Turbocharged Honda K24 Engine - Engine Builder Magazine

Turbocharged Honda K24 Engine

At just 17 years old, Leo Greco has taught himself engine building techniques out of necessity. His latest build is a turbocharged Honda K24 he plans to swap into a 2003 Toyota Celica. Find out what went into the build.

Engine of the Week is presented by

One of our favorite aspects of the Engine of the Week series is seeing what all of you are building. Whether it’s a top-of-the-line, race-specific, high-horsepower beast of an engine, a vintage/classic rebuild, a street/strip build or something fun for a hot rod, we love it as much as you do.

We especially like when engine builders, racers and enthusiasts reach out to us with builds they are putting together, and our latest comes from Leo Greco in Ypsilanti, MI. Leo is an aspiring, young engine builder just 17 years old, but he’s been working hard to build a turbocharged Honda K24 engine for his 2003 Toyota Celica.

“I’m 17 and this is the first engine build I’ve done in the middle of winter,” Greco says. “I’ve always liked cars ever since I was super young. I had a love for the Liberty Walk R35 GTRs since it came out. Engine building was something I got into out of necessity since I couldn’t afford to have it built by someone else, so I had to do it myself.”

Leo’s Honda K24 engine got its machine work done by Auto Parts Machine Shop. Leo had the crank cleaned and polished with some minor balancing work done to it as well. The heads were fully disassembled and hot tanked and given a full competition valve job before being reassembled.

The rest of the K24 features ACL Race bearings, new rods, JE pistons, and a ported K20 pump. “I’m hoping to have the turbo on and the engine fully sealed back up by the end of the month,” Greco says. “I should have it in the car and fully working in spring if it all goes well.”

Leo’s Honda engine should be capable of 700 hp, only limited by the stock sleeves, but he says he plans on staying around 400 hp due to the Celica being a daily driver on Michigan roads. At just 17, Leo should be in for a fun 2021 with this new K swap leading the way.

Engine of the Week is sponsored by PennGrade Motor OilElring – Das Original and Scat Crankshafts. If you have an engine you’d like to highlight in this series, please email Engine Builder Editor, Greg Jones at [email protected].

You May Also Like

408 cid Nitrous LS Engine

During a tour of SAM Tech, we also got a chance to speak to a few students. One in particular, Jaylon Victorian, was nearing completion of a 408 cid nitrous LS engine. He applied his new engine building knowledge and skill set to the build, and it shines through in our latest Engine of the Week.

408 cid nitrous LS engine

One of the spots we were excited to check out while we were in Houston, TX last fall was the School of Automotive Machinists & Technology, also known as SAM Tech. We’ve been able to showcase the automotive technical school, which has a focus on engine building and machining, in prior features and articles, but we hadn’t been to the facility in person – until now.

760 cid Billet Big Block Chevy Nitrous Engine

Despite what you may think about nitrous engines, and those that are stock big block Chevy bore spacing, these 4.840″ bore space big block Chevy engines have some significant R&D in them. Just check out this 760 cubic inch billet version done at TRE Racing Engines.

Naturally Aspirated 440 cid LT1 Engine

The folks at Late Model Engines in Houston, TX run a top-notch engine and machine shop. You don’t have to look much further than this naturally aspirated 440 cid LT1 engine build to see what we mean. It’s our Engine of the Week!

All-Billet 903 cid Pro Mod Engine

Pat Musi of Musi Racing Engines has been meticulously developing and tweaking his 903 cid Pro Mod engine combo since 2010. We got to see the latest and greatest version of this nitrous-powered billet beauty. Check out our first Engine of the Week of 2024!

Pat Musi Racing Engines 903 cid Pro Mod engine
Naturally Aspirated 540 cid Big Block Chevy Engine

After having issues with an engine built elsewhere, a customer came to H Squared Racing Engines to build him a streetcar combo. Utilizing an existing block and crank, H Squared was given the freedom to spec the rest of the engine. Check out the result!

Other Posts

Stuffing a Supercharged 572 cid SMX Engine in a Porsche 928

For Danny Humphreys, drag racing is a progressive disease. Ever since he watched Tom Cruise outrun a pimp in a 928 Porsche, he’s wanted the car for himself. As soon as he got one, he pulled the engine and the horsepower has gone up from there. Today, Danny has a supercharged 572 cid SMX engine

First-of-its-Kind Compound-Turbo L5P Duramax Engine

While incredibly rewarding, nothing about this L5P Duramax build was easy for Lead Foot Diesel Performance – everything was custom or a first. From the billet crank to the one-off compound turbos, this L5P Duramax is impressive. Check it out!

L5P Duramax engine
Indy Cylinder Head’s Supercharged 588 cid Hemi Engine

We’ve been following Indy Cylinder Head and the engine work Ken Lazzeri for quite some time. We got a chance to speak with Ken on the final day of the PRI show when he was kind enough to walk us through the details of several of the engines they had on display, including this bracket

Ken Lazzeri Hemi Engine
Turbocharged 5.9L VP44 Cummins Engine

A few years ago, Jordan Blackard stumbled upon a 2nd Gen 2001 Ram 2500 that was being sold by Chase Fleece of Fleece Performance. After a few years of casual driving and fixing it up, he decided in 2022 to get working on a race build featuring a 5.9L VP44 Cummins engine. Check it out!