mpi conversion w/turbo

[minichopper6hp]

i know people have done the mpi conversion successfully, but has anyone done it and installed a turbo too? i have a 2.2 tbi 5 speed and wanna slap the te04h with the n/a electronics, and pistons w/ mpi intake. thanks

[tkelly27]

I think the TBI pistons will take 8psi before they start to die. You need to convert to turbo electronics and then just pop the old head off and put the turbo one w/manifolds on. What year is the car and what body style? Those factors can make changing the wiring a little tricky. I've actually heard of one guy putting boost through the TBI, but he quickly nuked his pistons : )

[DaytonaTurbo87]

n/a pistons are fine, it's the rods that can't take the HP. But yeah, if you swap over to mpi then swap in a turbo head there's no reason you can't add a turbo as well. But unless you change over to turbo rods I don't see you lasting too long.

[minichopper6hp]

ok, i forgot to clarify; its a 90 daytona, and i already have a turbo head from my rebuild, i used a turbo shortblock with 2.2 pistons and rods with crank too. i have the stronger valves, wont have to worry bout that, but at a moderate psi shouldnt i be alright? ive seen people do it on other cars just fine...

[DaytonaTurbo87]

So you're saying right now essentially you have a turbo block/internals but feeding with a tbi system? And for the valves, I'm sure chrysler put the stronger ones on there for a reason, I'd just be sure to run them. Off the top of my head I can't remember, but I thought it was only the exhaust valves that are stronger on the turbo heads, intake valves are the same IIRC.

[minichopper6hp]

i have turbo block/head with n/a 2.2internals, will it take it?

[Omnivore30psi]

If you go to thedodgegarage.com, Gary D. says that the 86-95 TBI rods are no good whereas the 82-85 TBI rods are good. pistons should be fine. Forged pistons allow you to detonate a few more times, but cast ones you can only get away with maybe 1??? (I never tried it myself, but that's what I've heard). crank should be fine. If you're staying under 20 psi ish I think you should be fine.

[Omnivore30psi]

I was thinking about your conversion earlier, and I thought about the transmission. Do you have a tranny off a turbo or is that stock as well? I don't think you'll last long if you're building a mild turbo engine with a stocker non turbo tranny.

[minichopper6hp]

ill be runnin a max of 6 psi, and i have an a 523 outa a 91 daytona turbo, so its fine.

[DaytonaTurbo87]

yeah, like said, your pistons are fine, but those rods a gamble. According to what I've read, those rods are pretty much the same as the lightweight rods used in 86-88 turbo cars. Now I've heard of guys boosting those LW rods to 12-14psi for years without problems, but if you go above stock boost levels, you are taking your chances. If you boost it and one of your rods lets go and you toast your engine, you have nobody to blame but yourself. Personally, 2.2 rods are so plentyful that I'd just change them out and call it a day and not have to worry about it.

Also remember that while those n/a pistons will physically hold up to the boost, turbo pistons are further down in the hole, which is what gives the turbo cars their lower compression ratio. If you do decide to boost on those pistons, you will need to find a way to lower your compression ratio some. Probably would want to go with some combo of head shim/thicker gasket/G head.