EJ22... Lets make some power! (help)

[SPR]

so i just picked up a free EJ22 engine. doesnt run ( i dont think ) but its a good solid block... CLOSED DECK!!!

so my friend and i (chipLRXSLI on here) are going to build it pretty damn decent run some boost, and drop it in something... not sure what yet lol probably his legacy.

i know theres some great set ups out there, and people have built a lot of these... so the question is...

which a slim budget in mind... and optimal power as the goal with a turbo... what would your suggestions be. mainly interested in heads, pistons and rod combos for the main part. just curious what you guys think you would go with.

[grayguy]

if you have a ej22t, then I would rebuild with stock internals. The reason I say that is that everyone I know who uses aftermarket internals, seems to have something let go.

Stock rebuild, Phase 1 DOHC heads, and however big of a turbo you want. if I had the money, I'd get a Twinscroll GT35r, but your gonna need a good transmission to back that up (6mt or re-geared 5mt)

[StatGSR]

^ what he said

[SPR]

its not a ej22t, nor do i have one. and ive very rarley seen one for sale.

the turbo at biggest will be a vf39, more than likely it will just be a wrx turbo since they are way easier and cheaper to come by. motor only needs to handle around 11 pounds.

i guess im a noob, dunno what you mean by "phase 1".

[StatGSR]

^ uh then its not closed deck..... im pretty sure the only closed deck 2.2 ever is the ej22t

[SPR]

^ uh then its not closed deck..... im pretty sure the only closed deck 2.2 ever is the ej22t

DOH! i feel like the biggest idiot ever right now lmao. your totally right. i knew that and i guess spaced it out. some other idiot told me it was closed deck and evadently i didnt question it untill you said that. ur right lmao. end of discussion thread closed, ill prob just throw this motor out haha.

[grayguy]

^ LOL! you don't have to throw it out, just don't put too much boostz to it. the ej22 will hold 7-8 psi...I think???

[SPR]

^ LOL! you don't have to throw it out, just don't put too much boostz to it. the ej22 will hold 7-8 psi...I think???

on stock internals 8 is pushing it. if i redid it all and lowered the compression i could prob run an easy 11-14. were still prob going to build it just for shits and giggles. see how much power we can crank out from what we can scrap together from some good deals. maybe pull a good 250 hp with less than 500 bucks... never know. time will tell. i am going to drag it down to the shop next weekend, put it on a stand and tear it down, see if its even in decent shape. if is it, prob build it, if not, ill scrap metal it.

[Perdue]

Putting EJ25 heads on the EJ22 short block, especially the phase 1 heads, will lower your compression ratio significantly, allowing you to run 10-11psi pretty reliably with a good tune. Just keep in mind that a good, capable piggyback and a dyno tune by someone who knows what they're doing is going to be one of the most important parts of your system. That area has no room for being "cheap" if you want to run for a long time.

My plan was always an EJ22 short block, DOHC EJ25 heads, Stock N/A exhaust manifold (Less to compress than the borlas for faster spool), upgraded injectors, Stock WRX turbo with custom uppipe and downpipe for a rotated mount, Walboro WRX fuel pump, Manual Boost controller, and a dumped Tial wastegate. I had planned to use Greddy E-Manage for my fuel and timing management. Then you'll need all the proper guages...wideband A/F ratio, Pyrometer, and Boost would be a bare minimum IMO.

[SPR]

Putting EJ25 heads on the EJ22 short block, especially the phase 1 heads, will lower your compression ratio significantly, allowing you to run 10-11psi pretty reliably with a good tune. Just keep in mind that a good, capable piggyback and a dyno tune by someone who knows what they're doing is going to be one of the most important parts of your system. That area has no room for being "cheap" if you want to run for a long time.

My plan was always an EJ22 short block, DOHC EJ25 heads, Stock N/A exhaust manifold (Less to compress than the borlas for faster spool), upgraded injectors, Stock WRX turbo with custom uppipe and downpipe for a rotated mount, Walboro WRX fuel pump, Manual Boost controller, and a dumped Tial wastegate. I had planned to use Greddy E-Manage for my fuel and timing management. Then you'll need all the proper guages...wideband A/F ratio, Pyrometer, and Boost would be a bare minimum IMO.

good set up except for greaddy e management.... HAHAHAHA that shit is a joke. at very least get a turbo xs UTEC. an ecutek is even better. greddy sucks ass.

im not worried about the ecu tuning. i can utec it and get it tuned in nicely for free. shop reflashes suck lol unless its a true dyno tune. pdx tuning is the only company ive had experience with that their reflashes are pretty decent for being generic. rallytek had one of the worst reflashes ive ever seen for a stage 2 wrx.

[SammyDaFish]

^ LOL! you don't have to throw it out, just don't put too much boostz to it. the ej22 will hold 7-8 psi...I think???

I ran 10 psi on a bone stock EJ22 with almost 200k on it. it was awesome, well until I bottomed out driving in a quarry and ripped the oil return line off the turbo.... that sucked

mine was tuned on a pp6, which is for sale by the way, running emanage ultimate now

[SPR]

the dohc 2.5 heads will lower the compression a little more than the sohc heads, correct?

were pushing threw with this project anyway. one of the guys in our team is going to upgrade his 07 wrx with a vf39, so were going to use his td04 on this block.

so gotta plan for atleast 14 pounds of boost even though we will probably run somewhere closer to 11ish.

were also going to swap out his auto for a 5spd when this motor goes in.

but got a couple questions. the stock pistons and rods. think they will hold up? or should i look for some aftermarket/ej22t?

then we were going to pick up this sti intake manifold from a friend, but it dawned on me it wont work with the throttle body drive by wire crap and everything. so what intake manifold would you guys go with? remember it needs to be able to clear a turbo inlet. im not sure if the NA manifolds raise up enough to clear one.

which then also brought me to throttle bodies. i believe the 2.2 and 2.5 are the same bore correct? cant remember, but i dont think they are any different. someone verify?

[SammyDaFish]

on my new motor I used the phase II EJ25 NA manifold and made phenolic spacers for it. I had to grind off a few pointless embossments on the manifold to get the intake to fit underneath it. My fuel lines don't run there though since I'm running custom ones. If you didn't want to fake the fuel all custom I assume you could run WRX fuel parts but can't say that for sure. In the end I can run a 3" intake pipe to my t3/t4 turbo mounted in the stock wrx location. I also used the sohc ej25 throttle body and machined out the mount for the stepper motor IAC to fit the solenoid type IAC that I have on my 95 wagon. The end result is an NA 2.2 with ported and polished SOHC ej25 heads, ej25 intake manifold and injectors and a t3/t4 turbo. there's a bit of custom work into it but I did the whole thing for under $1k


if you've got the block out and want to do anything to it, I'd put some pistons in it. Hands down that's the week spot when boosting an NA engine. I'm pretty sure the ej22 rods and crank are the same from the NA or turbo. When I did this the 1st time without any tunning, just boosting the NA, everything else stock I tore apart two pistons. The second one with tunning to avoid detonation worked out much better. Still a good set of pistons is clearly worthwhile if you're planning on tearing into the block.


the 2.2 and 2.5 have different bores and strokes, very easy to look up.

EJ22 3.81 X 2.95
EJ25 3.92 X 3.11