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I did this swap on my 88' 9000T last week. I used the 2.3L head and had performance work done to it first. Some items may be different with you set up but here goes:
"do you get better mileage due to the newer head design?"
I would not say so, cause I stay in it more often, and I was already doing that alot before the switch.
"what are the changes which have to be made (gaskets, seals, timing)?"
All the gaskets, seals, and parts are the same so whatever you need for the 2.0L you'd use with the 2.1L, 2.3L head as well. With my set up I did have to get the 2.3L intake manifold gasket because it matches the intake opening of the 2.3L head, size wise. I used my 2.0L intake that was already there and simply machineed the opening a little larger to match them somewhat. The 2.3L openings are 42mm, my 2.0L intake was about 38mm so I enlarged then to about 40mm. I would suspect yours to be the same but I've also heard of others simply switching the intake to the 2.1, 2.3 and not having to bother with enlarging the one they alreay have. That's a 900 thing though, not 9000 like mine.
"what is the performance gain?"
This is a tough question and hard to describe but I'll try.
There's more power above 4,000 rpms and it's more pronounced when you step hard into it while you're already above that rpm range. Picture more highway passing power and your there. If I had to put a figure, # on the amount then it's even harder because 1.) I had performance work done to mine before fitting and 2.) I also put in some beefier cams at the same time. So I can't judge the HP increase of just a stock head alone, but I've read that doing head work will create about 10 hp for every 100 hp the engine currently puts out. So a 200Hp engine would gain about 20 hp with head work. I believe I got my 20hp...
"does the inlet and exhaust fit without modifying?"
Exhaust manifold, turbo and all that jazz is the same fitting, no problems there. The Intake manifold (mentioned above) should fit as is with the use of the 2.3L intake gasket, but to get the most from it, either resize the stock unit to match the gasket and larger intake openings, or get the intake from the 2.1, 2.3 head. Using the 2.1, 2.3 intake is a 900 thing, so I don't know about swapping that part or what fits where since I reused my 2.0L intake.
"are there any negative side effects?"
None that I've seen really. It does seem like boost below about 8 psi feels like no boost at all though, It's like when I get on it, and the gauge is reading 6-8 psi it doesn't feel like it's doing anything. I suspect it's because of the amount of air this head can flow, it now takes more boost to waken it up, and above 12 psi it comes alive really well. Like Gregg mentioned, I also added some larger injectors at the same time, 30Lb units. My A/F guage reads correctly, and all seems fine. Those injectors are probably only good for 240hp, I feel I'm safe though since I have Aquamist and RRFPR as well. I think I'm seeing about 245hp by the way.
Next up, better intercooler and larger turbo!
Hope that helps,
Phil
posted by 209.164.22...
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