liquid_helix136

Honestly I would just save the headache and not drive it till you can afford an EMS and a tune..

Osvaldy1216

Interesting topic as I too am raising my compression on my f20. My mechanic actually did tell me hes installing a thicker head gasket to reduce the new compression ratio to hopefully avoid any detonation or slap.

Note: The thicker head gasket is a great safe solution but not the best, if your on a budget like me I would recommend the thicker head gasket to act as a temporary fix but start saving to hopefully upgrade you ems system and get it tuned in the future.

ack5252

Don't want to machine them down because once I have an EMS I'll want to take advantage of the additional compression. Already have an adjustable FPR as well.

I'm going to put in a thicker head gasket for now to lower it a bit until I can afford an EMS. Thanks for all the thoughts here guys.

s2000Junky

Doesn't make any sense. For the price of a HG installation you could buy a EMS. On top of that, you would be doing it 2x to get your compression back once you got the EMS

s2000Junky

It blows my mind the thinking or lack thereof, with some folks on this forum that would invest so much into the car whether its wheel fitments to engine/FI work, to then then not be prepared to finish a critical component like the EMS/tune in this case, or not have done the research fully to know what was required before pulling the trigger on the project. There is so much expense and bad ramifications if things are not thought out fully with modding this car to this level, that it just doesn't make sense to not educate yourself or understand the ins/outs of whats required BEFORE YOU START IT, OR at least fully trust the personal doing all the work and what they recommend for you.

At this point the smartest thing you can do if you don't have access to 93+ pump, is put the car down until you saved up enough for a EMS/tune, and I hope you didn't paint yourself into a corner by not having a second vehicle, that would be pretty stupid. If you don't, well this will certainly be a learning experience for you.

ack5252

Thanks for your input and criticisms s2000Junky. Indeed this project has been long in the making and ideally I would like nothing more than to pick up an EMS today and do it the ideal way. Unfortunately though, the car needs to move from its location ASAP, money is tight, and since I'd be doing the work myself it wouldnt cost me anything to do it twice (the head gasket install I mean)other than the cost of another head gasket, and get the car in running order. In fact, I welcome the opportunity to do the head gasket install twice for the additional practice since I'm still honing my skills. I did do some research and was advised that I could make it work with the stock head gasket, but after thinking on it was second guessing that advice which is why I posed the question here. This is exclusively a project car and yes I am fortunate enough to have a daily driver. Sometimes you can plan everything down to the last bolt, but if a money issue comes up and you have a deadline you have to make compromises.

So for me it makes a lot of sense and its a great learning opportunity! I'll be sure to let you know how it works out.

SlowTeg

If you just need to limp somewhere and you don't have a returnless fuel system (06+), get an adjustable fuel pressure regulator and raise the pressure a few psi to richen things up. This should solve the problem of running lean. The issue of timing is a different concern, but part throttle I'd imagine it would be ok.

s2000Junky

I wouldn’t be apposed to just cruising the car, if you need to get it somewhere I would feel pretty confident that the stock ecu could operate that motor safely under part throttle conditions/light load with that compression. The biggest issue is detonation with a higher compression motor and a sub par fuel, BUT detonation typically occurs under heavy throttle loads, so if you are kind to the car and have mostly freeway cruising miles, id consider running it. Added fuel isnt going to be needed because you will never dip into open loop throttle ie; past 35% ( if it would be needed at all anyway) I would strongly advise investing in one heat range colder spark plugs, which would be an 8 to help lower combustion temps, this will aid in raising the detonation threshold.