Get it tuned RIGHT AWAY. You can limp it to your tuner, but do not go into boost.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^very..no not just very..MOST important!!!!^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I had mine
towed to TurboXS..was planning on getting it tuned by Evans but as most of you guys know, it was brutally ripped(stolen) away from me.
But 300whp is relatively easily obtainable on that turbine, with a few supporting mods. It'll spool quick too. Like mentioned above, it's a good idea to upgrade to higher tensile strength headstuds, although not 100% necessary. But I'd do it if I were you, in order to increase reliability. Boost increases cylinder pressures dramatically, and with the extra clamping force of ARP studs, you won't worry one bit about the head lifting. Plus,when torqued correctly, they're reusable(unlike stockers). Make certain you invest in
quality parts. All components of a well and thoroughly engineered turbo system are uber important. I had Synapse Engineering wastegate and blow-off-valve(because of their unique designs); they cost a little more, are well engineered, and IMHO, are superior pieces. But well R&D'ed makes(HKS, Greddy, TiAL) will serve you just as well. If you couldn't tell already by what I'm saying/recommending, I just liked having that peace of mind of that Synapse, what I'd consider, superior WG/BOV combo. You can spend a little extra and buy a component once, or cheap out and probably end up having to buy a part twice, which will cost a LOT more because you'll shell out for the cheapo part to begin with, then when it breaks you'll really lighten your wallet paying for the better piece, you'll be smacking yourself then:smackself:
Also, if it were me, I'd invest in forged pistons while you've got the head off. Go with lower compression so you can up the boost and still have a safety margin. And if you REALLY want to have zero worries, two words..Darton MIDs:thumbs up Well while you've got everything apart, go ahead and hot tank the block, have the stock crank micropolished and balanced(with the crankshaft pulley in place), and P&P the head(sort of a must with a non-VTEC head). With these supporting modifications, 300+whp will be a cinch, with a conservative tune and non-stressed components.
But all these parts will be for naught if it's not tuned properly..so
most importantly: make sure your motor is healthy enough for boost(tune-up, compression & leak-down testing) and Hondata.
If you generally do what I said, you'll hit 300+ reliable whp with NO worries.
OH btw, you've got a VTEC motor right?
EDIT: I just re-read the OP, with an LS you might have to up the boost a little higher than 10psi on that snail to make 300+whp. And another MUST HAVE to hit the magic 300 number is a 3inch turbo back(downpipe & exhaust), and make sure that at least the turbo flange on the DP is CNC machined, it would be nice if all the flanges were, but at the least the flange where it meets the snail..but what do
I know? Kyle(dc2GS-R), Mark(speedin), Greg(Aussie), Paden(BrokenTalon27) and a few other members will be able to answer any question you have and give you sound advice with painstaking details.