Ok guys i know your going to laugh when i say i'm building up a 2200 for a dirt track race car but we have a bunch of engine rules that say we can't run any OHC engines. I have a P&P'ed head shaved .020" and thats about it done to the motor. I am looking at buying a set of used 1.6 rockers and I want to get a Crane reground cam. Am i going to have any problems with valve lift with my stock springs? I don't want to get to crazy into the engine but just a couple things that give me a little advantage. Also, how much of a differance do the +1mm valves get you? Thanks and any input is appreciated.
JESSE
get your head shaved .072" total (10.85:1 C.R.) and get 1995-1997 pushrods to match (.072" shorter than 2200's)
dunno about cam tho... i used a 1995 2.2 cam in my 2200, which does about .020" more lifh than stock 2200 cam and about 3 more degrees of duration... i still use stock untuned computer so it's not that wild.
results are somewhat impressive for the set-up cost (pushrods are about 40$ new and used 1995 cam costed me 20$) for the rest, i imagine you already have headers and such
P.S. foy your info, what i posted makes my car as fast as a z24 (about 150hp and lots more torque) and has 60 000 km on it... verry reliable! And i'm not sparing it... it sees redline EVERY day
is it really safe to shave a head .072" and then add a bunch more lift to the cam?? I mean i know guys that have shaved their head like .060" but they never added more lift.
JESSE
Well, if you are going to add a lot more lift to the cam, it might just be a good idea to check for clearance with the piston and have valve cut-outs machined to them if necessary but if i remember well, there was plenty of room left between those with the 1995 cam but it only has .025" more lift than the 2200's... total lift with 1995 cam is .288" intake and exhaust (chilton repair manual p.3-55 and what i did measure was in accordance to these numbers)
The 1995-97 valves are much lower towards the piston compared to the 2200 and i did try the 1995 head with 2200 pistons without mechanical contact so my guess is that you can go in excess of 1/2" of lift before having problems. You'll need new springs to cope with the cam before running into the pistons.
If you have acess to race fuel, i'd suggest going higher in compression... a 2.2 head with 2200 pistons will yield 13:1 C.R. but i'd start worying about the rods. In fact, if you plan the above set-up with a cam wilder than the 2.2 one, i'd sugest going aftermarket rods. 150 HP with stock rods is good but 170 might be fatal. Might start to search the forum to see how much the stock rods can whistand.
good luck
So you suggest getting the head shaved .072", using new pushrods from a 95-97 engine, a 95 camshaft and a new set of valve springs? I think i can handle that!! Do you think this combo will be reliable? I seem to run between 3000 - 5000 rpm. Thanks for all your input
Reliable... the engine i've built with this exact set-up has 60 000 km right now and still pulls strong. With the 1995-97 cam you dont even need valve springs but i'd sugest getting at least new lifters (under 100$ a set) if you build this with an old engine. I assume you have a headers and a conical air filter !? If not, it could be a good idea. You can also get pushrods at the junkyard if budget is low.
in my car, it puls strong from 3000 to 5800 rpm and you can keep going up to redline (+- 6300) without major loss. I have a 2"1/4 high flow catalytic converter and from there to the back, i kept the 1"3/4 exhaust to keep it a littlebit quiet (this is my daily driver after all) The only other thing i did is increase piston ring gap to prevent them from over expanding and toutching themselves causing top of piston to rip appart . I've seen this on a stock gapped engine running 13:1 with pump fuel so i'm not exactly sure if it was the cause of detonation or just increased heat due to compression ratio... but the engine was def knocking...aftermarket companies do recommend more gap on the rings than std specs tho. If you take an old engine for your build and dont rebuild it, ring gap should be ok...lol
I do not have a header but i do have an old style big exhaust manifold with 2 1/4 exhaust with a backwards glasspack. My class rules say the engine and components must be stock. So i can not do too much that is noticable. I have heard before that the cavalier makes better power with a catylitic converter than without. Do you know anything about this? My exhaust is pretty much 2 1/4 straight pipe from the manifold and dumps under the car right before the gas tank.
no, sorry, i'm not aware about this. It might still be good, but not as much as a header cuz of primairy's lenght is verry diferent between manifold and header but 2"1/4 all the way might help...
if engine has to be "stock" i think this might be the best way to go.
p.s. make sure the 95-97 cam you get has the cam sensor boss on it.... both the ones i saw had it but i'v heard they were not supposed to... so who knows...
i run mine with a 1995 computer so i dont need the cam sensor anyway. but if cam sensor is there, it should work as well with a newer computer.
Funky Bottoms (Event) wrote:some ideas....http://www.angelfire.com/md/TOWSONFTBLPLYR/PROject2200.html
i;ve since sold the engine though the final pics http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&sspagename=ADME%3AL%3ALCA%3AUS%3A11&viewitem=&item=190166546255 will give you an idea on what to look for...
[quote=Funky Bottoms (Event) from
ebay posting]With a Full-Time & Part-Time Job, & also pursing a dream training and performing as a Professional Wrestler over the past year, I really do NOT have the time to get out to racing, or install the engine for that matter.
Professional Wrestling career....
Knowledge about everything and yet an expert of nothing!!
Jack of all trades.
Funky Bottoms (Event) wrote:some ideas....http://www.angelfire.com/md/TOWSONFTBLPLYR/PROject2200.html
i;ve since sold the engine though the final pics http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&sspagename=ADME%3AL%3ALCA%3AUS%3A11&viewitem=&item=190166546255 will give you an idea on what to look for...
Funky Bottoms (Event) from ebay posting wrote:With a Full-Time & Part-Time Job, & also pursing a dream training and performing as a Professional Wrestler over the past year, I really do NOT have the time to get out to racing, or install the engine for that matter.
Professional Wrestling career....
Knowledge about everything and yet an expert of nothing!!
Jack of all trades.
ok i just called the parts store and they claim the 95-97 pushrods are 7.406" and the 98+ pushrods are 7.448". This is only a differance of .032". Will shaving off the extra .040" affect anything in the valvetrain?
JESSE
the lifters also have 1/8" of play ... so considering that at rest, the lifters should be compressed about half way to do their job eficiently, this means that you have about .063" you can use as an adjustment, just as it does when you shave only a few thousandth's without changing the pushrods.
P.S. you will also need to slot the alternator bracket holes to fit because head will sit .072" lower.
