legacycentral bbs

Does anyone know if its worth it to P&P the 2.2 heads. I heard from COBB tuning that the heads are limited to the amount of airflow. When I asked the guy about getting some cams he just suggested I go with WRX heads on the stock EJ22 block. My machinest has a flowbench and has told me for an additional 300 dollars he can do a P&P. Is it worth it??
Thanks,
Mike

You need to do a little more research if you were going to go to the EJ20T heads. You have to take into account coolant passages, (which shouldn't be a super big deal on an open deck motor) the fact you'd be goin to a DOHC setup, volume the actual heads take up....aka whether you will be increasing or decreasing your compression ratio.

300 bucks isn't that much....you'd pay a lot more for WRX heads

I'd say go for it....but that's me.

I would stick with your existing heads, and if you have the motor apart, porting them, and the intake manifold to match, as well as the exhaust maniolfd and turbo, would be a good idea. The DOHC heads of the WRX do flow slightly better than Legacy SOHC units, but its not wortht he effort of swapping unless you have to for some reason (your head(s) is/are cracked, etc.)

As for the Cobb heads, drop us a line sometime...there is no magic wand they wave on their stuff...just super hight pricing. What they do is a fairly generic head package that starts with porting, and gives the option of cams, bigger valves, porting, etc. All parts that are not Cobb specific, and all parts any good machinest can assemble.

I wouldnt put the DOHC heads on with out cc ing the chambers first. We did one(remember the white wagon Josh?) and ended up with 7:1 compression and it was very down on power.
The biggest problem with the sohc heads is the small valves. I have reved this engine about as high as it will go and at about 7500 rpm the boost will start holding the valves open and power and rpm drop off real fast. where the n/a engine will do 8500 rpm and hold together well.

Yeah......that's something most people wanting to put the DOHC heads on don't realize. They are smaller domed area or however they are setup, and will decrease compression ratio.

On the flip side. If you take a 2.5 liter engine and put the ej22 heads on it. It will increase compression ratio quite a bit, and make a pretty good N/A beast....even to the point of getting knock with premium

Yeah I remember that white wagon.....you guys ever get that thing goin.....it was crazy how much stuff was done to that thing

Thanks guys, I will have my machinist do the heads. Just to let you know, I never considered putting DOHC heads on my block it was just some guys recommendation,

After testing my heads on a flow bench, my machinist told me that they were already flowing very well. He told me that with a little treaking he could probably squeeze an extra 30 horse out of the motor. the initial price of $300 jumped up to $400-$800. I have decided not to do it. He told me that the only problem with the air flow is close to the back of the port behind the valve stem. I dont see what porting could do to eliminate that problem. The stem will always be there! I'm already getting a 3 angle valve job so that should be enough I suppose. Thanks for your suggestions anyway.

Mike

So he said your stock EJ22T heads flow pretty well? I've always heard that our 2.2 turbo heads flow awfully You also said that the only problem your machinist found was at the back of the port, which one are you referring to, the intake or the exhaust ports? why did the price jump so high? Also you said your getting a 3 angle valve job, what does this mean? Sorry about being so picky, I just want to find out as much as I can about these engines.

Thanks,
Mark

Do you have any numbers on how much they flowed? Also.....anyone have any numbers on the EJ20 heads or EJ25 heads?

ok, first I'll answer Mark. The ports that he checked were the intake ports. The area that I'm refereing to "behind the valve stem" is located on both sides (intake and exhaust) so it doesn't really matter which side I was refering to. I basically saw the guy do it. Anyone with half a brain could see that the area which had poor flow couldn't really be tweaked. As for the price, that was an estimate before he saw where they flowed poorly. It was a rough estimate. ok, whats a 3 angle valve job? your stock valve has one sealing surface usually at a 45° angle (where it seats agains the valve seal). When they redo valve seals they often do a 3 angle job which is basically the one 45° in the middle and then a 30° and a 60° on either end. I may be off with the exact angles but thats the basic priciple. It basically makes the air pass by a little more smoothly. and also gives a two extra sealing surfaces. As for flow numbers. I had a hard time keeping up with what my machinest was saying so I cant really help there. I can ask him again when I see him later this week. On a side note, if anyone cares to know. I spent $500 the other day on some subaru parts. $170 in bolts alone to put the heads back on and reassemble the short block. The factory bolts are torque spec. Once they are taken off they are usless. I also bought a new oil pump for around $130, a new water pump for $84, and a new hydraulic tens. (timing belt tens.) for $95!. Hey its only money right.....

Mike

If anyone neds OEM parts like these, please let us know..the deals we get are very good generally, and 90% of the items are in stock

Adam
www.z1auto.com

Cough....i'll be needing what he used pretty quick. What are the bolts that are needed to reassemble the engine? What does it mean "Torque spec bolts"? Can you buy all of these in a package or do you need to stand around all day at a nut and bolt store picking them out?
Either way i'm going to rebuild my turbo 2.2 pretty quick. I plan on replacing all the seals and gaskets. Doing a valvetrain rebuild and possibly borring over just a bit.
I'll need a new water/oil pump too along with the timing belt and tensioners.
Brent