So here's my story me and a buddy i grew up with bought a 2002 ls cavalier with the 2200 ohv ln2. Bought it in May of 2021 sadly that fall he took his own life. I put the car in storage and haven't really touched it since been too hard.. but we always had a dream of building a solid 350+hp turbo sleeper out of it I know it's not cheap especially with the ln2 but I know it's possible I have a basic knowledge of mechanics (can tear an engine apart and put it back together) don't know a ton about performance parts and what works well with what that was more his specialty.. so I have been doing some research and searching online for parts haven't found much and with the car being 21 years old most the old part sites have been taken down.. so need help locating parts and stuff to make this dream come true car is essentially 100% stock other than we pieced together an intake and put a cone out the hood lol... but please any advice is appreciated not going to swap the engine unless I blow it up but really not trying to do that..

To be honest, this probably isn't the best car to be attempting this with for exactly the reasons you mentioned. Much of the work now is going to involve having custom parts made for it rather than having any sort of aftermarket support. 350 hp is nothing to sneeze at and those motors simply weren't made to handle it. It's absolutely possible. It's just not simple and you'd do far better working with something more modern that has active support.

Back when these were current, boost was a performance drug we all chased after. Today, boost has become an efficiency tool so everything under the sun has a turbo on it and already strong internals. You should be able to find something from the past decade that started off with a lot more power and has far more potential for more.

I hate to rain on your parade and am very sorry to hear about your friend. I just hate to see you chase a dream that's going to end in frustration.

So you think I'd be better off just swapping it out with a more modern engine?? I mean money's not really an issue and I know a few local machining shops if it's gotta be custom work..

That would definitely make for a better end result and be a much cooler project.

3800 sc swap would be my preference... can 5 speed swap them as well. the information is all here on the site somewhere...