after some input on my turbo build

the reason is there is only one relief on the intake side of an 8v piston, as all the intake valves are in the center, not offset like the exhaust valves.

Oh haha, I am thinking backwards then lol. I thought the intake were offset, and the exhaust were not. Now that I see a head, I realize I was backwards. In that case, then an 8V piston will definately not work in a 12V motor, as the 12V motors have 2 intake valves and 1 exhaust valve per cylinder.

bingo the 12v pistons have 4 notches, and the 8v ones have 3. im pretty sure the fe3 pistons have the same pattern as the 12v, just maybe abit smaller notches

Thanks for that guys,
Deffinately appreciate the info, and the pics explain a lot. I to was thinking backwards regarding valve placement. Meanwhile the 8 valve inlet valve is massive, I was a bit worried the single inlet valve would pose a major restriction. I'm going to do the sums on valve area etc to compare 8 vs 12 valve.
At this stage I'll be looking to use 8valve f2 pistons, same as what's in my f2 (8valve f2 )as it has 8.6:1 comp which will take boost nicely.
I can't use the fet pistons in the f2 cause they are 7.6 comp on the fet and about 2mm shorter than f2t pistons which would drop the f2 compression down to somewhere below 7:1wich would need massive boost.... It'd make the thing a pig rocket.... A total pig till it comes on boost then a rocket lol.
Mx6 forums are proving a very useful resource regarding what can be done with the f series motors.
If I can finish up the Mrs Suzuki gti this weekend and get it out of the garage I'll start tearing down the f2 and possibly open up the fet as well.

have you thought about using the fet block instead? stick with the 2.0L, execpt maybe bore it out if your going with new pistons anyways? keep the bigger displacement but with a shorter stroke to turn more turbo friendly rpms? im not sure if the vr6 valve springs work for the 8v engine or just the fe3 16v setup. its worth a thought anyways, if you have to rebuild that is.

The fe block was my original preference, due to it already being drilled for oil returns and the like. I'm pretty keen on going the longer stroke option though, I want the extra torque. I figure with the 8 valve head and valve train neither engine will take lots of rpm.
I have considered overboring to get around 2.3, which would also help the stroke ratio a little, but not really sure it'll be worth it.
Ultimately, what block I use will depend on what I find when I open them up.
I'll be getting the springs checked while I'm doing everything and may look at shimming them a couple of mm which will increase their preload, its simple and cheap. But if their cactus its good to know I may have a good replacement option.
Thanks for the help so far.

I've just cleared the car out of the garage so hopefully stripping should start over the next week. I'll have a much better idea of where I'm heading then.

im sure with some better springs and a cam and you could pull another 1k rpm out of it, but if you want the low end i would just go for a v6? with the low gears already in these trucks and that usually most go to a smaller tire diameter i figured the extra rpm would be a bonus. but anyways, have you thought about a blower instead of a turbo? i would think that would be the better option if you want bottom end power. probably an m62 would be perfect, and no need to muck with your head much over stock as youll still be in the stock power band. also you can just go with a simple header and no oil or coolant lines to mess with. im planning for a blower on my KL v6 swap down the road, to bring some bottom end back into the screaming power band

it would probably be a simple setup for you, 7psi non cooled, or 12-13psi with an intercooler. mount it off to the side, align the belt up, plumb in a BOV like a turbo setup, pipe to a cooler or strait to the mani, and tune it all in. i honestly think if you want torque and to stay with a 4cyl then a blower is your best bet

I hear what your saying, and don't disagree, though I'm more worried about the rocker arms holding up at high rpm than anything else. Heard a few cases of rocker arms giving up the ghost when pushed to hard.
I'd love to je or kl swap it, but at this stage its to much hard work and expense in keeping it road legal here.
I think I should be able to get it to rev to 6k no problems without to much work, 6500 would be getting to the stage of flogging a dead horse... I guess my Max rpm will ultimately be decided by where my power and torque curves start dying off, no point reving it for the sake of reving it.
I totally agree that a blower would be a nice option, but it comes down to the fact that I've already got basically everything I need lying around to make a good solid turbo setup without incurring much more expense.

ah yes fair enough, it does come down to what you have on hand, i forget that i collect parts and have all kinds of stuff on hand at all times. I also forgot that you encounter all kinds of difficulties when you change your engine dissplacement in auzzy land, thats a big problem for a budget project. well, im in for updates on the direction your going, got any progress pics yet?

Parts hoarding is a wonderful disorder haha. Yeah, the fun police are major buzzkills here, even when you go by the book some still try their best to screw you. Budget wise, what I'm doing should get 200-250 HP conformably and reliably for not much more than the cost of rebuild parts and some minor machine work.
Not much that I can update physically, but have a much better idea of which direction I'll be going.
I've spent a bunch if time reading thru mx6 forums and grass roots motorsports forums trying to see just how far people have been pushing the f2t engines, I've been surprised by some of the numbers being made and know what I'm proposing should be reasonably straight forward.
At this stage I'm going to use the f2 bottom end, with the fet head and turbo manifold as well as 929 inlet manifold.

Turbo wise, I'm looking at using a Nissan skyline turbo from an rb25det engine. They're cheap, readily available and a t3 flange making changing to another turbo later pretty easy if I don't like how it feel or want bigger power. It'll be mounted on an angled adapter so I can mount the turbo so the compressor faces forward.

Head will get port matched to gaskets, ports cleaned up and smoothed with some minor port work. Exhaust valves are almost 10% larger than f2t exhaust valves and Inlet's are about 10% smaller total area than the 2 inlet valves combined on the f2t. Given that guys are pulling 400+hp thru stock f2t heads and some guy in Puerto rico just pulled 526hp with an 8v head Im pretty comfortable that I won't need to go radical with the head to make the power I want and some. Fet heads have double springs which are pretty firm, they'll be getting checked and if possible, shimmed up a mm or 2 to give a little boost in spring preload. I'll be using get rocker arms with manual lash adjusters and either the fet can (modified) or an fe 8v n/a cam

Block will be stock f2, including n/a pistons as they're only 8.5:1 which will be fine for turbo. I'll be tapping the block in the factory locations for my oil feed and return and also tapping for water for a water cooled turbo.

I still have a few discissions to make regarding my ignition and fuel set ups, but I'm working on it.

Its also looking like I'll be looking to upgrade my drive line as it doesn't look like I'll be able to get the Mazda smooth case gearbox to last behind decent power and torque.

Physical work on the project has been non exsistant coming into christmas but should get a start into it shortly. Including some pics.