Engine rebuild question. How far do I go?

[s'ko]

I have a EJ22T with 160k miles on it. I have an extra set of heads that I have ported and cleaned up of unknown mileage.

My goal right now is to get the motor into the RX and get 200 crank HP out of it. I think that enlarging the exhaust ports to match the gaskets, gasket matching the headers, the up-pipe and the turbo cleaning up the casting marks in the heads and using a WRX TMIC should help get me close to that point.

I cleaned up the valves a bit and they look ok. There is no pitting on the bottom of the valves, but on some of the exhaust valves there is a groove worn into the middle of the valve where it rest against the seats. Do I need to replace the valves or can a shop grind then down?

If I get new valves, should I get oversized ones? And does that mean that I need new seats? I have read that EJ22 T have really puny valves. Which engine has large valves that will fit.

Also with the cylinders still have their honing marks and the cross-thatching. With 160k or so mile on the clock, would a re-build make sense at this point?

Eventually, I think that I would like to get 200 whp out of it, but that’s after I work on the suspension, handling and brakes. I will accomplish that with a EJ20 head swap and intake swap so I don’t want to spend too much money on the head work.

[EvilDead]

This sounds very similar to what I am trying to accomplish with my RX. Keep us updated on progress, with tons of pics!

[Reveeen]

Do I need to replace the valves or can a shop grind then down?

 

You can't tell until a grinding attempt is made, there is a certain amount of material that must be left between the end of the ground chamfer and the head, as you can imagine grinding the chamfer lessens this, so you do the grinding, then inspect. With exhaust valves on Japanese cars, you would usually buy new ones.

 

If I get new valves, should I get oversized ones?

 

It depends. What are we considering "oversize"? You can buy valves with slightly oversize stems to make up for worn valve guides (but I don't *think* this is what you are talking about). HP gains in a turbo charged engine come from increasing the exhaust valve size, not the intake, as with a natural engine, you are "jamming" it in, right? For 200HP you don't need to go here, it is expensive, overly expensive.

 

Also with the cylinders still have their honing marks and the cross-hatching. With 160k or so mile on the clock, would a re-build make sense at this point?

 

It entirely depends on the history, if you see signs that this engine has been cooked, or run out of oil, then while it is out is the time to re-ring it. Otherwise I wouldn't go here (remembering I have 309,000 miles on my turbo motor that regularly sees 16-20psi).

[idosubaru]

reveen summed it up well. i would have a valve job done. short cutting anything here while you're in there and have easy access just isn't worth it at this point. have the standard valve job done.

 

over sized valves sounds like way over kill too.

 

hard to tell what kind of 160,000 miles that block has seen. i think i'd be tempted to leave it, a full on rebuild will cost quite a bit. if there's a decent chance the engine came out of a good running car and you can keep it well oiled and cooled it's got a good chance of being a good block as is.

[GLCraig]

Instead of using EJ22T heads, a number of people are using DOHC EJ25 heads on the EJ22T block because they flow a lot better than the EJ22T heads. Also EJ20G heads are also a commonly used too. Go to bbs.legacycentral.org and do some research about this.

[Reveeen]

@ around 200HP, I wouldn't mess with any heads, other than a valve job.

 

I'm assuming a non-interference 2.2, I would not be willing to loose the non-interference so cheaply, around 200HP can be easily had with what you have.

 

Exhaust work , the crossover, the up, the down, the rear, an intercooler, and some boost will give you 200+ HP.

[Skip]

Reve, do you think he should shop for a

bigger huffer

or with the VF11 be enough?

 

(I own three Legacy turbos and am

working on the sme figure HP wise)

[Reveeen]

Reve, do you think he should shop for a bigger huffer

 

Not for 200HP, the stock one should be good for 300HP, before it runs out.

 

You have to get it flowing exhaust.

The aftermarket crossover, by itself, dropped the "boosting" almost 1000 rpm, I'm starting to see boost @ 2200 rpm.

The up pipe does away with the cat and if you buy the right one, increases the exhaust velocity, you will see 10psi at around 3100 rpm.

The 3" catless down really lets it breathe, 3" pipe to a 3" muffler, you will constantly run into the rev limiter.

The early ones run rich, my plug colour is good, and so is the exhaust system colour.

I plumbed in a front intercooler (stolen from a 9000 Saab)

Now it's safe to turn the boost up.

My engine is old, I limit myself to 20PSI