so a while back I got rear ended and the back of my beautiful cavalier got demolished, 2 years has past and I have a nice srt-4 and a convertible eclipse gt, you would think I would be satisfied but my cavalier still sits in my lower driveway because I haven't got the heart to get rid of it. My wife made the ultimatum, either fix it or get rid of it so I purchased a junker 1996 cavalier with the intention of cutting the back end off and putting it on mine, however while I wait for the car to arrive here this weekend I am mulling over keeping the 96 which is cosmetically fine, and putting my good engine in it.
So my question is twofold, will the engine in the '01 (2.2 non eco-tec) fit in the '96 without a ton of modification?
and which option should I go with:
'96 is cosmetically fine but mechanically shot, '01 is mechanically strong but cosmetically shot
1: cut '96 back end off and put it on the '01 and do the ridiculous amount of work
2: swap the engine and trans from the '01 and put them in the '96 and do the ridiculous amount of work
PS. I did a TON of searching and I found every bit of information about the engines and swapping and compatibility and years.... and not a single topic that answered my question, I am not lazy I swear.
PPS. Sorry if this is the wrong section for the question, couldn't think of what section to put this in.
what engine is in each car is a good place to start.
putting an 01 into a 96 will take more work then just swapping motors. its a different tranny, all the wiring has to be changed, etc...
I am not positive what is in the '96, I know the '01 has the 2200 sfi, the only thing I know about the '96 is it is a base model which could mean the 2.2 or the 2.3, I am almost positive it isn't the 2.4 but I could be wrong there, I will try to get the engine type from the guy I am getting it from but I may have to wait till Saturday to find out.
StrippedCav98 (Now Quotable) wrote:putting an 01 into a 96 will take more work then just swapping motors. its a different tranny, all the wiring has to be changed, etc...
The wiring is the big part that bothers me, body work and most engine work I can do but wiring loses me big time, honestly the only reason this is an issue is because the '01 had the trunk pan get crushed, all the rest of the body work is doable but cutting that out and welding it in is not something I want to do, my welding skills are terrible, but honestly if swapping engine and tranny is going to be more difficult then that is what I will do.
william hartman wrote:I am not positive what is in the '96, I know the '01 has the 2200 sfi, the only thing I know about the '96 is it is a base model which could mean the 2.2 or the 2.3, I am almost positive it isn't the 2.4 but I could be wrong there, I will try to get the engine type from the guy I am getting it from but I may have to wait till Saturday to find out.
wel since the 2.3 only came in the 95, i can say its not that one.
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Haha yeah... well there is that.
well the '96 is a 2.2 engine and after checking out the amount of cutting and welding I would have to do to repair the '01 rear passenger corner panel, trunk pan and rear framing I think I am going to have to try the rewiring...makes me shudder, my first major engine swap, one of my freinds seems fairly confident he can do it so I guess I am going to have to cross my fingers and hope it goes well.
anyone know if the motor mounts will require much modification?
OK so I got the car and it is actually a '95 with a 2.2l engine, its an automatic and the engine turns but makes the most awful noises I have ever heard. I talked with a few other Cavalier fanatics out my way and have gotten such a mixed bag of advice that my decision has gotten even harder, one guy told me that there are only 4 electronics that need to be taken from the '01 with the engine to make it work and keep it from throwing codes and another told me that wouldn't work and that it would be easier to pop the welds in the rear quarter panel and trunk of the '95 and re-weld them onto the '01. To make matters worse the two friends that are going to help me on this project are split between those ideas as well.
If anyone can give any insight it would be much appreciated, I have 2 questions:
other than the electronics will the '01 2.2 engine and tranny bolt in the same as the '95 2.2 engine and tranny?
does the slight difference in length between the two models matter (10mm), I did some measuring and it looks like all 10mm are up front, the rear ends measure the same and LOOKS like it will fit fine, but I am not an expert.
you will need to modify the mounts to put the newer tranny into the older car. You could always use the 96 tranny and bolt it up to the 01 engine. I may be way off here, but if theres that much work to the wiring, you may be bettwer off parting out what you don't need of both cars, and putting the money into megasquirt, then just wire up the main plug, and have someone do everything on the laptop.
the 01 engine is a 2200 ohv right? If so then its the same as the 98 engine which uses the same transmission as the old car. Everything should fit. I had a 97 2.2 which blew cause some dummy put the wrong oil in. I got a 98 2200 engine for it and it just bolts right in.
