Hello everyone I'm your community newbie I suppose.

I'm a big Nissan enthusiast and I'd be happy to share that with you personally but...
I'm here now because I have inherited a great running (so I've been told) 1985 cav. I havent had much time yet to look at it, heck I havent even driven it, but I'm confident from what I've been reading that it's a 2.0 I4 OHV FWD.?.?.? Am I right so far?

I assume this is a low power car, but does it have potential in areas with a head swap to a DOHC? Is there a different car I can grab one out of? or do you have to swap the whole engine?

What about turbo manifolds, are there any manufactured ones out there or just custom?

Thanks for your time and I can't wait to get to know you all.

Well welcome to start.If ur car ur getting has a P engine code in the vin yes it is a whopping 86 hp.As for upgrades like turbo's no unless u do a complete swap and I mean everything.As for intake not sure,as for exhaust manifold mostly oem stuff to my knowledge but,anything I do not know others will correct or add to.I myself and keeping mine all stock for the sake of a stock car other than audio stuff.I am sure u will have plenty of ?s so feel free to post them all here on ur post and hopefully we all can help. Here is my car for u check out some of the stuff http://www.cardomain.com/ride/647974

Thanks.

I'l be sure to check the VIN for that.As I've been reading on I am finding that alot of people do full swaps. unfortuantely for me, unlike you, it's been built into my DNA to not leave anything stock in life! hahaha

I was looking at an engine called the c20xe and it looks like it has the most potential for these cars without going through the headache of major rebuilds on the chassis.

Unfortunately I can't seem to find any of these in the US for sale. Is there a place that anyone may know of where this engine is found in the US? Maybe I should ask it like this... Is there an American car that has the similar engine as the c20xe?

OK maybe I shouldnt post something before i look myself I found a Pontiac motor that went into a Sunfire GT Turbo. I'm not sure whether its the full engine (turbo and all) or nopt but the remanufactured price was est at $1500. Not bad for 165 HP and 175 TQ. Anyhow I guess I was just clarifying that I found something.

Does this sound right to anyone or am I way off on the direction I should be heading if I plan on swapping?

Stephen, welcome to JBO!

I'm not the j-body expert but I can offer a few suggestions that might help your project.

The Pontiac Sunbird 2.0 motor is an OHC motor and is totally different than the Chevrolet 2.0 OHV motor. The 2.0OHV developed into the 2.2 and 2200 so aluminum heads and exhaust stuff is available. You would be best served by looking up "Scrufdog" here on the forums. He built an OHV motor up with some engineering and knows how to work the MPFI swap, head work, etc. I believe he had / has an 85 Cav sedan.

Also, the C20XE motor you are referring to I believe is a newer version of the Pontiac OHC motor that was built by Daewoo and has a 16V head on it. Cool stuff, but I know nothing about the 'hybrid" swaps for the turbo people. There are quite a few of those on here.

Welcome, and drop by anytime. We need more activity here on the First Gen pages!

Thanks for the knowledge.

I'm currently so overwhelmed with my 300zx that I've been having less time to focus on this new cavalier. But anytime I hit the streets, whether in my VW Jetta, Nissan 300zx, Infiniti G20 or the new Cavalier, I want to be laying down power for its class.

I'm just extremely disappointed when I'm next to someone in my jetta or cav and I cant stomp and impress. Obviously I've found many upgrades (unfortunately expensive) for my Jetta but this cav is proving to be more difficult without the expertise of custom work. I mean is there any bolt ons available for my temporary pleasure till I get finished with the ZX???

Not so many bolt-on goodies for the 1st gen cars, but you can look at www.mantapart.com for what's out there.

Yeah there was a few things but I'm convinced I'm gonna have to either swap or have a custom exhause header made to through a small turbo onto. Anything to really get this car in the 200 range. If thats even possible. I figure a turbo could probably boost this up to the 140 range, and intercooled around 160. I'm not really all that sure. But the car drives great as of right now. Good handling and all but geez its slow as hell. I mean I'm sitting next to losers in Hondas with 1.6s and 1.8s (I hate Honda) and they are blowing this car away.
I'd really like to eliminate the OHV but It might be a good challenge for me seeing that I have never worked on a pushrod engine. Not to mention this car would be a great sleeper in the 4cyl class. hahaha I mean it has 4 doors and bleeding rust through the paint... hahaha
I promise I'l post some pics this week. It's quite the project.