I was thinking about getting a b20 engine. Is that a good engine to turbo? I have a b18b block with a B20B head. should I just turbo that?

 

just turbo the b18b

edit: and the b20b head is no different than a b18b head so i hope you didn't buy it thinking it was an upgrade

 

Now if my b18/b20 has like 90k. Is that still possible to turbo or should I rebuild the engine. also can I take the headers from the engine I have now and put them on the B20 engine?

 

Assuming the engine is healthy, there's no reason why you can't turbo it with that amount of mileage.

 

do a compression/leakdown test to determine the health of the motor

your header will bolt on the the b20, but i would strongly recommend not going with that motor for boost. the design of the sleeves makes them more prone to cracking then a b18b

 

All I have to do right now is replace the timing belt. thats it.

 

that doesn't tell you the health of it, thats just regular maintenance. at that mileage it should be decently healthy with good compression numbers. go and do the compression/leakdown to be sure. no use turboing a motor that will give you problems soon after

 

whats the proper compression. Like 190? 200?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DC2Fun95 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">whats the proper compression. Like 190? 200?</TD></TR></TABLE>

The numbers themselves (unless extremely low) are not as important as how similar each of the numbers is to the others. You want as little variance as possible between them.

 

so that means? you kinda lost me?

 

When you perform the test, you will have a number for each cylinder. You want to see that each of those numbers is very close to the others in value. If one stands out as being particularly low, that's a potential sign of wear or damage to that specific cylinder.

 

ok. Better. So how much do those normally cost?

 

you can do it yourself with a compression and leakdown tester from a local auto parts store or you can tkae it to a mechanic, shouldn't be much

a general rule is that the numbers should not vary from each other more than 10%

 

You should be able to find an inexpensive one for somewhere around $25.

http://www.c-speedracing.com/h...t.php

 

cool. so lets say that 3 cylinders go 200 psi and one is at 180. Thats bad correct. As you can see I'm new to the import world. I just dont wanna mess my car because I make a dumb decision.

 

That would indicate some sort of issue, yes. You won't really mess anything up by installing a properly built and tuned turbo setup on your existing engine. The worst case scenario is that the engine is indeed worn, and you eventually have to replace or otherwise rebuild it.

 

that would be getting close, but it would probably be ok. LS motors don't usually get to 200psi+ so you should be somewhere in the 150-185 range

 

alright cool. it makes sense now. Thanks.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nate_2k5 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
edit: and the b20b head is no different than a b18b head so i hope you didn't buy it thinking it was an upgrade</TD></TR></TABLE>

Actually if it is a 96-98 B20B head, P8R, then yes in fact it is different than the LS PR4/P75 head. And some people do think that it is an "upgrade" because of the valve size, but everyone has their own opinions.

 

stop being so technical, P8R heads are rare and if he had one i'm sure he would have mentioned it

 

Their not rare, and I have one sitting in my living room... plus a P&P P75 next to it and the PR4(with the B20 exhaust cam) still sitting on the B20 bottom in my totalled car. Any LS/B20 head are like single cam's to people, most think their just junk and toss them, mine just collect dust.

I doubt he would have mentioned it because he probably doesn't know, which is why he even said it was a B20 head in the first place not knowing that it is just an LS head if it's the P75. For all we know it could be just a regular P75 LS head and he might think it is a B20 head because it is a P75 instead of a PR4, might see that the B20 has the P75 and not realize the LS does also.