Would like honest opinions on engine build

[entity]

Ok.. Long story short. I have a newly rebuilt shortblock. that i bought.. have not taken it apart to see the rods etc. So.. Like i've done with my na v8 cars.. I will take it all apart and have it dunked, checked etc. Now without breaking the budget I want to make some solid h.p. solid is the key word here.. something that can cruise and not overheat, and smoke the tires at will but I will not be racing this on a track. My question is this. I want honest opionions on boring, crank, pistons, rods, turbo, minor oil lines etc. to truly make this a solid yet dependable engine, the tranny is a 5 speed out of a 2.5 turbo e.s. and so is the engine. I will take any and all opinions, but i'm a factual type of person, so I don't need flash.. I need strength, and lastly cash lol.. Thanks. Class is in session!.

[88_pacifica]

Take this with a grain of salt as I am NOT lashing out at you at all! so PLEASE don't take this the wrong way...

For starters get the right head. I noticed you posted up everywhere for a head and were going to buy anything that was halfway decent. The one that Moparzrule had was for a G-head and so were the valves. That is not going to work well withyour 2.5 setup. You REALLY should get a swirlhead and so forth. I would figure outwhat you are looking for throughout the whole setup.

You said spin the wheels "at will"(aka, torque). At what speed? Do you mean in 1st or 2nd gear? Fourth gear? I mean there is a world more stuff that needs to be done to achieve one or the other. I would say a stock/mild buildup "should" achieve your goals, but I would DEFINITELY start by looking at peoples sig lines and see what they have to run so fast as well as peoples posted websites(cardomain, home pages, etc) for information. Research is the key, not so much a pocketful of opinions. Look at what's worked for others. . This is merely a measuring stick, but I would ask more about what HAS worked not an assload of opinions. We are all VERY opinionated about what WE like....

[Aries_Turbo]

For starters get the right head. I noticed you posted up everywhere for a head and were going to buy anything that was halfway decent. The one that Moparzrule had was for a G-head and so were the valves. That is not going to work well with your 2.5 setup. You REALLY should get a swirlhead and so forth. I would figure out what you are looking for throughout the whole setup.

i disagree wholeheartedly.... the swirl head may be stock for a 2.5L but it really loves a G-head. youll need to get a calibration with the g-head spark curves as they are different.

Brian

[88_pacifica]

We are all VERY opinionated about what WE like....

i disagree wholeheartedly.... the swirl head may be stock for a 2.5L but it really loves a G-head. youll need to get a calibration with the g-head spark curves as they are different.

Brian

There you go...

[entity]

well opinions are just that.. but to break it down into "I want to spin the tires at 1500.111 rpm and make 213.6794 ft or torque is not what anyone should expect. I was more or less talking for instance the head.. now we have two opinons here on the head issue.. thats good. but for instance i know stay away from hyper pistons.. ok good thing.. stock rods from a 2.2? are strong? not sure.. I know that an 89 tbi cam is very good.. that sort of thing.. Just solid facts and not myths.. I am particular about donovans set ups and his skills but I may or may not have the cash to do all of that.. See what i mean here. Opinons are like A$$holes.. everyones got em.. But we all still need em.

[88_pacifica]

Gotcha!

[MiniMopar]

It's a matter of fixing the weakest links first. How far you take it depends on your budget and time, for the most part. When I got the CSX back in '98, it had a blown piston. I didn't have a whole lot of money, but I decided where I would spend it and saved up for a set of Venolias and new T2 rods. Most everything else is bone stock. I maybe messed a few things up due to the learning curve, but that engine is still running today and has taken all of the abuse I could throw at it.

To address your rod question: the rods to avoid are the '86-'88 2.2L lightweight T1 rods. True T2 rods or any '89+ rod is what you want.

[t3rse]

rods are good, crank is money, heads are crap, no matter what. with a g/bathtub (w/o a port flows better), you'll need a tune, which you should look into anyways (ie custom computer flash). invest in suspension, spinning is fun, but not so fun when you have real power. use the p4452005 (or 2k6, but the 2k5 flows coolant better) head gasket. get stainless oil and coolant lines for longevity and easy of assembly/disassembly. buy a bigger turbo. replace all the vac lines with hard lines like oem if they are brittle. also check the fuel lines (DUH!). if you are planning on pushing it look into getting a walboro 255 fuel pump (about a hundred bucks).

i agree with the up grade the weak stuff. you can make mad power on stock pistons, but only if you know EXACTLY what you are doing, and will need to have some money in data analysis equipment. forged pistons aren't that cheap, but after you nuke one, re ring, replace the head gasket, coolant, and possibly exhaust donut and random other stuff, you won't be far off...spend money on the internals now, and then upgrade the externals as you go. with your goals, a good turbo on a stock head will make you smile...

[turbovanman²]

Maybe it was me but I don't a 2.5L with a G-head.

Anyhow, spend the money properly, even if it means walking longer. Get forged pistons, have the rods resized. Get the engine balanced-on a 2.5L, this is gold, it runs 100 times smoother then you can leave out the BS's. If you are handy, deburr the block, open up the oil pump hole and remove casting flash inside the coolant passages. Also have the head gasket surface machined.
Get a decent head free of cracks and give it a cleaning up, mild port job and 3 angle valve grind, updated valve guides and off you go.

Apart from careful assembly, this will last you along time,

[Aries_Turbo]

a g head is good for a 2.5 because:

it lowers the compression some to help keep knock away

it flows 10% better than a swirl

simon, I dont think the head was your problem.. it was the fact that the cal needed dialing in. you needed the higher compression to get that fat pig moving!

amcpacer took the base g-head cal that I made and tweaked it a decent amount on his 2.5L g-head car and once I take a look at it, I'll post it. now its for a 87 but the timing values can be used on a later cal if copied.

Brian

Brian

[turbovanman²]

simon, I dont think the head was your problem.. it was the fact that the cal needed dialing in. you needed the higher compression to get that fat pig moving!

Thats where I agree, I believe a heavy car needs the swirl head to get her moving. I noticed after putting it on, it was very laggy and lazy around town. Maybe more tweaking could have helped but if your not running stupid boost, theres no need to really run a G-head,

[entity]

internals is whats most important to me.. which is the main goal of this post.. so from what i'm reading here. most of the stock newer unit stuff is quite strong and I knew to invest in forged pistons. and good rings.. While its out at the shop, should i bother to oversize the cylinders or just stick with the usual .10 since thats the average norm once properly deck honed etc. Thanks. For the input. I will still be running stock turbo, for now since Unless i'm wrong, I can upgrade the rest and then put on the bigger turbo later on.

[turbovanman²]

Yep, stock internals are strong. Deburr the rods, run ARP rod bolts and resize.

.020 is the common size followed by .040 which is the max. .030 is a weird size and not recommend as most are file fit rings for that bore size,

[moparzrule]

Thats where I agree, I believe a heavy car needs the swirl head to get her moving. I noticed after putting it on, it was very laggy and lazy around town. Maybe more tweaking could have helped but if your not running stupid boost, theres no need to really run a G-head,

If the G head is ported correctly it will still be fine. My G headed 2.2 in my heavy daytona had tons of low end torque. I swapped from a stock swirl head to a ported G head done by Mike sanders. I had an S70 on the car at the time with the .48 housing. So I went from a stock swirl/.48 housing to a ported G head/.63 housing and a re-cal from paul at TU. Both setups had TU cals. Well, I had 200 RPM FASTER spoolup, thats right, full boost 200 RPM sooner than before and low end torque was increased. I was in amazing shock, and I've loved G heads ever since. A G headed 2.5 is in the works for my shadow right now. Anything above 18 PSI on pump gas should probably have a G head or something to lower compression to be safe. Yeah a lot of people have gotten away with more, but probably not with cast pistons like I did and 25 PSI boost. But like I said, if ported properly the low end does NOT suffer.

[Aries_Turbo]

Thats where I agree, I believe a heavy car needs the swirl head to get her moving. I noticed after putting it on, it was very laggy and lazy around town. Maybe more tweaking could have helped but if your not running stupid boost, theres no need to really run a G-head,

part of the laziness around town was due to the timing. the G-head likes LOTS of timing in part throttle, non boost situations which most folks dont have cause they are just popping the head on and using a swirl cal. I know you had a custom cal (actually I might have a copy of that said cal around here somewhere) but I also know you went back to the swirl cal as well.

Brian

[turbovanman²]

part of the laziness around town was due to the timing. the G-head likes LOTS of timing in part throttle, non boost situations which most folks dont have cause they are just popping the head on and using a swirl cal. I know you had a custom cal (actually I might have a copy of that said cal around here somewhere) but I also know you went back to the swirl cal as well.

Brian

It liked the swirl cal for some reason??????

Anyhow, water under the bridge, 16 valves are on its way baby,

[Aries_Turbo]

hmmm thats wierd.

well, the stock headflow alone is a seller for me. I just have to get mine rebuilt.

Brian