Thread: Building an engine

He's taking out his N/A and going to swap in his S/C engine. The point of this thread is what he should do to the engine before it goes in.

I say that since your putting it in before the built transmission, then I would hold off on rockers or cam until you put in the trans. The IC will put plenty of power for a stock trans on a DD. When You put in the trans, it will be easy to install the cam. Rockers can be installed whether the motor is in or out. So you could see what power the your getting with the IC and see if you want to put rockers on. In the end though, a cam will be better for power.

I drove a XP'd car on the daily. I'd daily my Thrasher cammed car if I could.

Your all a bunch of nancy's.

Originally Posted by bluegtp91

I drove a XP'd car on the daily. I'd daily my Thrasher cammed car if I could.

Your all a bunch of nancy's.

he preaches like a mad priest yo. daily driving RACE cars is ftw.

if it hasnt been discussed yet, take that 3A racing exhaust off and put stock cat back on, 3A racing mufflers are for tools.....

3A racing are ricer mufflers, and not even decent ones, the cheapest parts store ricer muffler you can get....All its doing is making your car sound like ass....and if you think those ricer mufflers are making your car sound "good".....well, im not even going to go there....

Originally Posted by neel2008

3A racing are ricer mufflers, and not even decent ones, the cheapest parts store ricer muffler you can get....All its doing is making your car sound like ass....and if you think those ricer mufflers are making your car sound "good".....well, im not even going to go there....

Mine sound like a deep rumble of a V8, nothing like any of the fart cans, cherry bombs, racer exhaust, ect. My dad, stepdad, and step brother loved the sound, and even said they sound like a V8. I guess they cost like $500+, its a dual muffler system.

Im sorry, a stock 3.8 will not "have the deep rumble of a v8" esp when you get on the gas, xp cammed at idle, yes maybe it will kinda, but not a stock 3.8 with ricer mufflers....

For a turbo you would need:
~$2750 for the z3 kit for a L32 on an 04
~240 WHP

For the IC Gen V:
plugs $50
Headers $200
IC $1000
Injectors $270
Tune $150
Pulley $150

Total : ~$1820
~280 WHP

For your goal of 350 WHP I would recommend a cam'd and IC gen V.

Originally Posted by honda237

it was the best reference i could come up with, but to each his own, and you haven't heard them, so you wouldn't know.


The turbo would be for my L26.

Then take off $50 (The cost of the m90 block off plate).

Originally Posted by EJOUIE

For a turbo you would need:
~$2750 for the z3 kit for a L32 on an 04
~240 WHP

For the IC Gen V:
plugs $50
Headers $200
IC $1000
Injectors $270
Tune $150
Pulley $150

Total : ~$1820
~280 WHP

For your goal of 350 WHP I would recommend a cam'd and IC gen V.

240whp on a base turbo kit is very low, I doubt it would actually make less than 275whp, a writeup is available for making your own a/a ic and they come out to about $400 max depending on your choice of heat exchanger, bring the whp above 320+.

You don't absolutely need plogs.



For the IC Gen V:
plugs $50 -20
Headers $200 - $200 + 50 to 100 for band clamps/gaskets etc.
IC $1000 - $800 min. used - $1200+ new (not a lot are selling used genv ic)
Injectors $270 65# inj. are a lil overkill
Tune $150 $150 min. to $200-300 when all said and done
Pulley $150 $70 min.

Total : ~$1820 to $3570 (including L32)
~280 WHP

Add L32 engine or gen V topswap 400-500 min. $1300 max (blower + Lim + tb adapter + gaskets)

The amount of time it takes to install a turbo kit is about 6 hours, probably less with no intercooler. Doing an m90 build takes days/weeks to sometimes even put together or get running right.

That number was for just the basic kit. No other mods.

ZZP doesn't have any rear plogs in stock and who knows when they will return.

Front and rear plog would be $350ish.
Hv3 is $200.

Cam would be about the same price for either setup. So for a basic cam it would be around $450.

350 WHP I believe is around the point where a turbo begins to be cheaper than an m90 setup. Another point is that traction would be a major issue for DD tires. More then likely your tires will be a weak link and most of the turbo's hp benefits go to waste.

The other slightly different option is to topswap the L26. Gen V with high compression will be even easier to hit the whp goal. I have an L36 and my wishlist/build would be:

Gen V topswap
VS cam
Built TEP transmission
W body store IC
Ported LIM
SD headers
HAI
Custom tune
3.0 pulley

Hoping that would get me around 320 WHP. I also live in GA so I have emissions to worry about otherwise I would do an XP cam.

Originally Posted by EJOUIE

The other slightly different option is to topswap the L26. Gen V with high compression will be even easier to hit the whp goal. I have an L36 and my wishlist/build would be:

Gen V topswap
VS cam
Built TEP transmission
W body store IC
Ported LIM
SD headers
HAI
Custom tune
3.0 pulley

Hoping that would get me around 320 WHP. I also live in GA so I have emissions to worry about otherwise I would do an XP cam.

That vs cam is very streetable and the powerband on it is great for daily driving, you will be happy with it. It has made similar peak hp numbers as the s1x cam and xp cams, probably due to the m90.

ZZP claims the base z3 Kit would take an L26 from 200 to 300 crank hp. %20 power loss through the transmission... 300 *0.2 = 60. 300-60 = 240. Thats were I got that estimate from.

I never said that you needed plogs. He just asked about them. you don't need the Hv3 either to run the kit.

He doesn't have to put it all on at once. If he did it on the L32 he would have plenty of time to do it before he puts it in.

Ok no ones said it so I will. For 300whp on an l32 an ic isn't mandatory. While it would help a ton its also a ton of money, and that power level is pretty easy to hit without one