03 vibe gt motor upgrade: build or replace

[KingTen91]

03 vibe gt, 6 speed, 185k miles, daily driver, only owned about 4 months, so far the only thing I've done to it is swapped the clutch(luk) and the spark plugs out (they were pretty nasty) with some ngk iridium ix, i read in another post those were the ones to get, definitely glad I went that route, so much easier pulling out of first now and accel all around has improved.
I have developed a serious crush on my car since I've owned it to the point where I get overly defensive if anyone tries to give it crap just because they're not familiar with its power..keep in mind there was a time when nobody drove civics but grandma's until somebody finally realized the potential...js
Anyway I'm looking for improvements to make. I have this idea in my head that I eventually would love to go(off-road/baja)(it's my car don't hate) I'm thinking the awd chassis would be better for that but the gt motor just has so much more power, if I could find a manual awd I would prob buy it and do a motor swap, preferably an '09 model, I just like the design better but I'm not sure how easy a swap that would be with sensors, ecu, etc etc, but all of that's far in the future, for right now I'm just looking at simple things to do like suspension, engine work, exhaust etc. Which brings me to my question.

My engine I've got now looks like its got some leaks possibly. Parts of the under side from the oil pan to the tranny gasket looks like there is built up sludge, I tried taking some simple green to it but I couldn't get it all, so I was thinking what the heck, I've got all summer and two days off a week that I'm overly adhd during anyways, why not pull it out and replace the gaskets. But anyone who has ever had to even change a head gasket knows nobody does this just "for fun". My other car, my first car actually, a 97 cavalier, (another gm/Toyota collab) I had to replace its head gasket and it took every bit of two days solid, (some of that was waiting on the machine shop but hey that's part of it too)
So then I was thinking why not look into an engine swap/upgrade. From what I've read it seems this engine is only surpassed by the Celica gts version, and by only 9hp at that, (i know very little about Celicas so not sure where that 9hp comes from.. maybe the ecu?), but are there any engines that will swap out, even forcibly, lol, that would be worth it to get the power gain? i know you can put a 350 Chevy engine in a miata so wasn't sure if the same idea could hold here,.. Or should I just stick with this one, pulling it out, replacing the gaskets, maybe boring the head and putting better rods and rings and etc, in it? Any advice is going to be more than appreciated! What would you do? Thanks!

[arrowracer76]

I'm starting to like the idea of a Honda K20 or K24 swap into the Vibe. Monkey Wrench Racing are starting to collect a majority of the parts needed to simplify the swap.

And in all honesty, I somewhat prefer the K20 over the 2ZZ. Far more plentiful parts at far better prices. You can pick up a brand new K20 longblock in the crate for just over $500.

Also; boring out the 2ZZ is a bad idea. The sleeves are already super thin and don't like being touched with anything beyond a deglazing tool or hone. You'll have to sleeve it if you want an increased bore. There's also a 2L stroker kit out there. Supposedly does wonders for the hole in the floor where our torque should be.

[KingTen91]

Don't know much about Honda engines. I looked up the k motors and it seems the k20z1 is a decent grade stronger, at least in horsepower, and then something about "earth engines"? I don't know but one is supposed to have 240 horsepower and be light weight and more efficient and so on. Anyway thanks for the suggestion, still looking for ideas, does anyone know of a good place to look for quality performance parts for the vibe gt? Every site I go to seems to always say their parts won't fit my car:/

[sideshowalan]

As mentioned above. Your one-stop 2zz shop.
Monkey Wrench Racing - http://www.monkeywrenchracing.com/