Hey All,
We are having a great season racing our 95 Pontiac Sunfire on a 1/2 mile asphalt track in northern Ohio, currently leading the point standings.
I am just wondering if any of you have any ideas on how I can increase the horsepower/performance of this 2.2L with an automatic trans>?>?>?>?
Rules state that everything must remain pretty much stock, throw me some ideas!!!!!
I have been toying with the idea of purchasing underdrive crank pulley from RKSport but dont know how much that will actually give me.
Please throw me some ideas - everyone!!
Thanks, Jim
Can you be a bit more specific on what constitutes "pretty much stock"?
Wild Weasel wrote:Can you be a bit more specific on what constitutes "pretty much stock"?
Absolutely no internal engine work and manifolds must stay stock.
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Truly do need more info. Are intakes allowed? I would get a underdrive pulley. It will free up a little bit. Is exhaust work allowed? Headers? Can you port stock TB's and manifolds? I would think you could get away with porting the stock manifold (not a lot but clean it up). If you can't port the stock TB I would polish it. Are you running the 3 speed trannyor the 4 speed?
FU Tuning
I do run the 3 speed tranny.
The tech guys have already checked intakes like 3 times this year!
On what basis do you recommend the underdrive pulley, I need help justifying it's cost!!
well how "stock" do you mean?" because if the HO throttlebody or whichever one it is that people always use works, TECHNICALLY, thats a "stock" part, just not stock on that particular car... because I know that the SBC circle track racers i've talked to use all kinds of different stock manifolds from different model years and such... the guy who used to work at Dodge with me ran some weird intake mani from a european van or bus or something, it looked almost like a tunnel ram manifold.
Unfortunately, while there ARE bolt on mods you can do, not many of them make a really big difference in power on the 2.2... its cam/headwork/compression that really wake up that motor. How much can you do to the trans? because I'd say a higher stall converter and a shift kit, maybe changing the final drive ratio would help you out some if its legal...
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The pulley will free up some of the mid to upper rpm horsepower.
I don't know how much you've read of the posts above, but here's a couple of tip, some of which were posted in the links above.
The 1.6:1 stamped rocker conversion will raise the valve lift from .0432" to .0461" and retains a relativly stock appearance. This all depends on how closely the techs check your rocker arms. These will help the low to mid range torque, for better acceleration off the corners and on restarts.
There are also the +1mm stainless steel valves from Karo at carcustoms.net. These will help a little with the top end hp, especially with a good 3 angle valve job.
Surafacing the block and/or head will raise the compression ratio. If you can get by with the block being zero decked and can get the head surfaced .016", this will raise you compressio to about 10:1. You will definitely need to run premium gas to prevent detonation and the rocker arm convesion to keep from having too much lifter preload and collapsing the lifter. If you can't do that much of a boost in compression, try about .015" from the block and .010" from the head for about a 9.5:1 CR. This won't require the rocker arm conversion.
If you rebuild the motor, you can get it bored upto +1mm (.039") to add about 2 c.i. to the displacement. That combine with rings such as the Total Seal gapless rings will help across the power range.
If you can get by with it, try doning a mild P&P on the exhaust manifold. Don't get too extreme with it, you dont want to grind through the outside of it. Just enough to smooth out the flow through it.
None of these mods will make any major gain with this motor, but combined, you'll see some decent gains across the entire power band. Using the Desktop Dyno software all the above mods gives you about 25 more hp and 30 lbs/ft of torque(assuming you have the appropriate fuel and spark tune). Not too shabby for some mods that take a knowledgable eye for these motors to spot.
Running the three speed, be sure to check out this thread:
Stock Torque Converters, 3 Speed Gears and more. In there you'll find info about what gear ratios you have and are available for the TH125C/3T40 transmission.
Jim Morrison wrote:I do run the 3 speed tranny.
The tech guys have already checked intakes like 3 times this year!
On what basis do you recommend the underdrive pulley, I need help justifying it's cost!!
The pulley will alow it to rev up a little quicker. What about headers and exhaust? Also motor mounts? Can you do custom work to the mounts? If so the auto tranny mount sucks. YOu can insert wood or metal into it to help take up some slack.
FU Tuning
Jim
like to invite you to race at Ona Speedway with us but they way these guys drive hate to see your car get torn up
I have a 96 Sunfire in my yard right now that is out of commission (I believe the key cylinder is bad) or something into the PASSLock system, but I'm not even going to run this car on the street anymore, I am considering turning it into a Pony Stock for up here.
I was wondering if any you guys that are running a Sunfire perhaps might be willing to send me some pictures of your car as far as the cage goes and how you attached it and all that kind of stuff. I don't mean to ask, but its just there is nobody running one up here and I've never messed with a J-body type car.
If anyone has any suggestions or anything also send those along, the tracks we will be running at will more then likely be 1/4 and 3/8 strickly.
Thanks...
I raced a 1993 cavalier 2.2 auto on a1\3 dirt track 2 years ago. I left it in low gear and bounced off the rev limiter at about 3/4 of the way down the track. I did this cause the car bogged to much in low 2 through the corners. As far as upgrades I don't know much they pump for compression here. They also made us jack are cars up to check the spider gears so you might not want to do that. Can you run DOHC cars or are you limited to SOHC in your class?
I'm a full time racer in the ShortTrackTrucks.com Challenge Series, I'm handy when it comes to RWD's but not FWD's.
We can run either, but the tracks that we primarily would compete at only allow SOHC.
Anyone got any help as far as cage mounting, goes? Pictures would be helpful.
A friend and I race a 2000 and 2001 cavalier at our local track and have had great success. I won 13 heat races and 4 features and he won 11 heats and 5 features. The trick to the game is to get the car to handle. At a end of year special last year he started 18th and beat a turbo celica that started 4th. Around here the tracks become very dry and glazed off by the time we run and it makes it perfect for us underpowerded cars because we dont spin the tires then and we can control our handling better. Tires, struts, camber, caster, and toe all play a huge factor in the handling of your car. I run all brand new KYB GR2 struts except for in the left rear. Tires I run a 185/60/14 but get a whole assortment of used ones and check the stagger on them. I run the biggest tire possible on the right rear, then second biggest on the left front. To get camber I grind the strut to spindle mounting holes for positive camber on the left side and negative camber on the right side. Caster is a hard thind to do on a jbody because there is no adjustmunt for it. But if your a good welder you can cut you front right lower control arm and slide the ball joint forward about 1/2 - 3/4inch. If you do this right noone will be able to tell it was done. That was the biggest thing that helped the handling of my car last year. I usually set the toe at 1/4 - 3/8 out. It really helps the car turn in better. As for the engine...my last year car had 144k miles on it and i never even had the valve cover off. I put new plugs and wires on it and raced it. I ran 2 1/4" pipe from the manifold to about center of the car where there was a backwards glasspack and then 2 1/2" pipe to the outside of the car. Other than that if you cut one round out of the rear coil springs and run about a 1/2 tank of gas you should have a pretty loose car with little to no understeer. If any one would like to share any tips/trick send me a PM. I got a few more little things that will help too.
What track in Ohio are you racing at? We Also race innorthern Ohio.
We race in SW Virginia. We are running top 10 consistently. But the dodge 2.5's are still king here. I check here often looking for tips that will allow us to send the dodges packing.
