Hey. I`ve had my car for 5 years and Ilm thinking about going turbo and am curious how well our engines hold up to boost. I`m obviously going to drop in forged pistons and rods, but what about head lift? l`ve read that you need to over torque ARP headstuds, as they were intended for NA builds. How true is this?

Originally posted by electrohead
Hey. I`ve had my car for 5 years and Ilm thinking about going turbo and am curious how well our engines hold up to boost. I`m obviously going to drop in forged pistons and rods, but what about head lift? l`ve read that you need to over torque ARP headstuds, as they were intended for NA builds. How true is this?

It all depends on how well you build it, proper break in, and just taking care of the car and keeping up on problems.

I just keep hearing that the 420a is garbage boosted by people that tried, but that seems like the sr20 vs ka24 war with nissans to me. How much boost are people running and how many miles do they have on their build without problems?

I first boosted my car when I had around 35K miles on the stock motor. I ran it at 12-13psi of boost with an inadequate fuel setup (it ran lean the entire time) and I still got 25K miles out of it before I had some internal damage.

I rebuilt the motor with forged low compression pistons and forged rods, like many of us do, and have been running it at 16psi now for around 7K miles. Car runs great and I have not run into any issues.

Many of us on this site have had success with the 420A motor and can attest to its overall strength.

I definately know the engine is pretty stout. I bought mine with 130k on it with a blown hg and once i redid the headgasket, I`ve been driving it hard and now at 245k it`s finally burning some oil, although i think most of the problem is my front main seal. I`ve replaced just about everything but the motor, but that comes with age and high milage. I just wish I knew why the 4g guys put this motor down, being that I haven`t seen many of them without some serious problems of their own. Plus, even my wife agrees that the 420a sounds better with an exhaust...lol...

So any advise on turbo kits? I`m leaning towards the Treadstone kit, but I`ve been looking into getting an Evo 6.5 T.M. edition turbo for crazy response. What would be the best user friendly FMU to use and would 1/2 inch APR headstuds be recommended? Sorry for all the questions, but I`m looking to do it right the first time... after I paint the car (fighting rust... no clear coat left).

All your questions have been answered before. Use the Search button and you'll get a massive amount of info.

The 420a is great with boost. Your friends didn't know what they were doing, that's all.

Originally posted by ez
All your questions have been answered before. Use the Search button and you'll get a massive amount of info......Your friends didn't know what they were doing, that's all.

THISS

I was talking about alot of the turbo (as in 4g63t) guys that world talk trash about my motor while they would blow smoke and leak tons of oil, all proud they had all sorts of mods done to their "beasts." Plus where I lived in CT before I moved, most shops only knew how to build the 4g63`s and kept blowing our engines.

All the 4G guys think their motor is superior and believe that we are fools for buying an RS or GS when we could have simply purchased a GS-T. I say to hell with them! Just kidding..

As far as turbo kits and fuel requirements go, as stated above, search the site and you will find tons of info. Personally, I like Hahns kit, but I may be biased because I run it. Probably the main complaint you will find against Hahns setup is that it is internally gated, whereas the Treadstone kit or oldschool Star kit run an external wastegate. To each his own I guess.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

These motors hold up to boost abuse just fine and I think you'll find that they can be just as reliable as any other motor. Standard 11mm ARP studs work just fine, and it's a myth that you need 1/2" head studs so the head won't lift. Simply drop in some pistons and rods, an MLS head gasket and some studs, and you're good to go. Hell, even the stock intake manifold and cams work great up to a certain point. A 60mm throttle body would be a good upgrade. As far as fuel goes, you can use a simple SFMU regulator or go all out with a stand alone (MegaSquirt).

A little testament to reliability... last year I ran a GT30R at 35 PSI on a log manifold... DAILY. It made over 500 HP at the wheels and I ragged the shit out of my car every single day. Never had a single problem. People around here talk shit about the 420A too, but they really have no experience to base it on.

FYI- I do build intake manifolds, exhaust manifolds, race engines, transmissions, Megasquirts and more... and I have a lot of experience with these motors, so please contact me if you need anything at all.

How much boost in your opinion would be suitable on the streets as a daily driver? I know the whole "You can never have too much" thinking, but I`m looking to maintain drivability while having alot of fun. And some level of traction would be nice, being that I do enjoy the twisties as well. Too many trucks and Mustangs around here...lol... Maybe I need to install a gun rack on my car to fit in : p

Everyone will have a different opinion on this matter I'm sure, but personally, I think 15-16psi on a built 420A is ideal for street use.

A built motor can handle that power all day on a good tune, and you will be able to hook in 2nd-5th gear as long as you have good rubber.

Originally posted by electrohead
How much boost in your opinion would be suitable on the streets as a daily driver?

Just do it and then set the boost to your liking. There's too many variables for us to tell you how much boost you should run.

I just want to be able to walk away from some of the V8`s around here. My boss has a Ford Lighning with a few mods, so I just want to show him what a 2GNT can do. Plus, my goal is to track it occasionally at Road Atlanta... just need to paint it before I build the motor... found another rot spot... yay, more welding:p

Well considering your car weighs a little over half of what that truck weighs, you need to make just over half the horsepower of the truck to be even (in theory). I'm not familliar with the lightning so I don't know the power output of that engine.

His best time was 12.63. I think it was on drag radials, not slicks. Just wanna have fun watching his face as I walk him.

Originally posted by electrohead
His best time was 12.63. I think it was on drag radials, not slicks. Just wanna have fun watching his face as I walk him.

This whole thread makes me :facepalm

Bottom line:

Depends on your setup and your ability to tune correctly.

By saying "Im gonna build my car to beat XXXX" you are guaranteed to blow it being stupid.

Originally posted by teklein
This whole thread makes me :facepalm Bottom line: Depends on your setup and your ability to tune correctly. By saying "Im gonna build my car to beat XXXX" you are guaranteed to blow it being Awesome

FIXED

Trust me, I`m not trying to blow my car up. There`s nothing wrong with a little friendly competition. But my ultimate goal is to enjoy my car. I`ve spent over $6000 maintaining and replacing almost everything and I`m just getting ready to paint it. So I`d be a complete retard to build the engine just to blow it up. Halfass builds only make us ALL look bad, and believe me, I have to much pride for that. I think we have some of the most fun and timeless cars out there, and I intend to keep my car for a damn long time. Sorry for the rant, just felt like getting that off my chest.

So he ran a mid 12 with a 6000lb+ truck?

you go boom.

Find out how much Zero has put into his car and you'll have an idea of what it will take to walk on that truck. It's WAY more than I could ever imagine throwing into just the engine. Oh, and he's been glazing clutches every couple runs at the track.

Yeah, but the truck ran that time with drag radials, not street tires. Add almost another second to that on everyday tires. Ever watch a pickup try to fight for traction? It`s almost as bad, if not worse, as FWD. And obviously, it`s just for fun anyway. Hell, if I keep up, that would be cool enough. Just having fun with my car :)

Plus the truck weighs around 4600 lbs. Not like that matters much. Has anyone run stock mitsu turbos from evos on our motors? And if so, how was the response and power?

I don't personally know of anyone running an evo 8/9 turbo, but it would be a good option for up to ~320 hp at the crank. The downfall is that it would require a custom manifold to make use of the twin scroll turbine housing which will up the cost of any build.

I've looked into it, but I'm ultimately going another route due to the turbos I have readily available

I was actually thinking about the Tommi Mackinen Edition turbo found on the Evo 6. Titainium alloy blades for ultimate spool up. Plus, titainium just makes it damn sexy :) I just don`t know if they were twin scroll...

I believe that twin scroll was introduced on the 8's, could be wrong though.

I bet getting anything from an über-rare TME is gonna be a serious PITA.

Very true... But, in my opinion, very worth it... Plus that would make the build that much cooler in the end I think.

I personally have and installed the treadstone turbo kit on my eclipse on 9 psi and let me tell you, the car dips. The only probelm I have is that the clutch slips when it's cold. I have a stock clutch which I'm looking into chaging in the next couple of months. I did all my research using the search function and I found everything I needed using it. The only thing you need to buy seperate is the fmu, and weld the oil drain bung for the turbo. I'm also on stock internals.

Also i forgot to mention. Make sure you get a MLS head gasket and ARP studs torqued to 90 ft lbs. I did lift my head with the stock gasket and bolts.

Power band. That's ur friend...big numbers are fun and all but you don't have to have big numbers to go fast. 200 HP is totally different when u can make it from five to redline than just at redline. Ya know. It's reliable. Usable. And fun as Hell. How you do it...well I'm sure someone on here would be able to help with that. Just my lil 2 pennies worth.

You will not necessarily lift the head on stock internals and head studs. Of course, anything can happen, but do not think that you will definitely lift the head unless you get a new head gasket and ARP studs.

I ran my motor, totally stock internals, at 12psi for 25K miles and never lifted the head.

Originally posted by Warmage12
I'm too lazy to type out entire words...

Proper spelling, make it your friend. U is not You.

Nooo. Im using a touch screen phone to do this... lazy is not me...thank you very much.

Originally posted by Warmage12
Nooo. Im using a touch screen phone to do this... lazy is not me...thank you very much.

Not an excuse. I use my touchscreen on my phone to post all the time and I don't halfass my spelling.

You're proably right. Anything can happen. Just my luck that my head lifted. All that matters is that it's fixed and running hard!