Anyone ever built up a 2.2 n/a? I just got the salavage title for a 96 2.2 that I have in my impound lot and aside from some other things, I'm going to pull the engine for a spare, cause ya just never know lol. Anyway this thing has a 170,000+ miles on it so I might as well freshen it up since i dont need it right away. I was thinking since I'm going to rebuild it why not do it better then stock? I'm not going to get crazy here nor do I expect earth shattering HP numbers but a little stouter then stock would be nice. So whats out there and what have people done? Aside from an overbore, I was thinking of bumping compression up a point, getting a new bumpstick, some mild porting and what ever other parts I can aquire to help it out. I know I read something about roller rockers at one point so I'll try to find that info again. I'm at the very beginning of this project so i'm just looking for ideas right now. I know going turbo would be better blah blah blah but I feel like sticking N/A. Call me dumb but its what I want to do. I dont think I'm out of my mind thinking I can get into the 170-200hp range if its done right. I either have or have access to everything I need to build it at my shop and a good friend of mine owns the machine shop that I use so thats all good and I have access to all the parts I'll need through my various suppliers or I'll buy what I need. I guess the biggest question is fuel injectors, what size I'll need. I'm assuming I can get a dyno tune with HP Tuners at one of the local speed shops. So what do I need to know, how has the good parts, who has proven results and what are the tips and tricks? Thanks.

BTW I already did a quick search and didnt find what I was looking for so if there is already a thread on this topic please point me in the right direction.


97 Cavalier 2.2 5-speed, 88 Camaro IROC-Z 5.7 auto, 91 Firebird Formula 5.7 auto, 88 Conquest TSi 2.6T 5 speed, 93 Silverado ECSB 5.7 auto.

Well, you really can't buy anything (nobody really makes parts for it), nobody has any proven results, but 200 crank hp should be possible. You would want a reground cam, compression in the range of 12:1, a good flowing head, a tight quench, tougher pushrods, some heavier springs (You can use LS1 springs, just note you have a .090" lower installed height), and some more RPM.



fortune cookie say:
better a delay than a disaster.

Oh yeah, there are no larger injectors availible, just raise your fuel pressure to make them act larger.



fortune cookie say:
better a delay than a disaster.

12:1 is a little extreme for street gas dont you think? I was thinking maybe 10-10.5:1. What is stock compression BTW? 9:1? I'm not really shooting for any solid HP number, I was just guessing 170-200. I've heard about top feed injector conversions or something to that effect, is there such a thing?


97 Cavalier 2.2 5-speed, 88 Camaro IROC-Z 5.7 auto, 91 Firebird Formula 5.7 auto, 88 Conquest TSi 2.6T 5 speed, 93 Silverado ECSB 5.7 auto.

I've heard about top feed injector conversions or something to that effect, is there such a thing?


Yea there is such a thing.If your doing a 96 2.2 you'll need it to put bigger injectors in, or do like OHV notec said and just adjust your fuel pressure to make them act bigger.

Noquarter wrote:12:1 is a little extreme for street gas dont you think? I was thinking maybe 10-10.5:1. What is stock compression BTW? 9:1?

Stock compression on the 2.2L (97-) is 8.95:1. 12:1 is not extreme assuming you have the right camshaft (look up dynamic compression ratio). 10-10.5 won't net you near 200hp, maybe 170, but probably unlikely still. If you're looking for 10-10.5 on a budget, shave the BLOCK .030" (Use a stock thickness headgasket with this, shave no more than .030" on stock rods and pistons), and add a little material to the combustion chambers of the head to increase the quench area. Different chamber "shapes" will give different properties (There is a ton of info out there on this, much research has been done in the area), but any addition of material will up your compression. This avoids the $600-$700 for new rods and pistons.

Noquarter wrote:I've heard about top feed injector conversions or something to that effect, is there such a thing?

The way I look at it, new injectors are more expensive than an adjustable fuel pressure regulator, and in your situation, both will give the same result. So, the top-feed conversion is a waste of time for your goals, unless you plan on boosting later (not suggested on the high compression).



fortune cookie say:
better a delay than a disaster.

Kyle, I take it this '96 motor is going in the '97 w/ the manual? This is the best choice, because all the '96's sensors will match up and the '97 PCM can be reprogrammed with HP Tuners, which will help get the most out of your build.

By the sounds of it, you want to get the most out of the build without having to resort to to many custom (read $$$, forged rod, pistons, etc.) parts. With what you want to do, I think we can get you into the high 180s to the low 190s at the crank, with HPT (to raise the rev limiter and tune the A/F mixture and spark maps).

Let me start you on the bottom end. Get the block pressure checked and have the cylinder walls sonic tested, to see how much of an over bore you can get away with. If the block can handle a +1mm (.03937") over bore, you can get the pistons and rings that size. Silv-O-Lite makes a hyper-eutectic stock replacement piston that is moderately more durable than a cast replacement, that should work good in this application. (Silv-O-Lite 3422H Pistons) For rings you could go with Total Seal TSS(as long as you don't run boost or nitrous, TS1 if you do) for the best sealing, but you would have to special order them, or do like I did, get a set of Hastings Plasma Molly rings. You can use the stock rods in this application, but you would want to have the beams polished and shot-peened, have them resized and balanced. Have them magnaflux tested before and after all this work, to make sure there are no hidden cracks. That work should make them more than durable enough for this application (N/A only).

The most I've been able to calculate for a Compression Ratio, using stock components, has been a little over 10:1, using a stock head gasket. While I haven't found any MLS head gaskets, I have found a couple copper head gaskets for the '97- motors, that can be made with less than the stock .055" stock thickness. There is Flatout Gaskets, available through Summit Racing or direct. They can make a Rubber Coated Copper (RCC series)head gasket for our motors in .040"(which I would recommend) or other sizes. There is also Hussey Copper Gaskets, who make copper head gaskets in many sizes from .024" and up( recommend the .037"). With a zero deck block, this will allow you to reach the 10:1+ CR and maintain an ideal quench of .035"-.045" and maximize compression. Ideal quench will allow you to maximize compression while keeping the piston tops cooler, to stave off detonation.

As for camshafts, you're pretty much stuck with regrinding the stock cam. Any cam manufacturer can do a regrind on our cams, since the use the same profile lobes as a SBC. You will be limited on how much lift, duration and the lobe centers can be moved, before you run into potential problems with the pressed on lobes(these lobe are much more durable than most people realize though). If you were to use stock valve spring you would be very limited on how much lift you could run vs. the rpm needed for the power levels you are after. I would recommend a cam with an intake duration in the range of 210-218 degrees @ .050 lobe lift. This would put your horsepower peek right at the 6000 rpm rev limit or slightly above that (hence the need for HPT to raise the rev limit). The exhaust duration need to be between 8-12 degrees more duration than the intake duration, to carry the torque rpms up to max. The intake center line should be ground at 108 ATDC(one degree advanced from stock) and the exhaust center line should be ground one degree retarded(one degree after the stock CL). This will give you a lobe separation angle of 112 degrees, which will keep the torque band wide and the idle fairly smooth, to work well with the computer. This cam should put your motor right into the power band you after. A little tip, look at the SBC Hydraulic Roller cams from your favorite cam company, you will notice the computer compatible cams have lobe centers in this range. Look at their power bands and add about 400-500 rpm to their power bands and you should get a good idea of where the power band will fall on our motors.

Now to the head. Get the head surfaced as much as possible , to gain as much compression as you can (you won't gain as much as surfacing the block, but it is a gain none-the-less). You will definitely need to get the head P&Ped. The biggest restriction on the OHV motors is the head. Any good head porter should see just where the major restrictions are(throat and bowl area) and what just needs a little clean-up(runners). You can get +1mm over-sized intake and exhaust valves from Karo at Car Customs. These will help a little with the air flow, or you can get some intake valves custom made up to 1.84", but this requires lager intake valve seats installed in the head( read more $$$), while only gaining a few more HP. You will be needing stronger valve springs to support added valve lift and rpms. You can do the LS1 valve spring conversion as OHV notec stated (machine the spring seats to regain the lost spring height), or do the Valve Spring Conversion I did with the K-Motion springs. (Note my Conversion is buried in that thread. You can use the standard tip roller rocker arms in this set up, but not the self-aligning rocker arms, you'll be able to run up to .520" lift on this set-up) Before you decide on rocker arms, choose the cam you will want to run, so you stay in the lift limits of the valve train, while maximizing the amount of lift you do run. You will need to get some custom made pushrods made for this motor, due to the machine work on the block, head and cam. The rocker arm geometry will be all out of whack, so you need to measure for proper pushrod length. Keep the pushrod guide plates and use standard tip roller rockers. You will need a 3/8" diameter thick walled (.080") pushrods, to get the geometry correct and reduce the possibility of pushrod deflection.

On the intake side, get the Throttle body bored over to 56mm(stock is 52mm and is integral with the upper plenum, so you cannot replace it). Get a TB from a 2.3L Quad four, which has the 56mm throttle blade, that you can use in the bored stock TB. You don't want to go any bigger than this with this size motor while N/A, or you'll just lose torque. You can get the runners of the lower intake port matched to about .040" under the size of the intake runners on the head. Also smooth the transition from the plenum to the intake runners for a smother laminar flow. This will provide a small gain in air flow. You could also do a plenum spacer in the range of 1/2"-3/4", to increase the plenum volume, which helps the upper rpms.

Finally you will need to do a full exhaust, header back. This would include a header(of course) a high flow cat and straight through muffler(s). PaceSetter and OBX have headers for this motor. There are many companies that make high flow cats, see Summit Racing or Jegs or any other performance dealer. Unless you want a loud and raspy exhaust, you would want to get a glasspack/resonator to tone things down, just make sure it has a perforated core, not a louvered core. Look for the same things for the muffler you choose.

Boy, I haven't gone on one of these rants in a long time! Anyways, good luck! If you have any questions feel free to ask, I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Thanks for all the info man. That needs to be made into a stickey. Yes the 96 engine will go into the 97 stick car. I'll keep you posted on any progress but like i said I'm not in a big hurry since i dont have any problems with my current engine (aside from it being slow) but whatever I figure out I'll let ya know. Since I'm not in a hurry I wouldnt mind experimenting a bit with the setup but at the same time I dont want to go too extreme since thats what my other cars are for lol and this one is going to still be my daily driver (I have my truck too so the cav can be down for a while). What is your opinion of the IPP stage two cam? Looks like it stays under .480" lift so it would work with stock valve springs. Well like I said thanks for the help and they really need to sticky this.


97 Cavalier 2.2 5-speed, 88 Camaro IROC-Z 5.7 auto, 91 Firebird Formula 5.7 auto, 88 Conquest TSi 2.6T 5 speed, 93 Silverado ECSB 5.7 auto.

The IPP cams are cast, and probably should not be used with our hydraulic roller lifters



fortune cookie say:
better a delay than a disaster.

OHV notec wrote:The IPP cams are cast, and probably should not be used with our hydraulic roller lifters

X2

It says they are solid billet new cams on the website, whats up with that?


97 Cavalier 2.2 5-speed, 88 Camaro IROC-Z 5.7 auto, 91 Firebird Formula 5.7 auto, 88 Conquest TSi 2.6T 5 speed, 93 Silverado ECSB 5.7 auto.

You would have to ask them why they say that. There's a member here who bought one and it was cast.



fortune cookie say:
better a delay than a disaster.

juicedz4 got a cam by them and it was a casting:


If you look along the top of the cam you'll see the parting line.

gotcha


97 Cavalier 2.2 5-speed, 88 Camaro IROC-Z 5.7 auto, 91 Firebird Formula 5.7 auto, 88 Conquest TSi 2.6T 5 speed, 93 Silverado ECSB 5.7 auto.

Quote:

juicedz4 got a cam by them and it was a casting:

I'd like to hear the thoughts on this one. Factory roller cams for many of the V6 and V8 and even the 2.5 w/ roller are cast steel. Much more durable than older cast iron cams for flat tappets. Dan's application may require billet due to the nature of mechanical rollers + steep spring pressure which he's discussed, but why the caution with hydro-rollers and relatively mild springs?

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