I have a perfect 2.3NA engine and don't want to completely swap it out. Would it work to take the Turbo components off a 2.3T and put them on my engine? or would that be insanely difficult and completely unworth the effort? thanks.
You'd still have to pull it and put in forged pistons from a turbo engine, change the exhaust valves for turbo exhaust valves that can stand the heat. Speaking of the head, you'd have to use a diegrinder to make the heart shape chamber into a kidney shaped chamber which will open it up a bit to lower compression - you need a chamber about 64 cc's. And you'd have to add an oil return to your pan. More often than not your n/a block doesn't have an oil return cast into it on the exhaust side behind the motor mount bracket.
I think the factory pistons will survive as long as the tune is correct. Also the valves will work as Ive seen a N/A head be put on a turbo motor and work perfectly.
You could put a turbo on the N/A motor but you would only be able to run about 6 to 8 psi max. anymore and you would break something. Why do you not want to swap a turbo engine? its really not difficult at all. plus there is enough information on the web to help fix any problems that you may come across.
bhuff did this and it worked for a long while till the vac line came off the regulator and casued detonation... do a search there should be plenty of info on it... anyone know if bhuff changed his valves to turbo valves, or just left in the NA ones?
I ran NA valves. It worked great too... but I never even thought about the possibility of blowing the vacume line off the fp regulator. Just one of those things...
As for turbo valves vs NA, the NA valves should hold up fine. If you have a safe tune for the cast pistons, then your EGT's arn't to high, and they shouldn't hurt the exhaust valve.
25k on an n/a engine that's been turbocharged is not a good enough answer. I bet there are guys on this board that put 36k on their cars a year.
I've got an exhaust valve I took out of a turbo head that has 2 large channels melted through it. Is it the OEM valve, or a poor rebuild where someone used an n/a valve? dunno.