Compression ratio:

The 7 to 1 cr on the stock turbo motor will work just fine. However you can safely raise it to 8 to 1 for a bit more low end torque and better fuel economy. You will need to run 91 octane.

Rasing yourt CR past 8.5 can be dicey. You will be boost limited and the gains vs the risk may not be worth it.

If you are converting a carb motor to to a turbo you will need to use a detonation sensor. Not all blocks have a boss for this. Most 87 and newer have this and its even tapped.

What you wont have if you use a carb motor's engine block is the piston coolers. These are oil squirters that spray the bottom of the piston to reduce piston temperature. If you want to run a signifigant amount of boost you should have these. A guess is up to six psi boost if you dont have to have them. Past that... let me know how it worked.

The piston coolers can be added to any motor that has the detonation sensor boss (turbo block). I used a bridgport mill and some extended cutters to spot-face drill and tap for them.

Since a decent block may be hard to find this may be a good option.

Kevin C