Hello again SL. I've been into cars for a while now, and have done everything but motors and trannys. Now I want some power, and want to go all motor. Before any responses, please do not start the motor vs turbo debate.

My question is, now that I know I want to build a motor, should I just buy a longblock off of SL, put it on a stand, and start stripping it down? Are there any specific 4 cylinder motor building resources (for dummies)? Thanks in advance. Oh yeah, the goal is 300 reliable hp at the wheels.:)

get a k20 and start bulding lol

without boost you cannot get 300hp.

with cams,header,intake,exhaust,and engine management,then add pistons rods and port polish you are gonna miss it by a good 80 hp.....then add lightweight flywheel and clutch and all the rest of the goodies needed and you could easily buy a nice turbo setup and clutch and flywheel adn push a safe 300 to the wheels and with minor work go even more.

Our motor does not respond to well power wise to NA.....the parts are just not there yet for it.

Dont let anyone talk you out of it tho, u just have to get resourceful. I would recommend checking out PTuning.com first off, these guys know exactly what they are doing and would prob be able to help you out tremendously. 300hp NA is doable, but you are gonna drop some MAJOR coin, as in, more than you paid for the car. For that kinda money you could litterally swap a 2JZ engine out of a Supra into the TC and be running mad ______ish 600hp+ and then some

Of course for 3 easy payments of $19.95 you can have yourself the mighty Turbonator installed and easily get 450 hp to the ground (although the "h" in hp stands for hamster power) :rofl:

you can buy my spare block......haha......but yea dude......just download the service manual and read on it....i built my first motor last week actually and enjoyed every minute of it

My first motor was a 1980 Toyota 20r 4 cylinder for a Celica GT (same year). bored it 30 over, decked the block 8 thousands, shaved the head 6 thousands put a 22R cam in it. I forget what crank and pistons. I never got a chance to put it in the car though. a buddy of mine bought it for his Toyota 4x4 P/U, then turned around and sold the truck before I got a chance to see what it could do. :(


good luck on the build!!!!

do it

you can buy my spare block......haha......but yea dude......just download the service manual and read on it....i built my first motor last week actually and enjoyed every minute of it

they have a service manual that shows you how to rebuild a TC motor???

without boost you cannot get 300hp.

with cams,header,intake,exhaust,and engine management,then add pistons rods and port polish you are gonna miss it by a good 80 hp.....then add lightweight flywheel and clutch and all the rest of the goodies needed and you could easily buy a nice turbo setup and clutch and flywheel adn push a safe 300 to the wheels and with minor work go even more.

Our motor does not respond to well power wise to NA.....the parts are just not there yet for it.

tell that to leslie durst, iirc her NA tC drag car had over 300whp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgdzTsTvass

http://www.carandmodel.com/article/NHRA_Sport_Compact_Nationals/347.php

"Leslie Durst-Armendariz Scion tC 10.241 @ 134.00 mph "

http://www.tunerzine.com/articles/241/images/IMG_9096.jpg

all motor right there

http://www.tunerzine.com/articles/241/images/FLA-03-30-2007-327.jpg

ITBs going into 1 large plentum up top (saw those in person at sema w/o the plentum, there was 4 throttle bodies goin through the hood, and the set up was on a xB2

I'm curious how she ran the ITB with the tC being drive by wire. She may have had to run a throttle cable down to the pedal, old-school.

For your book for dummies, this one worked well for me:

http://www.amazon.com/Blueprint-Build-4-Cylinder-Short-Block/dp/1874105855

If you want to go the ITB route, check with Danstoy, they do custom setups.

http://www.danstoy.net/

Check Thomas the moderator's signature, he has links to the tC repair manual I believe.

you know...you can always build a motor...specifically for a turbo. like with lower compression pistons, and forged internals etc so you can have all the fun of building your engine, and boost it and make a rediculous amount of whp instead of going all motor and being left in the dust by everybody who spent half the cost, got a turbo and can blow you away.

I'm curious how she ran the ITB with the tC being drive by wire. She may have had to run a throttle cable down to the pedal, old-school.

For your book for dummies, this one worked well for me:

http://www.amazon.com/Blueprint-Build-4-Cylinder-Short-Block/dp/1874105855

If you want to go the ITB route, check with Danstoy, they do custom setups.

http://www.danstoy.net/

Check Thomas the moderator's signature, he has links to the tC repair manual I believe.

she swapped to a cable, and Danstoy wont make a set up for the tC w/o you swapping to a cable, sending them a stock manifold and fuel rail so tehy can design a set up for the tC, then thousands of dollars later you have ITBs but no stacks, no fuel management and no cable.... so your lookin at around 5gs for ITBs w/o supporting mods (full exhaust, hi compression, and a STANDALONE and tune) its an expensive set up and youd probably get around 200-220 IMO thats my guess but i could be wrong.

Wow, that's great info. Now after that schooling it looks like the wise route, economicaly speaking, is to build for a turbo, and bump up the boost.

I'm geussing that building a motor for a turbo application would involve sleeving the block, lower compression pistons(?) new stronger rods, better bearings, new valves and springs, clutch, and flywheel? This is just a geuss on my part. I plan on keeping the tC for quite a while, so I would like to be able to go moderately fast when "needed".

Other than the book, what I did was look at what people like PTuning are doing in their engine packages, then do it myself with local shop support. I can do assembly and honing, but things like sleeving and boring I leave to a machine shop. When my piston clearance is only .003", I don't take chances eyeballing it.

PTuning short block (http://www.ptuning.com/html/Item-Desc.cfm?PartNo=PTENG1101&MakeCode=scion&ModelCode=tC&ModelYear=2007%2D2008%20All&ModelDesc=tC)

Some things can be done cheaply, like blueprinting the block if things stay in tolerance. You'll need a set of micrometers and either dial gauges or t gauges for checking inner diameters. Select your bearing thicknesses based on your measurements. Plastigauge helps a lot too. If something does end up needing to be ground down, send it out to the machine shop.

Get the sleeves and bore done professionally. Again, you don't need a shop with a RMC 4-axis CNC maching center, but you will need to find a skilled machine shop. I'm lucky to live near a dirt track and drag racing strip, so there's a pretty good community of engine builders and machine shops already supporting the race cars. The guy I went to I don't think even does email, but he machines 1,000 HP drag engines so I figured a 150 HP xB motor wouldn't be a challenge.

For balancing, what PTuning goes through is very much overkill for daily drivers. If you leave the original counterbalance on the crank, it shouldn't need to be rebalanced. Check Dezod for head and main studs, manifold gaskets, etc. They carry a lot of stuff for the tC.

If you can, find someone with prior experience to help you with assembly. They'll know all the little tricks not in books and save you some headache if you get stuck. Measure EVERYTHING, multiple, times, and go slow and you should have a pretty decent engine.

Good luck, and start saving now. You should be able to get everything done for under $2k unless you're doing headwork as well (less crucial with a turbo, manditory for all-motor)

Just got back to this thread. A lot going on lately. Thank you for the wealth of info Eddie. I'm thinking looking for a short block to start with would'nt be bad a idea. I'll have to deploy to make some extra cash real quick, and get the build going.

Ok, so you new this question was coming.... Where should I look to get the following...

Pistons and rods (do they come with main and rod bearings?)

Clutch and lightened flywheel (Exedy stage 2?)

And also, should I have the machine shop lighten the crank for higher revs? Can I improve oil flow?

I do plan on getting the book soon, thanks:)