It'll be a rotary dont worry.

so I feel that the motor is the heart of any car so i would like opinions.....

Any way back ground on the car...

she started as an 88 gxl oxydized silver with damaged blue interior.

she has undergone a s5 engine swap when her old motor succummed to faulty coolant seals. the s5 motor is running a safc piggybacked s4 ecu.

she has a full s5 body swap, minus the spoiler amd mirrors (s4's look better) and been painted black.

I have a lot of time and centimental value tied up in her (first car...)

So, now that my engine is getting harder to start, (not the injectors) I am thinking its a chipped apex seal, not confirmed, but im thinking the worse possible cause. so it it does indeed need replacing what to I swap in? I am in college so money is tight, so a full t2 swap is out, unless i get a super awsome deal on one.

Options---------------------------------
replace with a s4 block, return to stock wiring and start over.
(staying with my cars seires)
Replace with another "fidangled" s5 engine with s4 omp, leave as is
(maintaining what i currently have built)
Replace with known good compression s4 na block and turbocharge for 200-225 hp range.
(going for more power...hehehe)
------------------------------------------


I am abit sketchy on turboing a n/a block , but a few folks on here have done so with some success.
she put out 165 whp mostly untuned with a crappy air filter, fouled plugs and bad wires. so i think my current set up is worth 170 or so.

and heres the car....



and because I cant help it...


so I want some imput from you guys, what would you do?

 

lightly modded s4 T2 with n/a drivetrain, at least for now (just don't ever launch it). look around for a used good compression s4 T2 motor. use an s4 n/a engine harness (only have to mod a few wires). stock turbo and TMIC at 8-10psi. stock T2 injectors, maybe 720 secondarys if you find a good deal on them. get an rtek 1.5 or 1.7 if you get upgraded secondarys.

you can get all those parts for cheap man, seriously. and keep it all s4.

 

But (and this sounds really stupid) the car looks like a s5. so then I almost want to maintain that s5 theame.
really is a stupid reason though

 

Looks good. It's odd being the guy trying to find S4 TII mirrors, isn't it?

I say do a TII swap and stick to bolt ons. You'll love the car all over again !

 

RE or REW

If you're gonna swap. Swap.

 

cash is the problem, I cant be doing a 1500-2000 doller swap. I can do all the work myself so theoretically I could do a t2 motor and run it as an n/a for a few months till i can afford the bolt-ons.
Keep in mind this is my daily driver so it cant be off the road for more than a week-2 weeks max if i plan for it.

 

I read your whole post, but first, about your current engine. Do a compression test, and if that doesn't confirm the chipped apex seal, see why she's acting tired. No need to swap if money's tight.

You had me going for a while judging by the post title. Good thing you're staying rotary powered if you swap. I'd say if you have to swap, go S4, because you'll have less wiring troubles and parts are more available. The 18hp difference will be eaten up fast when you start modifying.

 

pfsantos- I am most certanly not pulling a possibly good motor, this is all hypothetical

 

you really won't gain much from putting an s5 T2 engine in there. parts are way harder to find, you have all the wiring bullshit, and the s5 engine at lower power levels isn't meaningfully better (most important difference is the stronger rear iron in the s5, and that's not a big issue if you're not trying to make big power). Nobody will know the difference anyway. The turbo engines look the same under the hood to the untrained eye.

You could try for a good Jspec motor, or a rebuilt used stockport one. the less you have to hunt down parts, the better so look for one or two sources. You may want an s5 turbo b/c it doesn't have the twin scroll system.