It's not always the head gasket that will fail, and if it is sealed properly, it
won't be the head gasket that fails.
Your #1 concern will be Detonation and #2 concern will be the physical limitations of the engine itself.
Detonation. Just because you run boost on a high compression engine does not mean certain failure. The trouble though is that when you compress air into an already smaller area (higher compression), now that air is going to be very hot when it is compressed. And since we can only get 91 or 92oct gasoline at the pump, eventually you are going to reach the point where the fuel is not able to exist under those high temperatures without self igniting (reaching its natural flash point). That is when you will get preignition and multiple flame fronts in your cylinders, which will reak havoc on the piston dome, the cylinder dome, and add unequal pressure to the cylinder walls and the piston during expansion.
Physical Limitations. The connecting rods are only able to undergo compressive forces until plastic deformation sets in. Once they plastically deform (break), it's bye-bye engine.
You simply can not run 30 PSI on a stock 7.5:1 22R-TE Engine. The rods (amongst other components) are not strong enough to withstand those forces, just like you can not run 20 PSI on a stock 9:1 22R(-E) engine.
I do not know what the actual limitation is for the 22R(-E) engine with boost as I have never tried it.
But I wouldn't be surprised if even 13 or 14 PSI would be enough to break a connecting rod.
But lets not forget, in order to get a 9:1 engine up to 13 or 14 PSI without detonation with a stock ECU and such, we will need some gas much slower burning then 92 oct, or we will need to really cool down that intake charge.
Which is what you have mentioned about doing with an Intercooler. So yes, it is possible to have a very efficient intercooling device (even as efficient as a Water/Alcohol Mist System), but you will still for ever be limited by the physical character of the engine itself, which is not even designed for boost.
Now, putting all this tech mumble-jumble aside, in the real world, I have no doubt that you can run a C20 Turbo on a 22R(-E) bottom end at stock boost, which is *just* ~6.5 PSI and be just fine. Just remember that you will need a good intercooler and will absolutely be required to run premium and nothing but premium fuel everywhere you go.
If you were to transfer the whole stock EFI and Turbo over to your engine, then expect to see about a 20-25% increase in power and a much wider and more useable torque band. It would definitely be worth the upgrade, but I would not practically recommend using much more then about 6 PSI.
Keep us updated with this, I would love to see pictures and progress reports!
Cya
BigMike
