trans though. Car runs perfectly and I mean no problems at all, the only thing I am putting under the hood right now is a cai. What is the maximum power that I can acheive for about $3grand, and keep it a daily driver.

Thanks for the help.
I apologize if this has allready been covered (I was in a hurry).

[M.Hicks]

Do you plan on turboing in the future? or are you just going to stay NA? If you're going to turbo in the future you should rebuild your engine with that in mind, such as forged internals so you can run higher boost and not blow the engine. Leave your compression at 9.0:1, that will be sufficient for daily driveing. If you going to stay NA then you should consider boring and running higher compression, say 10:1 or 11:1. Turbo or NA you should get some custom grind cams, go somewhat mild if it's going to stay your DD. Most of the easy performance things you can do to your cars and keep it DD'able don't realy involve the actual engine. Consider a CAI, larger TB, P&P IM, a header, high flow cat, and full cat-back exhaust. Anything more than the stuff I mentioned above starts to effect your daily driveability and can become expensive and serious.

[ssaiyan4m]

So basically if I'm goin to rebuild my engine all I have to do is just bore out my valves and get bigger pistons if I am goin to stay NA and go w/ a compression no more then 11.1. The go w/ the basic stuff such as CAI and etc.

[nolanspawn]

Originally posted by ssaiyan4m
So basically if I'm goin to rebuild my engine all I have to do is just bore out my valves and get bigger pistons if I am goin to stay NA and go w/ a compression no more then 11.1. The go w/ the basic stuff such as CAI and etc.

Rebuilding an engine is far more complicated, depends on how much power you plan to put out and how strong you want it to be. Mine will most likely include solid lifters, titanium valve springs and retainers, a .030 overbore, changing the bore and stroke, forged rods, forged pistons with a higher than usual compression ratio, custom aggressive cams, sleeved cylinders, 5 angle valve job, ported intake side and exhuast side of head. Im going with a all motor application, maybe FI one day, but not on this engine with some of its specs.

Josh

[Stage36]

do how do you plan to adjust your valves?

[Tuitsui]

On a 2.0 after all the porting sleeving polishing boring tit lifters and everything how much hp would you expect for an all motor I4? I'm curious to know wheter i should turbo or have an all motor monster

[1 low mx6]

turbo it, i cant see someone making no more than maybe 200whp all motor with the 2 liter. if that. i know turbo ones though can have a lot more than that no prob

[Stage36]

Originally posted by 1 low mx6
turbo it, i cant see someone making no more than maybe 200whp all motor with the 2 liter. if that.

Why not? The S2000 gets 240 HP out of 2 liters... and passes emissions.

the GT3 gets 385ish HP out of 3.6L and its a low emissions vehicle.

both of these cars are clean burning and are designed with flexibility and longevity in mind, as well as cost of production.

and extra .03 cents for a valve thingy on each car comes out to tens of thousands of dollars... you get the idea.


you buy better, more expensive parts that do a better job better, and set it up right, you should be able to pull quite a bit more than 200 at the fly from a 16V 2.0L



If this needs to be discussed, lets start another thread...

[nolanspawn]

Something to add to the list is solid urethane motor mounts. Not just the inserts from RR-Racing, but fully replacement mounts with solid urethane cores, no more stock rubber.



Josh

[sicksicks]

ok people, i have been workign at a shop for a while now, and i go to school for autotech... l4 ppl listen UP..

the older mx6 turbo motors bolt right into your l4 tranny, we done it before, you can keep the old turbo set up and just do some internals and it will already be pretty damn fast.

or if u are serious about turboing your l4, do your calculations right, dont over size the turbo tubing, that will just create lag, get the proper turbo (i suggest the hybrid t3/t4) and dont over kill the exhaust piping either. if your not running that much psi go for 2 1/2 tubing. if your aiming for higher psi get bigger tubing.. simple...

oh and for ppl who really want to get turbo, BE sure to upgrade your fuel system! if u drive reasonably hard even at low boost, your engine can still blow faster than u would expect. get some kind of fuel management. or just go with the Apexi s-afc. oh and ppl when going for higher psi ( say anything over 7-9 psi) in an l4 be sure to get internals done! do what u have to do. it is better to run a little bit more rich than lean if your running turbo, prevents you from blowing up.

if the fs ze head does fit on the l4 (not to sure never tried) i would give it a valve job,port and polish, and stick it to the build block, as for blowing gaskets and such, get the outlaw thermoblock spacers. for i-m get it done so it has larger air flow, and pay someone to build u an oversized t-b, or find a bigger one that fits. over all, u just cant step into one field of tuning (ex. force induction) and not touch anything else, if u touch something, start working on other areas without raping the crap out of the car yet. go buck when you feel your car can handle what u can put it through.





go big or go home

oh and my car is not what is listed underneath anymore, ive changed a lot since i posted that

[RbluEMx6]

Originally posted by sicksicks

the older mx6 turbo motors bolt right into your l4 tranny, we done it before, you can keep the old turbo set up and just do some internals and it will already be pretty damn fast.

So then, would the DOHC head on an fs-03 or fe3t fit or bolt on to the f2t block. Just wandering.