93 Chevy Cavalier 2-door
2.2L I-4 engine
Manual Transmission

This is the current set up of the car...

Can anyone tell me what the easiest and most practical engine swap would be to upgrade this thing?

I'm not quite up on the mid '90s Chevy/Pontiacs, especially not the 4 bangers...

I'd be most interested in any potential swaps that use the same engine mount configuration if there is one.

Thank you for any information you can provide

I'm not a chevy man, but I think chevy used that same 4 cylinder in quite a few other cars and it's going to be hard to do a swap on a car past aroun 85 or so.

Not chevy then what, i love GM for its afordible cars trucks and suvs, the only other cars or autos i like are germans and japs and bavarians(sp).

CTR

i wouldn't concentrate on the engine swap. the Ecotec is pretty much the end of the line when it comes to j-body cavys.


think more on tuning. the ecotec can be made beastly with what's available on the market. go to www.rksport.com for some phatty cavy crap. then u can pimp out, sell it for twice what you paid, and then buy an acura. heh jk.

Engine swaps are usually a pain in the ass unless the car was offered with the engine you're putting in. If not, then you're going to run into problems all of the way through. Big older rear wheel drives are a little bit forgiving on swaps, but FWDs are a huge pain in the ass.

There's stuff you can do to every engine to give it a little more power. Better exhaust system, better intake routing, good tune up, and getting rid of unnecessary weight are a good start. If you feel like tearing into the engine you can balance everything(there's a surprising amount of power to be found here) port and polish the head,5 angle valve grind with backcut valves, lighter components, mill the head or block to get a higher compression ratio, gasket match the manifolds/head, blah blah blah. You get the picture. All of this can be done regardless of what the after market offers for your car.

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Originally posted by overRide resSurRection:
i wouldn't concentrate on the engine swap. the Ecotec is pretty much the end of the line when it comes to j-body cavys.


think more on tuning. the ecotec can be made beastly with what's available on the market. go to www.rksport.com for some phatty cavy crap. then u can pimp out, sell it for twice what you paid, and then buy an acura. heh jk.

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That web site only has aftermarket parts for 95 and newer Cavs...but since the engine was wholly replaced with a newer 2.2 approximately 16,000 miles ago, i might be able to work with that...

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Originally posted by rlpinca:
There's stuff you can do to every engine to give it a little more power. Better exhaust system, better intake routing, good tune up, and getting rid of unnecessary weight are a good start. If you feel like tearing into the engine you can balance everything(there's a surprising amount of power to be found here) port and polish the head,5 angle valve grind with backcut valves, lighter components, mill the head or block to get a higher compression ratio, gasket match the manifolds/head, blah blah blah. You get the picture. All of this can be done regardless of what the after market offers for your car.

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Thanks, rlpinca. I guess I would be better off actually getting the same type engine built custom and then dropped in in place of the engine that's keeping the poor bugger on the road right now...I can't be sure of the condition of the powerplant in it right now since I bought it used, and It would cost me as much to pull the damn thing apart and mill/investigate/polish/etc. every little part as it would to just have the engine built and swapped. Or am I wrong?

Also, if ANYONE knows where to get custom body mods or like new replacement interior parts (like dashboard, consoles, etc) for a 93 cav, please please please let me know. I don't want to "kewl out" my car, but I would like to redo the interior so it doesn't look like a herd of monkeys had their way with it.

Most of those guys wouldn't know thier cock from a con-rod excepting rplinca. His would be the first suggestion I'd make. Take off the head, port it and match the intake, and put some high ratio rockers in it use chevy ones (make sure the valves clear the pistons before you fire it up). Put a high flow filter into it and get a better exhaust. This will be good for up to 25 extra hp maybe if you do all of this.

You can take out the engine and do some more things to it as well, but then a complete swap gets closer. You can put a nicer cam into it, put a turbo on it(big dollars) and get a new timing gear set this will bring back some lost power. This will

If you have about 1500 bucks sitting around and the right equipment. Go buy a 2.8,3.1,3.4,0r 3.8 60 degree V-6 from a chev or pontiac (a fiero engine would be cool) I'll sell you a 3.1 from a 97 cavalier with very low k's for 300 dollars. And get the mounts from a V-6 cavalier of the same year as yours, and wiring harness from the donor car and it will be a fairly easy swap. Almost everything will bolt in. Including the tranny. You will get tire spinning power and real street cred. as opposed to going to some bitch tunercar website and buying a bunch of fag gear. Home engineering is where it's at.

My current project: I just finished rebuilding my 2.9L 60degree V-6 and am putting it back into my fiero next weekend. I just welded a crack in the exhaust manifold this morning before I came to school. Yup I recently bought myself a welder, it's a big one too.

later,
tryptamine (not just a chemist ya know)

chevy made a 3.1l v-6 that was a pos. they put the engine in their sport cavliers (92 modles anyway - should still be the same in 93). thats really the only engine that will fit under the hood with out changing the tranny and all the computers. you will have better luck upgrading the i4 ecotech engine that chevy still makes. unless you live in bumfuck, egypt go to a parts store and they can point you in the right drection.

I currently have a FWdrive 94 Buick Century. It weighs quite a bit so I don't know why it would come with a 2.2l I-4 engine. I can only hit up to 100 on the hi-way with it. When I get more $$$, I plan on selling the engine to get a V-8 put in her. Is that possible in any way and do I also have to get a new tranny as well???

KP your V-8 will most likely fit but bolting it to the tranny will involve an adapter plate that no one makes. It'll be out of the question to get one custom made, so I suggest getting a V-8 from a FWD car with the tranny, and doing some major retrofit work, custom mounts and all.

Or just go and buy a different car (this is the cheaper option)

Thanx. Also, would a ZZ4 crate motor fit into the engine compartment of a 94 buick century?

Thanks Tryps and rl, I'll look into your suggestions first. They sound more reasonable.

KP not without extensive modification. But sure, it can be done, do you have the scratch? The tranny won't match.