im looking for advise on wheather or not to rebuild my 99gs stock 420a motor for turbo purposes or should i get a rebuuild one already form a website. my engiine has 175000 miles and need s alot of work. please send me feed back on here or at whitefox20@live.com
im new so be easy lol

Fast, right, or cheap. Pick the two you want. This is the first rule.

If you get it fast and right, it won't be cheap.
If you get it fast and cheap, it won't be right.
Get it?

Now, with that said, your budget will go farther if you do it all yourself, but maybe you aren't so comfortable doing it on your own. A good compromise is usually to pull the engine yourself (label connectors and put bolts in labeled ziplock bags), then take the block and new internals to a reputable local machine shop for boring, balancing, and assembly. This can result in more downtime for the car, so many people look for a cheap blown engine at the salvage yard.

If you plan on living with a modified vehicle, it's in your best interest to get comfortable working on the car yourself. Having others do the work for you makes this hobby very cost prohibitive.

If I were to start over with a boosted 2GNT, I would do a stock bottom end rebuild (partsdinosaur.com), clean up the head, and install a pieced-together turbosystem. I'd then install Megasquirt and get the most out of the engine with a solid tune. This would provide better options, as I could then go all out with a built engine and more boost or sell the turbo bits and unload the car with a solid, stock mill under the hood.

In the end, it's all about how long you plan to keep the car. If you plan on keeping it another 10 years (owned mine for over 12), then go for it, but you will never recoup the money spent on mods.

Good luck and keep us posted. A DIY turbo 2GNT is a very rewarding project.

thanx again for the tips and what to do ... i also have a nother question ive been studying up on what motors i can swap(if any) with a 2gnt . i can find a evo 8 engine tranny with most components.ecu injectors turbo cams heads almost everything(minus intercooler) is this another way to go? i want a serious opinion and you seem very knowledgable..i understand ill have to fab the 6bolt to 7 bolt or vise versa i forget but i see it has been done...feed back at whitefox20@live.com

You could swap the Evo lump into a 2GNT, but it would be just as much work to drop an EJ20 out of a WRX in there. It's been done more than a couple times, but we're talking less than 10 out of something like half a million DSMs have gone this route. (Trivia: NTs accounted for something like 93% of all DSMs ever sold.)

Let me ask you some questions to better help you out.

1. How often will you be driving this car?
2. What percentage of this time will be on the street?
3. When you do play with the car, how will you do that?

Here's how I would answer these questions, given my own situation:

1. Daily.
2. 95-99%
3. Off road, sideways on dirt.

Because my car gets used mostly on the street as a commuter, and every once in a while I get stupid-retarded out in the desert with it, my mods should be aligned with a clean, reliable street car.

I've met countless people who can prattle on and on about all the mods they've bought or plan on buying to build a X00hp car, only to find they can't really express why.

Let me put it this way. Think about the guy who wants a 10 second car (maybe he owes Toretto or something). Now this guy has only the one car. He drives it to school or work six days a week. He gets out to the drag strip maybe three times a year.

Why turn your daily into a drag car if you seldom race it?

A 2.0L with an Evo III 16G and supporting fuel system is plenty capable of getting the vast majority of us into way more trouble than we'd like.

If you want to enjoy driving the car, and not have it become an all-consuming suck-fest of despair, misery, and regret, stick with the lump what came with the car. People who aren't happy with 400hp street cars are either professional racers or clueless dipshits building without goals.

Originally posted by DR1665
You could swap the Evo lump into a 2GNT, but it would be just as much work to drop an EJ20 out of a WRX in there. It's been done more than a couple times, but we're talking less than 10 out of something like half a million DSMs have gone this route. (Trivia: NTs accounted for something like 93% of all DSMs ever sold.) Let me ask you some questions to better help you out. 1. How often will you be driving this car? 2. What percentage of this time will be on the street? 3. When you do play with the car, how will you do that? Here's how I would answer these questions, given my own situation: 1. Daily. 2. 95-99% 3. Off road, sideways on dirt. Because my car gets used mostly on the street as a commuter, and every once in a while I get stupid-retarded out in the desert with it, my mods should be aligned with a clean, reliable street car. I've met countless people who can prattle on and on about all the mods they've bought or plan on buying to build a X00hp car, only to find they can't really express why. Let me put it this way. Think about the guy who wants a 10 second car (maybe he owes Toretto or something). Now this guy has only the one car. He drives it to school or work six days a week. He gets out to the drag strip maybe three times a year. Why turn your daily into a drag car if you seldom race it? A 2.0L with an Evo III 16G and supporting fuel system is plenty capable of getting the vast majority of us into way more trouble than we'd like. If you want to enjoy driving the car, and not have it become an all-consuming suck-fest of despair, misery, and regret, stick with the lump what came with the car. People who aren't happy with 400hp street cars are either professional racers or clueless dipshits building without goals.

I think that sums it all up, nice work +1