Hey

I'm still looking for any thoughts on how to give my 86'toy 4cyl. 4x4 a bit of extra kick any suggestions will be appreciated

 

lce header hiflow cat full 2.25'' exhaust and a intake and if you have the money oversize vavles and a cam

 

+1 on the post above.. Those mods are the best bang for the buck.
Maybe cut the head for a little more compression.
Want to go above that you'll need to define your budget.

 

That's good for a "little" kick, but the only way to get real power is an engine swap. No matter what you do to it, the 22re will always be a 22re.


If a stock motor is putting out 116hp, I bet mine is around 130-140 and it's still a pig.

 

Thats the thing to remember, you can get some bang for your buck, much more than what was mentioned above, and your spending enough money to have just done an engine swap anyway...

 

I disagree...
Dyno courtesy of Jeff Mosk, but I think a 200hp 22re is a real possibility for less money than a motor swap....
This is at the rear wheels, mind you... Jeff spent a small fortune on his, but I think I've got a realistic guide for a 200hp motor on a budget.

 

my 22re had more power than my 3.0 did

 

Are you looking for bolt on stuff or are you going to be rebuilding also?

 

Well, of course there are exceptions to every rule. 22RE being no different.

I'm pretty sure that if I covered it up with $800 worth of goodies, I could make you think a cat turd tasted like exotic candy. That would be pretty uneconomical of course, but if I had something to prove...

 

I like to think add 4 more cylinders --- maybe an X44Re

 

Dude regear and thats like adding 50 hp.

 

Trust me, for $800 in engine work, you've still got a turd of a 22RE.
Realistically, there is a good 20hp or so available in the motor with bolt ons and mild engine mods (think engnbldr) for less than $800. At +20hp you've still got a turd. 20hp may be all you need to run 33s with the right gearing at 70mph down the highway and that's fine...

I also think that for somewhere between $1500-$2k, you can have a 175-200hp 22re with nice manners. This is a new concept - because it's been previously limited by ECU control - or the cost of SDS.
See what LC charges for a 160hp 22re.... Then ask them if you need their $1700 SDS to go on top of it. The total bill will be ugly - but done right.. That's what LC sells.
After building a pretty expensive blown 22R, I had decided that I should have done a 4.3L swap. With the 22re turbo I'm working on now, I don't think that's necessarily the right answer... but I reserve the right to change my mind.
Mind you, this is simply a theory based on a project that I'm working on. Jeff Mosk got big power for big bucks out of his. I've already sunk big bucks into mine, but I'm seeking to go past 200hp. The *next* one I do should be interesting because I'll build it on a budget, just to see if I can get a reliable 200hp 22RE for around $2k... I think it would make a whole lot of people seeking engine swaps reconsider. If you've got $2k in budget, but would like to keep your 22re, talk to me - I'd love to prove the concept... An engine swap will cost more than 2k one way or another - unless you OWN a fab shop.

 

hehehe you can make ANY engine fast and powerful with enough green stuff that grows from those endangerd money trees....I need to get me someadem! lol

Honestly though, aside from head, cam, and bolt ons you are going to have to go the route of forced induction and its happy trail of supporting mods.

Im pushing my 3vze in that direction as well...adding an SMT6 after the cams, heads, valves, and WMI (yes water injection) - can you say 87 octane with 15*BTDC with no ping? Then pending how the truck reacts to more power, a T3-60 with a T3 .63ar hotside or a small T04e is in the works next.

 

exaust, this includes a LCE header, muffler of your choice. A free flow cat perhaps, and not huge piping. 2.25-2.5 should be fine I'd say.

some sort of intake mod. i don't reccomend a freeflow filter, more along the lines of an elbow or similar mod.

A cam from engnbldr

perhaps stainless valves, rockers, and all the other top end stuff that you could do while you are doing the cam.

finally....regear the axles. the most important.

Do these things, and you'll be pretty well off. Otherwise you're looking at a rebuild to find the power. Then you can do some things inside that would help, bore, stroke, yadda yadda. You would proabably have to rebuild to go forced induction anyways. so rule that out.

 

So about how much would a LCE header, cam from engnbldr, valves, rockers, and any other whatchamacallits around the cam run me? Cause I like my intake, straight pipe, muffler, and gears just the way they are, but I would like to add some more bolt-ons...

 

I neglected to read your sig. While I can't advocate not having a cat, not my decision. I noticed no difference when i had my K&N. It just made more intake noise. You already have gears so.....

I think the header runs in the 300 range. Cam is only 89 but then there's labor if you don't do it yourself. All the other little stuff is cheap.

 

Get rid of those 3" pipes and come down to a 2.25" pipe. And I have run cat and nocat, and cat acutally preforms better....

LCE header and new studs runs just over 4 bills.

A cam, like mentioned about 90, plus valves, machine work.. probally about 500 total, maybe more??

 

Actually, you're right about it preforming a little better with a cat. BUT, I figured out that when you run without a cat, you are lacking the backpressure that having a cat installed would otherwise create. So anyways, one day I got to thinkin, and got a couple high tinsel 3" outter diameter steel 1/4" thick washers with inner diameters ranging from 1.25 to 2.85 inches. Anyhoo, after much trial and error, I finally found an inner diameter (2.15" for my 3" pipe) that created the same amount of backpressure that a cat would have. Now I have the rich and resonant sound of a very wide straight pipe, without the preformance loss of chunking your cat. It's a must try for all yall fellas who're tryin to figure out a way around that problem.

Anyhoo, well I guess that settles it for me. I'll be leavin the headers for a while (still iffy on the headers. I've never installed, or seen installed, headers that didn't end up leaking), and just do the cam, valves, rockers, etc. and install it all myself (no problemo).

What about injectors? How hard are those to get to? Cause I've been wanting to get those engineered for a while now...

 

I am on my 2nd 22re, and had the header on my other one fro 3.5 years (50K miles) before i sold it, no leakey(once i got a good gasket, downey sucks)... ever The current one I have has no leaking issues.... just get a good header, replace your studs, etc.

as far as the no cat.... not for me anymore... exhaust stank too..... glad it works for you

 

How did you determine that the 2.15" creates the same backpressure as a cat?

Did you blow through both or something?