I am looking to get an engine to be used as a project engine that I will eventually put into my 2003 Chevy Cavalier. I have a few questions as I have never purchased a motor before or been to a junk yard

1.) Would I need the exact motor that I have in my car at the moment to avoid any problems, same year, base model, etc? ( I have a 2.2l L4 EcoTec L61 )
2.) Would a junk yard be a good place to get one? Or would it be better to purchase the whole car that was totaled in the rear? ( I will be rebuilding the whole thing with new parts )
3.) I also want to purchase a GetRag 5 speed transmission along with this motor, would a junk yard be good for this also? ( Would it be worth rebuilding? )
4.) Would it be better to find a junk yard where I pull both parts in question or one that has pre pulled them and at least took a look at them? Would it be cheaper either way?

Also for you that have bought an engine and transmission, about how much did you pay for each?

Sorry if these questions are obvious but I am just getting started into working with engines and would love to have a sort of replica of my cars motor to work on as I drive my car daily for work.

1. You just need another 2.2L ecotec from a j-body, 02-05, doesn't matter if it came from a cavalier or sunfire, they're all the same. You can use motors from other Eco platforms, as the blocks are all cast the same and will mount to the chassis, though on anything that uses electronic power steering (our PS is driven by the intake cam) you would be able to use it, but you would need to swap the intake cam. There maybe other subtle difference, for example I think the Cobalt's coil pack/ignition module is slightly different (not positive!)...if you don't know all the differences, I would stick to searching for a motor that came out a J-body.

2. If you have a U pull it junkyard nearby, that's a great place to start. I see more and more L61's turning up in local U pull it yards (Eastern PA). As far as price, you cant beat them, around here the typical 4 cyl motor goes for about $80 in a U pull yard. There are also alot of yards that pull for you, they are a bit pricier, but you can usually have a better chance of finding a lower mileage motor, and be guaranteed that it runs.
I went this route when buying my LE5 for my hybrid build, and purchased it from Weber Bros in Lebanon, PA. I paid $500 for a complete motor (included both manis, fuel rail, etc), and L61 are obviously considerable cheaper, probably in the $200-300 range depending on price. I located mine using car-part.com, search there an you can find all sorts of local results. I just a quick search in my area on there and saw at least 15 L61s that were less than $350.

3. As for the trans, you're in the same boat as the motor...going to be much cheaper in a U pull it yard, though you dont know the condition of it before buying. You'll pay a little more for one pre-pulled but you'll at least know the mileage and condition.

4. What are your plans for the motor? Building with new internals? If so, you might want to lean towards a junkyard motor if you're going to be doing machine work to it anyway.

Thanks for your reply, it was very informative and has got me even more excited that they are relatively cheap. My plan for this engine is mostly for learning purposes, I have rebuilt a motor at school but it was basically just tear down and reassemble. I most likely will be replacing most of the internals with more performance oriented parts, depending on the condition and reliability of the stock parts. I will then be placing this in my Cavalier along with an auto to manual swap, and hopefully by the end of the year I will also be boosting the engine. Also thanks for the link, I never knew sites like this existed, it will help immensely!

Ok, if you plan on boosting the motor at some point in time, you're gonna want to upgrade from stock internals. Our ringlands like to snap pretty quickly, and the rods look more like pencils. You'll want a set of forged rods and some new pistons. I would suggest a stainless steel valve train with a mild port n polish for the head, even if its just gasket matching. The L61 has pretty restrictive (and uneven) ports from factor.
A stock L61 + boost = timebomb.

If you swapping to manual, check out turbotechracing.com, they have probably the best price you're going to find for the front mount that you'll need for the 5 speed.