From what I see he wasn't able to talk to the ECU ... Still it is worth trying

 

How restrictive is the stock exhaust? The car still has the factory crush bent 2" piping.





1.8 tubular manifold, second cat deleted, '01 Tib muffler.

 

i would say that could be affecting it, i've got a 2.25" system on mine and a couple of people have said if i went 2.5" it might free up a bit more power.

 

Wait, you shaved the head and adding 1.8 pistons? Did you check clearances and everything? With high compression you should be fattening up the AFR not leaning it out. You may be detonating and/or losing power to heat. Fatten it up and see what happens.

 

Yeah it's probably about 12.0:1 compression. I originally thought that too. If it were detonating, I believe the ecu would pull timing at wot. It's always 24-29 degrees at wot, which is correct for the stock ecu.

I use 93 octane. And I also tried plugs two steps colder with no change.