Austarion

the ecu: is it capable of supporting boost as it is (like low boost, 5-7 psi).

the pistons/head: quench or non quench?

ecu is fine for 10 ish psi, There are some slight mods u can do for further boost but your limited by piston failure. non quench design.

so if i (as part of an ongoing project) just throw the motor in the car, with standard everything, and bolt on my turbo/manifold, and run low boost i should be alright for a few months?

Yes, it will be fine provided its inernals are mechanicaly ok.

Hey flav,
How much boost do you reckon you can get away with on the std 2.4 pistons?, had a look at a set and they seem to have a thicker ring land than the staz pistons. Rods looked the same as vr4 to me too. Reckon you could get away with it if you drop comp with a thick cometic gasket or something? aftermarket ecu would also be a given.

cheers.

Vic.

Matey, thats the strength right there...in the lands. Its where all the other pistons fail and everyone should take note of this when ordering custom pistons. Those you beaut Hypertecs are prone to it and we dont use them.
You could probably use something like 5 psi without any mods appart from some timing adjustment. A staz vac adv. unit would be a great addition as it removes timing on boost and this gives you more power and safer parameters. You can put a thicker gasket in there or even remove some material from the top of the pistons. They are quite thick. Atermarket ecu will allow much more power as you get to control it all.