Do I need to get the holes machined into the block?
...BTW your Bieber avatar is awesome.-Malone
I have a head that has more precup volume than an aaz. While I don't daily it and my calculated compression is somewhere around 17:1 it does ok at low rpm. If you have good ring seal I don't think starting and running issues will be a problem for you. As a former avid off roader I think a newer design turbo will be a good choice as you really aren't needing the vw set up to keep all the exhaust and intake stock. That said a t3 or k24 with a 2.5 to 3" downpipe and the ported better flowing head will start building boost almost instantly, but not reach max boost until a little over 2,000. Maybe 2,300, at least that is my experience, maybe faster if you like a ton of smoke. If you have to buy a turbo and don't have one laying around I would suggest a holset or Mitsubishi as they are built way better than the others out there
...and if you decide that you need to get rid of that OEM AAZ head, please let me know. Interested in trades for a very lightly used GT2056 turbo and downpipe / flange adapter?Steve.