help making a N/A block a turbo
 

i have a 7mge block that i'm going to redo and replace the one i have in my car now. the block is out of a non turbo car and it will be going in a turbo car. i was told that 7mge and 7mgte blocks are the same but have different pistons and also cams. i was also told the heads were different b/c of the oil and lines for the turbo. i will be buying a turbo head and using that. i just wanted to confirm that i can use an N/A block for my turbo car. i will be putting in new pistons, rods, and maybe crank. the pistons for both engines are the same size, just a different type of piston correct? are there any other issues i might run into when rebuilding the short block and think about when putting it into a turbo car? i would really appreciate the help, thank you.

The heads are the same. The block and pistons and intake cams are different.

so i can just get my N/A head redone and put it on a turbo block? can i use the N/A cams or do i need to have ones out of a turbo?

Yes. You'll want the GTE intake cam and you'll want to replace/swap the valve or lifter shims to setup for the proper clearance for a GTE spec engine.

noob question (just got into the car stuff)
 

So...you need all those mods (cams, valve cover, etc) to make a 7mge turboed? I was under the impression that you could get the turbo kit and just maybe put on the turbo valve cover, plus have the turbo ecu of course. So is the N/A engine not robust enough to handle a turbo? Or it will just not work without all the mods? Just bought a supra non turbo...and i was thinking of putting a turbo on sometime later in life...after i get it to run properly.

The GTE has different pistons, a drilled oil feed and drain, comes with an oil cooler (easy to add a better setup to the GE... the GTE's was a piss poor design anyway and should be replaced), it uses two knock sensors in different locations than the N/A's single knock sensor, the GTE has a higher volume oil pump, and the GTE has oil squirters which serve to cool the cast pistons. You may have the block drilled and tapped for thew knock sensors and drilled for the oil drain but you cannot rework the block to add the oil squirters with much effort. You have a difficult time finding a machine shop will to drill an old cast iron block and actually guarantee it... they'll do it but cracks are a slight risk. The oil feed can be sourced by either drilling the stock location or from the blocked 1/8BSP oil port behind the thermostat tower in line with the oil pressure sender.

I've blown up a N/A-T with a lot of work put into fuel and oiling and detonation control, as have many others... I do not recommend it.

The car won't run as well as it could on GTE electronics if it's still N/A.... won't be terrible but you lose the ACIS system. You'll also have to change out the distributor setup for the coil pack setup, the airflow meter, wire harness and a couple other odds and ends.