I run a 1993 Cavalier, 2.2L 5 speed in a dirt oval class. I would like to know some stuff I can do to show the Hondas that they need to fear American power. I will copy the rules of the class so you know the limitations:

Any 4-cylinder car with a maximum wheel base of 103" and a complete stock, frame and suspension. No bracing anywhere except inside the drivers compartment. Dash, steering and panels must remain stock for that make and model. All insulation under hood must be removed.

1. Stock carburetor / fuel injection system for that make and model. No Turbo Chargers.
2. Stock transmission for that make and model.
3. Battery must remain under hood.
4. Stock unaltered rear end for that make and model.
5. Passenger tires only. Wheel and tires must be of like size. Stock wheels only with a maximum width of 5" inside bead to bead. Tire sizes: 13" tires may be no larger than 185-70-13. 14" tires may be no larger than 195-70-14.
6. Gas tank: if stock gas tank is ahead of rear axle it may remain in place. If stock gas tank is behind rear axle, it must be replaced with a fuel cell or boat tank (max. of 6.6 gallons). Fuel cell / boat tank must be covered, secured and located in trunk.
7. Roll Bars MANDATORY: A FULL 6 POINT roll cage with headrest constructed of mild steel tubing is MANDATORY. Major tubes MUST be 1½ O.D. x .090 wall thickness MINIMUM. The major tubes are all tubes in the six-point cage and the driver's door bars. Driver and passenger openings MUST have three side bars with uprights.
8. Driver's door AND PASSENGER DOOR must be welded or chained shut. Driver side door plates mandatory. (A leaf spring separated and welded to the outside door is allowed, or it's equivalent.)
9. Approved aluminum racing seat mandatory. Stock drivers seat must be removed.
10. Approved helmets (Snell 95 or better), race type seat belts (4 or 5 point harness minimum), and gloves required. A firesuit is recommended or CARHART type pants and jacket acceptable. Neck brace is recommended.
11. Window net is MANDATORY. Fire extinguisher in driver's cockpit is recommended.
12. All glass (windshield optional) must be removed, including tail lights, markers, and mirrors. If windshield is removed, put in a windscreen with 3 bars in front of driver, no less than 1" in diameter of tubing and no less than 8" on center. Third brake light must remain intact and operable. To compete, cars must be cleaned out from any loose material, broken glass, etc. A screen behind the windshield is recommended.
13. Driver floor pan must be complete. No holes. Exhaust must pass driver's compartment and then exit the car. Car horn must be in working condition.

There ya go... everything else is allowed.

If that is all, then my suggestions are:

1. Weight reduction on both the body and rotating assembly
2. Port and polish head
3. Port match manifold(s) to head
4. Larger throttle body (properly matched to powerband)
5. Custom intake, exhaust and header
6. Tune/burn a chip for the ECM

and lastly...

7. One ridiculous cam


-

"Youth in Asia"...I don't see anything wrong with that.

93 Cav 2.2 5 spd cars are a little funny because they don't use a chip in the ecm. Instead they use an EEPROM which takes special tools to reflash. You'll get better results and a more agressive tune switching to a 94 2.2 ecm. You'll need to add a couple of wires, one for a knock sensor and one for the injectors which are fired in 2 groups of 2 in 94 instead of 1 group of 4 as in 92 and 93. If you think you want to play around with tuning it is possible to switch to a different ecm and burn your own chips. I don't know if the software exists for the 94 2.2 ecm, but I do know you could use the V6 Cav ecm on the 4 cyl car.

The '94 engine looks identical on the outside to the 93 but has a factory roller cam with more lift. Either engine can use Pioneer or Elgin stamped 1.6 ratio rockers but you need to be sure to check for valve seal clearance. The 93 Exhaust manifold is larger inside and is the better choice for max airflow. If it were me, I'd ask around about having the inside of the intake manifold coated with ceramic coating to prevent intake air from being heated. I'd find a 180 deg thermostat and drill some 1/8" diameter holes in it and I'd plug the two heater hose connections at the water pump and the thermostat housing. You could try to sneak in a spacer between the upper and lower halves of the intake but it may not be worth the effort. I'd look for the largest diameter alternator pulley I could find and I'd consider dumping the power steering in favor of a manual rack. There's plenty more you can do inside the engine but I'm thinking you're not planning to dump cubic megadollars into this car.

The stock 5 speed Isuzu trans from the 2.2 has a bad rap. You could argue that the stronger Muncie / Getrag trans from the V6, which will bolt up and requires few modifications, is legal since it's from the same make and model (93 cav, just a different engine) but if I wasn't interested in spending a ton of time in the junkyards I'd stick with the 5 speed trans since it's slightly lighter. The clutch from the 3.1 will also bolt up but if you're not having troubles with the stock one, why add a heavier part.

If you're really looking to make a difference and you don't mind shopping in the junkyards you can play games with final drive ratios and gear choices. Both the Isuzu and Getrag trans were available with different internal parts which could be mixed and matched. Six posts down this page is a good message by a guy working with the Getrag / Muncie trans detailing the gear ratio combinations he's found:http://www.quad4forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5705&page=2 . Look for the one by PontiacJeff. He's pretty decent as far as reporting good info. One thing to note is that some quad 4 cars have a 3.94:1 final drive ratio which may keep engine rpm higher at all times than your stock trans FDR.

The Isuzu trans is used in GM and Isuzu cars. You can find 4.10 final drive gears in some Isuzu DOHC vehicles. Here's a post with some info: http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=41&i=23769&t=23766 . There's a lot of time required when researching trans swaps, and there aren't many options for a simple bolt in trans which has all the right stuff, but the trans stuff may be the secret to matching the engine's power band with the track. Do plenty of searching.

Use a starter from a newer J car. I think 98 and up, definitely 2000 models had 'em. It's about 7 lbs, has more torque, and lasts forever. I got mine from a local junkyard for $15.

Factory bracing is different for different J's. 4 door cars and Pontiac Sunbirds had small braces added between fenders and cowl. Z24's and RS cars had strut tower braces. Convertibles had braces between rear strut towers and the quarter panels. Look for the FE2 and FE3 suspensioned cars in the boneyard since they had better handling packages than most of the strippy 2.2 5 Speed VL's.

The older J cars seem to get good support on v6Z24.com. James Cahill and a couple of others in the chassis forums know their stuff.

-->Slow

Awesome! Thanks for the tips guys!

I will relay this to my dad. He is a mechanic with 35 years under his belt. He also races in the same division (although with a Neon) as I do.

Again, thanks!

Although none of these tips will net any major gains, when combined they will definitely help. Since you have the help of someone with some mechanical knowledge they should be more plausible.

- Use a '94 block and head. Aside from the hydraulic roller cam, it also has narrower valve stems, 7mm instead of the '93 & olders 8mm valve stems. This will slightly increase the air flow(not much, but anything here will help) and reduce some of the parasitic weight, that could contribute to valve float at the upper rpms.

- Slowolej's suggestion about the 1.6:1 stamped steel rocker (as with everything else he said) is good , especially when combined with the '94 motor with the hydraulic roller cam. These would be the same 1.6:1 rockers used on a Small Block Chevy. This will help mostly with the mid range rpms. To install them you'll need to get a set of ARP rocker studs with the 10mm base and the 3/8" tops. For more info on the rocker arms, read 2.2/2200 OHV Rocker Arm List. You'll find the part number for the studs in there, though not much on the stamped rocker arms. Just get a set of 1.6 stamped rockers from you retailer of choice.

- Zero loading the lifters might help them act more like a solid lifter, just like the trick used on a SBC. Remember though, the amount of lifter pre-load is very limited, so lash setting are very sensitive. Be careful here, this puts a little more stress on the lifter's plunger lock ring.

- Zero deck your block. This will raise the compression a fair amount. In fact, if you use a copper head gasket of 0.037-0.042", this would raise you compression from a stock 9:1 to 10:1. The copper HGs are available through Flatout Gaskets or Hussy Copper Head Gaskets.

- Play with the cam timing. Retarding the timing on the cam about two degrees will move the power band up about 50-100 rpm. This should net a couple of upper rpm hp, without minimal, if any, loss of low end torque.If your really brazen, you can use a SBC's cam degree bushings and get the dowel pin from a SBC cam and replace the dowel pin in the 2.2L's cam. The SBC pin is slightly bigger, so the hole in the 2.2L cam will need to be bored out slightly, not too much though, the pin is press fit into the cam. If you want to try something a little more subtle, find a manufacturers cam with the largest dowel pin and machine the hole on the 2.2L cam to fit, but be sure to have it machined off set to the clockwise side of the stock hole. Combine that with the dowel pin hole on the cam gear being offset machined to the counter-clockwise, should net you approximately two degrees of retard.

- Bore and hone the block. Get a set of +1mm(+.039") pistons and bore the block over. The added displacement will add a little more across the board torque, but mostly at the low to mid range rpms. Another benefit is better ring sealing, for less blow by and higher vacuum, for more air draw. While your at it get the pistons and rods weight matched (balanced), besides the smoothness of a balanced assembly adding a little more power, the weight removed from rods and pistons help also. Losing a few grams of weight on the rotating & reciprocating assembly, is like losing a couple of pounds from a chassis, when the crank is spinning at 6000+ rpm.


A few of tricks that might help a small amount on handling:

-If you can afford it, get a set of stock replacement struts. They will make a big difference over worn-out stockers.

-Remove the spring isolators (rubber pads) from the strut mounts on the LF and RR, put new isolators on the RF and LR. This might only net a very small amount of wedge, but it certainly won't hurt.

-Shop your local salvage yards for springs, and find someone with a spring tester. Use the lightest front spring (lost the most free hight) on the LF and the heaviest (lost the least free hight) on the RF. For the rears use the heaviest on the LR and the lightest on the RR.

-Find each of the different sway bars, experiment with them too see which one works best on both tracks. The "Moderately Banked Oval" might like the larger bar, possible even pre-loaded. To preload the bar use the next longer endlink than stock on the right side. This should help it handle a little better on the flatter track.

-Get a set of camber bolts for the front. Add some negative camber to the right front and add some positive camber to the left front. You'll have to experiment here, according to the tracks and what your car will handle. Ingall's Engineering makes both fixed and adjustable shims to fit between the bearing/hub assembly and the axle, that are made to adjust the camber and toe of the rear axle. Once again you'll need to experiment with what the car likes, negative on the right and positive on the left, but not as much as the front end.

Like I said no one of these mods is going to make a big difference, but if you combine all of them (especially with the mods slowolej said), you'll have a pretty good performing 2.2L OHV Cavi.

Hope this helps!

Edit:
DISCLAIMER: It is the driver's resposibility to abide by the track rules. While many of these suggestions may not be exactly legal for your division and track, it is the readers resposibility to know what your local Track Tech Inspectors look for and what he/she can get away with.




Edited 2 time(s). Last edited Monday, May 28, 2007 11:37 AM

Love the disclaimer!

A few more things to consider if you're trying to see what the tech guys know...

The Beretta and Corsica platforms share parts with the J cars. Later Beretta rear axles may bolt into the J and are stronger. They are reportedly a little wider so watch your wheel offset. Earlier cars sometimes came with an internal sway bar similar to smaller Mopar cars. An external J car bar can be mounted to the axle with the internal bar for "extra" anti-roll that still appears stock.

Springs:
Front springs are similar for FE1 and FE2 suspsnsion cars. FE codes are found on the option label attached to the spare tire cover in the trunk.

Rear springs are different depending on the car and options.
FE1 and FE2 Coupes have smallest spring rate and produce the least pressure at installed height. FE1 and FE2 Convertibles have the same spring rate as coupes but are a slightly taller spring which produces slightly more pressure at installed height.

FE3 cars have a higher spring rate.

Wagons have the highest spring rate and produce a large amount of pressure at installed height.

There are also many different sizes of sway bars available if you shop through the J cars as well as the Corsica and Beretta models.

Remember not to make too many changes too quickly or they'll know something's up.

-->Slow

I know that usually an UDP would help a high revving engine of this nature, do they make them for it?