You all wanted to know how to do it, Here you go.

** Disclaimer ** Anyone attempting this swap should be Mechanically Inclined, I am not responsible for any damage you cause to your vehicle as a result of this swap. This is only a help guide to show others what all is involved in swapping out a 95-99 Cavalier to an 02-04 Ecotec Motor. Use this FAQ at your own Risk.

It is strongly recommended that you have a wrecked vehicle that you are pulling the parts off handy. I picked mine up for $900.00, They are inexpensive and will save you making trips to an auto parts store or dealership looking for the parts you need.

First thing I did was pull out my motor and transmission from my 97 Cavalier. I removed the radiator, Axles & steering knuckles. There are quite a few parts that you can keep on the car that will also work with the 02-04 engine. You will also need to remove your Brake Master cylinder because the 95-99 version is different than the 02-04 version. You dont need to swap out your coolant resvoir but I did for the simple fact of making mine actually look like a 03 when it is completed.

Moving onto the wiring section, Since I had a wrecked car that I purchased to do this. I took apart the whole interior of my car and set it aside. I did leave the steering column in since you dont need to swap that out, only if you want to. Make sure you keep the bolts in a plastic bag or something and label it as to where it goes. It will make your life alot easier in the long run. After you have your interior gutted, pull out all the wiring through out the whole car, including the engine bay all the way to the tail lamps. (If you dont have a salvage car then this wiring assy. will be very expensive.) You can get rid of your stock 3 speed shifter and shifter cables, if you have an automatic or 4speed if you have the Z version of this. I havent done this on a 5 speed so your on your own. As for the brake pedal, gas pedal and HVAC you can keep that all in the vehicle those havent changed. I do recommend that you pull the throttle cable off the gas pedal and swap it with the one from the donor car to work with your new ecotec motor, If i remember correctly I think they were different lengths. Also on your brake pedal you have 1 sensor already. with the 00+ vehicles there are 2 sensors which you can snatch it off your wrecked car. The HVAC unit hasnt changed what so ever. If you are swapping your dash to the new 00+ style it will still fit in the lower spot without changing it over to the new. Also I will note this, The door sensors that you have that allows your dome light to pop on when the door opens they are different from the new ones. I just removed mine completely but you can cut the wires a decent length from your old 95-99 harness and wire them into the new harness.

The most noticeable change that has happened from 95-99 would be the fuel system. You will have to swap out your old metal tank for the new plastic tank. You also need to remove your two fuel lines and evap. canister line from the system too and get the ones off of the 00+ donor car. You can keep your old brake lines unless you feel the need to replace them also. Your evap canister that is located in the passenger side fender of your 95-99 has also been moved from the front to right in front of your rear axle beam bolted to the frame. Make sure you grab the mounting bracket from your donor car. I did notice that on the 00+ vehicle that the fuel pump wiring and evap sys. wiring was mounted in a different spot than your 95-99 but it shouldnt pose a proble to just use the same spot like i did. Make sure you grab all of the components from the new gas tank. Like the fuel filler tube and hose, they are completely different than 95-99. The older style is bigger and wont fit on the new gas tank.

At this Point your car should be just about completely bare with almost nothing in it. Now would be a great time to slap in that new fuel tank and run your fuel & evap lines, along with putting your new filler tube in & bolting up your evap canister to the frame. Moving along to the interior, if you grabbed the wiring harness out of your Donor vehicle, You can now put that in the inside of the vehicle and connect it to your fuel pump, evap system, rear brakes, tail lamps, and power trunk release if you snagged that off your wrecked car. The harness should mount exactly like your 95-99 harness. If you have the 95-99 pull handle for the trunk release you can go ahead and remove that cause you should have a power trunk button. Go ahead and mount the BCM at the drivers side foot well and run your wires into the doors for your power windows / locks and mirrors if needed. Once you get all your interior harness' plugged in and your new shifter and shifter cables routed you can put your interior back together and call it done. Your about 75% done with the swap as it is now.

Moving along now to your engine bay, now would be a great time to pull your harness from the interior of the car to your engine bay. While you are also right there, Disconnect your Power Steering lines that should be just hanging there because you will need to use them off of the new Ecotec P/S Pump since it is mounted in a different location. At this point the only thing you should see in your engine bay is the ground. If you have A/C you should still have the A/C canister mounted on the firewall, and Coolant resvoir if you left that in. At this moment, I ordered RK Sports lower dogbone mount and their Upper Ecotec Mount, You will not be able to use your stock upper mount from your 95-99 so might as well forget about it. If your modding up your ecotec now would be a good time to do it since it is out of the car and not installed yet. If not go ahead and lower your engine and transmission into the engine bay. If your ecotec is an automatic, Dispell all myths now because it will bolt directly up to your stock location as your 95-99 Auto. For a 5 speed you will need to check with C24NA as he has successfully mounted a getrag 5 speed in a 95-99 body. bolt your lower engine mount and tranny in. If you have the Ecotec upper mount you can bolt that in also.

Your engine should now be mounted in and looking pretty in your engine bay. Here is another myth that will be resolved right now. You cannot use your old driver side axle from your 95-99 2.2 OHV, You will need your Driver side axle from the getrag trans. Go ahead and bolt up your spindle and shock up cause your drivers side is almost done. Onto the passenger side, You **CAN** use your 95-99 axle it will slide right in, bolt up your spindle and strut and that side is just about done. Now look for that wiring harness you pulled thru the firewall. Connect the other half of that box and screw it together. You may now begin to plug in all your wiring into the engine and transmission. If you have it all routed good job. Take your ECM and mount it to the passenger side strut tower using your strut bolts. Run the wiring to that and plug it in. You may also want to hook up your new power steering lines to the new P/S Pump if you havent done so already, It is a Pain to get to underneith the car so I would do that now. Go to your donor car and now grab your master cylinder from it. You can now bolt that onto the vehicle and hook up your brake lines and connectors into it. Make sure you dont have your battery connected though. As for exhaust system. I purchased a catback exhaust and a high flow cat, You can use the ecotec stock exhaust manifold or from what i heard Weapon-R headers fit very well in the 95-99 engine bay without rubbing anything on the new ecotec.

Right now you should have Your engine mounted, all accessories plugged in, P/S pump hooked up, Brake Master Cyl plugged in and connected. Engine bay should look pretty damn full. Minus your Radiator and fan. Which you can now reinstall, plug in the connectors and rubber hoses. Here is where the fun comes in. At this point in time you have 3 options. You can now install 00-02 headlights and keep your stock hood, install 03-04 headlights and get a new hood, or keep your 95-99 headlights and just rewire them in. I personally wanted to go with 03-04 headlights since I purchased an 03-04 Urethane drift kit from ECC Motorsports. The 97 needed to be severely updated on its looks so I figured new engine new body kit new looks..

Now Reconnect your battery, turn your key to the on Position but do not start the vehicle. Your theft light should be on. (We do this all the time at work) so leave your key in the on position without starting for 20 Minutes. Your theft light should then be off after then. Now turn your key to the off position but do not take your key out of the ignition. You can proceed to start the vehicle and it should run if everything was done correctly. Congratulations. You have now joined me and a slight few others of having a 95-99 Jbody with an ecotec. Enjoy yourself

Craig <br>

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2.2 Ecotec Swap Completed!!!

dang you must have some time on your hands to type all that but i gues you know what you are doing

I have lots of time on my hands today Im shopping for some wheels so i can actually drive the thing instead of starting it up and watch it just sit in my garage lol! I want to drive it.

Craig <br>

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2.2 Ecotec Swap Completed!!!

roughly how long did this swap take to do.

Where are you guys finding these donor cars so cheap? I can't find any donors around here for under a grand. And that's for one that is totaly destroyed.
<br>



What's a Z-24? It's like a Z-28, only 4 less.

noe - Roughly less than 1 week. that is working a 10 hour a day job as a mechanic.. then comming home to work on my car for 4-5 hours a night. Roughly I spent 40-45 hours to do this swap.

Bammax - I live in South Bend, Indiana. The salvage yard I went to had seriously 70-75 % of them were Jbodies.. My car was no beauty. the Front end was destroyed.. (i couldnt use the radiator with it. It was rolled only body parts i could seriously strip off of it to keep or resell was the trunk lid. it was fun getting the motor out i had to use a cut off tool and cut some of the front end apart to get the engine out. a grand is still a good price. I got mine for 900 because the guy took the airbags out of it cause for some reason they didnt go off when the car was rolled. He took the airbag's and the controllers for it. So he knocked off 400. I was going to purchase his 03 model but he wanted the car back. That wasnt acceptable to me, he wouldnt let me touch the interior of the 03 cause he wanted it for himself. So I said no, If i cant have the dash, seats and all of the interior I wouldnt take it. I offered him 3 grand total for me to keep that 03 and he still turned it down. I settled with a 02 LS sport coupe with the eco, only 37,539 miles. You just need to call around all the junkyards near your area, find the cheapest jbody and make sure its complete with nobody ripping crap off of it that you'll need and just take it.

Trust me I tried it the other way, purchased an extra motor off of ebay with no accessories, then i priced out a trans, gas tank, wiring, all the stuff to get it running and it would have cost me well more than 4 grand. to have the car up and running. Unless you have really good connections I really wouldnt recommend doing it this way cause it will cost a fortune. Thats why my car has sat for exactly 16 months not having anything done cause i tried it this way.. then when i say i want a salvaged car i get it done in no time.

Craig
<br>

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2.2 Ecotec Swap Completed!!!

:thumbs up:

Pretty much the same thing i did in my 95 2.2l to 01 z24 swap.

Nate <br>


Evolution of Cavyboy-->C22t--> C24na--->c24s/c
1995 Cavalier W/2k1 Engine
GM S/C 13.940@99.78pmh w/2.068 60ft

Thanks nate I will eventually be using your swap info to do the 5 speed conversion on this car but not right away im going to enjoy it for awhile first before i tear it down again. so when is the C24NA going to go eco? You've swapped your car so many times lol..

Craig <br>

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2.2 Ecotec Swap Completed!!!

Man thats awsome.....Thanx so much for the post/FAQ and how to, atleast now I know what is exactly envolved. And that I should get a donor car if I were to do this. Because I dont really wanna pay $4000 bucks lol....Oh and thanx for letting us know of what other things would fit in the 95-99 Cavvy's like the headlights I think I might get me some new headlights..Anyways thanx for all the help <br>


"Hey my mom has a Civic too"

You all wanted to see pics, here they are. Sorry if they are too big..









Craig
<br>

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2.2 Ecotec Swap Completed!!!

you have done a great duty to the org. im sure there are alot of people who will read this, and do the swap. most people who do this type of stuff dont give info back to help others. you have mad props from me, and im sure many others. ohh yeah good job too lol! looks good! <br>


Sven you totally quarterloafed your computer..

97EcotecRS (Streetracin22) wrote:Thanks nate I will eventually be using your swap info to do the 5 speed conversion on this car but not right away im going to enjoy it for awhile first before i tear it down again. so when is the C24NA going to go eco? You've swapped your car so many times lol..

Craig

lol...when the time is right it will be C24S/C..but not for a bit. The Ld9 is running strong and i like this setup. Other then that, if i ever need to swap the motor again, i'd be interested in the new 2.4l '05 motor thats suppose to be 170hp (i think). But enjoying what ive got every chance i can!

Nate <br>


Evolution of Cavyboy-->C22t--> C24na--->c24s/c
1995 Cavalier W/2k1 Engine
GM S/C 13.940@99.78pmh w/2.068 60ft

That motor is going to be with electronic Throtlle body control.

Big thumbs down. I am not liking it already.
Good job on the swap, but why did you do all that interior swaps and stuff??
Because you wanted to or because you had to.??
SunCavi <br>

Best time:"""11.946""" @ 114.73 mph @17psi 1.83--60"
11 second daily driver!!!!
Race Related 727-561-9440
Shop of choice for your 11 second J body!

Also, built bottom end and or top end LSJ and L61's available.
13's ----12's ----11's ----10's

The interior swap I did because i wanted the new 00+ dash setup with the stereo in the center instead of on the cupholder. Other than that I figured I am already taking the dash, Why not just take everything and swap it over, Newer panels, not scratched like mine.. plus for the doors i didnt have power windows or locks. With the 02 It did so I swapped all that into mine also.

Craig <br>

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2.2 Ecotec Swap Completed!!!

AWESOME CRAIG!!! Can't wait to see that thing rolling!!! GET ON IT MAN!!! <br>


"I'm so god damned horny that the
crack of dawn better be careful around me"
~Tom Waits

Well Rob, You could come see it in person but uh... You forgot where I live remember ? lol This summer maybe we'll roll together.. Zedan and Eco..

Craig <br>

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2.2 Ecotec Swap Completed!!!

^^^W3rd.....lol I just don't know Mishawaka or South Bend man.......lol get lost and shite! haha I need to make it over sometime though.........Actually.......wanna help a guy out installing his header?? and know a exhaust shop that will do the piping fairly cheap? <br>


"I'm so god damned horny that the
crack of dawn better be careful around me"
~Tom Waits

could this same swap be done into a 97 sedan? would i need to find an ecotec sedan as a donor car? thanks for your help. <br>

hello,

i have a 1997 pontiac sunfire gt, it has the 2.4 ld9 engine in it. well i just sold the motor and tranny.

i have a donor 02 sunfire with and ecotec and 5 spd tranny. i was just wondering will i need to cut and re weld the tranny mount. i know the engine harness, and exhaust manfild i have to change, but anything else major has to be done. im also gonna swap the interior to have the newer style from the 97.

Simply put...I'm Jealous.. <br>

Sorry for the late post guys.. Been away for awhile..

Sun Cav - The Tranny Mount your best bet would be to talk to C24NA as he has pictures, info, and a part # for the rear mount. But seeing you have an 02 you can take that rear mount. yes it would have to be welded onto your 97. As for major things you will need to change. You will need to swap out just about every single part in the car.. I.E. Gas tank, all that stuff is listed above

<br>

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2.2 Ecotec Swap Completed!!!

I had to do it the hard way....I bought an engine and tranny off of ebay and had to find all of the other parts. And yeah it cost me about $4000 to do the swap....lol But i also got the weapon-r header and an intake instead of the stock manifold and air dungeon. Thanks for writing the FAQ Craig, Ive been meaning too but I have been extremely busy glassing my interior. Then I have to work on the exterior so maybee I will be completly done just about the time winter hits again.

I also plan on buying a second eco and building it over next winter. Now that I know summit racing carries all of the performance eco stuff (I work literally 5 minutes away from there) Im gonna go broke....lol

<br>

1995 Ecotec Sunfire

Hey no problem guys.. whew.. 4000.. see thats what i figured mine out if i priced it out part by part. thats why i said ahhhhh no.. go to the junkyard and buy a car. Jason, you may say your car will be done but guess what it never is done. New things always come up trust me I know. All I wanted was the eco swap done. did that. then it was oh wow.. an 03 drift kit would look tight on a 97 converted over. bam.. had to do it lol. Jason, you should get a job at summit and hook us all up haha.. <br>

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2.2 Ecotec Swap Completed!!!

97EcotechRS: What salvage yard did you go to? I live in Indiana and the junk yards I've checked out have been just that....JUNK <br>

Thank goodness, now we just need you to write up FAQ's for the 3800 SC swap, and the 350 V8 swap.