I am wondering what performance mods I can do for y 2200 OHV. Dont say its not worth it and tell me i should get an ecotec or a 2.4l. i want to do a 2200. So please tell me whats mods i can do before turboing. Money is not a problem. I want to know everything. I already have a HKS muffler and an Intake.
I just want it to be fast. I have no clue what my goals are because i dont know what it has the potential to do. Any mod im fine with
yeah....you should figure out what you want from the car and how your going to drive it ect, personally im the same as you staying with the 2200, i find there pretty peppy for what they are
Well it depends what you plan on doing. If your gonna stay N/A or go aspirated? Complete exhaust/header etc. You don't have your profile filled out so its hard to tell what tranny you are running. Engine/tranny mounts would help, a built motor - cams, high compression pistons (depends if you are staying N/A) the list goes on. But as many people will probably chime in and say some things, the lack of research may be brought up at some point. When I was your age all I did was look at car stuff and I had an idea of what I needed to do to make a car faster. Unless you have thousands of dollars for boost your not gonna have a fast car. The 2200 is rock solid (my buddy had one), was great on gas and reliable as heck, but it was slow as anything. Anyways, your muffler isn't really helping you out because your probably still running your stock size exhaust pipe/cat/resonator/header. Anyways, you need to figure out what your budget is and then go from there.
i find my 2200 is pretty fast, although i shift into 5th and thats the end of my speed lol, unless im at almost 5000rpms when i go into 5th
I want to try and stay N/A. I have a 5 speed transmission. Im more looking to start off at the track my budget is around $2000. I can get money no problem. I plan on getting a 2.25" exhaust in the spring. I also wouldnt mind having power on the street for the times i have some guys pulling up beside me that wanna race. i will eventually want to get to a turbo but i will have to save for a while for that
I have one in now, most people mentioned the basic stuff mine is pretty peppy and got some balls sometimes. All i have is a header intake and ignition upgrades. It has the power when i need it... But the boost bug bit me so its going....
Mods: Synapse Charge Piping, Short Throw, Bad-Mab Dp, Dejon Intake, BYT Tuned!
Parts For SALE! Pacesetter Header(ECO),17'in Resonator, Alternator, Starter, Viper Alarm.
I had an ohv cav, and I would honestly upgrade the suspension first, because you will enjoy that more when just driving around town then taking off from a light and having to get on the breaks quick. Otherwise I'd just start getting build parts together for a tubo kit as to not waste money.
moar turbo (and suspension)
Port and polish/head job , cam regrind. New exhaust header, cat-back kit, and sign up for the high performance intake manifold and give it an AEM/K&N Cold air intake.
May want to check out www.TurboTechRacing.com for some ideas, we have a lot of parts for you.
-Aaron
www.TurboTechRacing.com
Performance Parts For Cavalier, Sunfire, Cobalts and More!!!
just boost it... if you try to make that motor fast and NA you will spend bucket loads of money and still won't be that fast... econobox motors generally aren't designed with high performance in mind and do not respond to NA bolt-ons very great
bang for the bang, boost is your best bet.
Kevo's got the right idea. There really isn't a cheap/easy way to make power with these engines. Thats not to say it can't be done, plenty HAVE done it. The deal is that by the time you spend the money to make a decent n/a motor, you could have made a turbo motor which 99% of the time will make better numbers and lets be honest; be much more fun. Obviously it does have it's drawbacks as well. Lots of work, including the supporting features such as fuel delivery and tuning. And the maintenance, which scares most people away from turbo setups. So really, it's up to you how much you want to get out of this. Here is my final advice: As you said you are pre-turbo plans, but not totally opposed to the idea. Start the supporting mods that will jive with a turbo later. For instance, DONT go out and buy a cam meant for an N/A setup incase you decide one day that a turbo is for you. Stick with the headwork: a GOOD port and polish, upgraded valves, springs, rockers, etc. Work on the engine's flaws as well, again the head is key, and pistons. While you are there maybe rods too. As long as you don't pick an aggressive piston, the setup will still work down the road with a turbo.
"In Oldskool we trust"
Ryan Pitt wrote:Kevo's got the right idea. There really isn't a cheap/easy way to make power with these engines. Thats not to say it can't be done, plenty HAVE done it. The deal is that by the time you spend the money to make a decent n/a motor, you could have made a turbo motor which 99% of the time will make better numbers and lets be honest; be much more fun.
And make cool noises
Ryan Pitt wrote:Obviously it does have it's drawbacks as well. Lots of work, including the supporting features such as fuel delivery and tuning. And the maintenance, which scares most people away from turbo setups.
I'd say NA is more work since you HAVE to open the engine up to make decent power. Whereas turbo can be entirely external. NA requires fuel and tuning as well. NA builds generally lead to greater/faster engine wear, internally.
Ryan Pitt wrote:Start the supporting mods that will jive with a turbo later. For instance, DONT go out and buy a cam meant for an N/A setup incase you decide one day that a turbo is for you. Stick with the headwork: a GOOD port and polish, upgraded valves, springs, rockers, etc. Work on the engine's flaws as well, again the head is key, and pistons. While you are there maybe rods too. As long as you don't pick an aggressive piston, the setup will still work down the road with a turbo.
DON'T buy springs/rockers/etc if you don't know what cam you're running, ESPECIALLY in the 98+ 2200. And don't waste your money on rods for < 400hp and low compression. Buy HPTuners, buy a good FMU, buy a decent fuel pump, buy larger injectors, and then start collecting turbo parts. Anything else is a waste until you're making GOOD power already.
fortune cookie say: better a delay than a disaster
I say take the $2k you have now, save up and buy a Hahn turbo kit or piece together one yourself like I did. If you were going to go and swap the engine go beyond a ECO or a 2.4L IMO.
Good luck and if you want REAL power and a FAST car do not waste your money on small mods. Guys say what you want about adding a intake, header and exhaust. This might get you a small amount of power BUT it will never be enough once you get bit by the HP bug. Trust me I wasted plenty on buying a Weapon - R intake, Pacesetter header, RKSport dual exhaust, Magencore wires and a Aeromotive FPR. Its all fun and games until you get your @$$ smoked by a properly built car then your "tricked out" cavalier isn't that cool any more and your left wanting more and more...... Amen for machine shops, turbo kits, fuel upgrades, built transmissions and HPT.
Good luck.
Oh yeah like Nick said sign up for the TTR 2200/LN2 intake manifold feeler! We need like 3 more 2200 owners
$2K on a J-Body:
I would love to have that kinda of cash a hand to do a build.
If it was me I would do a 3 part build:
Performance upgrades:
I would do the mild bolt-ons- Fuel pressure regulator, coils, plugs, thick ground wires, maybe have your intake manifold ported/polished or ex. honed, intake/exhaust mods, and a aluminium radiator. All of the mods are good for both N/A and boost plus they are great for a daily driver, so you will not be replacing anything for either set up, aside from a exhaust header and for that I would just stay stock on that till you decide on your build route. I removed mine and enlarged a little then polished a little.
Suspension upgrades:
Doing the basics is best for now, sway bars, strut bars, spring and shock set with a very mild drop nothing over 1 1/2 inches, and maybe a motor mount poly insert.
Brakes and tires:
Brakes no matter what you do are important I would do a slotted rotor if you plan on using the car for anything over daily driving, drilled and slotted if you plan on spending the cash on brake pads. Some pads with an aggressive bite like the green stuff. Upgrade the stock rubber brake lines with steels and flush the fluids out replace with a high temp fluids. Tires will cost you alot if you don't get the ones right for your application, street tires go with a all-season performance tire at first, street-track try a summer performance tire, for drift-track go down to your local junk yard and pick up a set of matching tires. Don't bother trying to drift on a high dollar street tire on take it down the drag strip over and over you will burn them out and crack the side walls quick. Maybe think about picking up a set of OEM steelies for swapping out your daily tries.
Once you decide your N/A boost path then invest some time on the dyno to check you progress. I have seen over and over people dropping alot of cash on parts then Dyno'ing only to find out that they have spent a grand on parts for 15HP.
A good base line run then parts plus a good dyno tunning will make you alot happier.
http//www.umods.org/drift.html
umods@live.com/ddiaz@umods.org
boost it... 2 grand won't get you anywhere N/A ... if you want to boost don't waste your money on a header or high comp pistons cause you'll have to take them out when you boost.
i spent between 4 and 5 grand before tune on my N/A 2.4 just to see 225 - 250 WHP when its all said and tuned.... you will have to spent a lot more to get the 2200 to do that N/A
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Monday, February 15, 2010 9:38 AM
Why has no one told him to hit the search button yet? there are plently of posts out their on how to make the LN2 be a little peppier...
The search will pop up "do a 2.4 swap", lol.
Seriously though, I have seen the numbers that can be had but on another current post, one of the owners admits it would have been much cheaper to do the 2.4 swap.
Especially when the supercharger kit for the 2.4 has been seen for sale for around $750.
That is a really nice setup for 200hp.
My wife's 2003 Ecotec 2.2 liter Sunfire:
* 2 1/4 inch in and dual 2 inch out muffler Trans Am muffler
* 2 1/4 piping to a very long 2 1/4 inch resonator
* 2 1/4 inch catalytic converter
* an AEM true cold air intake NOPI edition
* 8 gauge ground wire kit
* Toyz front strut brace
* Russell stainless steel brake lines all around.
I have a 2200 4 speed automatic. It has a Pacesetter Ceramic header, Megan cat-back, Prothane Poly Motor Mounts, MSD Coils and Wires, and a Modified Vibrant Intake with K+N filter. Its quicker than it was stock. I also upgraded all the battery cables to zero gauge. I am hoping to do some head work, some roller rockers, and a throttle body soon. Thats where you will get your biggest gains from on the 2200.
I noticed the biggest gain from the header, especially low end. If you want to go the N/A way then def go for an exhaust, header and intake. If you want to do head work, I know they make a stage 2 head for the OHV. If your gonna boost it, then dont waste the money on a header to buy a turbo manifold down the road. Like everyone said, figure out your goals and go from there.
XtremE2200CaV
Its sad that this engine takes a lot of money to have little hp increase. For 2000 dollors I found a 99 z24 I might just look into it. I just have to drive the 200 miles to portland or. My luck the thing has 200,000 miles. Ty
hope you got deep pockets
If I were you I would do some research and talk to the top 2200 builders on here!
Im not going to name any names, but we all know who they are.
Are you looking for engine, suspension, electronics?
Performance can mean a bunch of different things.
Also, you will need deep pockets as stated above to do stuff right, and have it last long.
