Yes it was an all stock F23 until I blew the headgasket, then I upgraded to ARP headstuds. Then I blew the Piston Rings. Now I'm deTurbo'd. I've got the Turbo engine pulled out on an engine stand to be rebuilt better for boost over the summer and a new N/A engine in the car for now. Stick with one thing at a time though. Just focus on the Manual Swap for now and then save up money for whatever you may want to do to the engine.
Well, here's what I want to do since my car is a daily driver and cant be out of commission for very long. My motor has about 148k on it and those f23 motors are a dime a dozen with less than half the mileage from various websites.
What I was thinking is that I would throw all the mods on a newer used engine (40-50k) and then just transplant it over a weekend. The parts I'm planning to throw in are the new manual tranny, 10:1 forged Pistons, Billet h-beam Rods, ACL main bearings (maybe), ARP Head studs, ARP Main studs, MLS Head gasket, LSD, and a Catback exhaust. Once those are all assembled, the engine should be turbo-ready and I'll throw it into the car until I can afford a full turbo setup including the BOV, wastegate, manifold, boost controller, turbo timer, intercooler and piping, gauges, fuel pump, fuel injectors, maybe a fuel pressure regulator (?), and I'm guessing I need some kind of new ECU since the stock 5-speed one probably won't cut it, am I right?
One more question, would this LSD be plug and play for my tranny or would I have to get special hardware or different axles to fit it in? I'll be honest, I have no idea where the differential goes in a front wheel drive car.
Part number WTLSD-H22 from gearspeedwholesale