Hey everyone, great site! I just bought a '95 z24 2.3 5 speed. We have 100 lap dirt track races around here and thought the car would be perfect. (4 and 6 cyl. class).... We are not allowed to do anything to the motor as far as performance, at least what the eye can see lol. What i am asking is what would be my best mods to gain HP? It already has a chip in it, and there will be no real exhaust. I was wondering if i take off the head and port it or de-burr it if it would help. Does anyone have any sugestions? Any other tips, or cheap tricks? Im new to the 4 banger world and would love some help.
Your best bet would be to find an older 2.3 HO engine and drop it in the car. Around MD where I live you can get a motor from the pick n pull for $150. the HO makes 30 more HP and its a stock motor. Idk anything about racing rules but that could be a good start. You could take the HO 086 head, cams, and manifolds and put them on your 2.3 if you didnt want to swap motors. They are still "stock" just not stock to your car. However the 94 and earlier 2.3s had better oiling systems and no ballance shafts(power robbers). The HO also has 10-1 compression and the others all have 9.5-1. I hope this helps some.
I thought anything older than 95 in the cav's were 3.1 cars? Did these motors come in cars other than the Z's? and how do i determine its an HO motor? Good advise and thank you!
brent truitt wrote:and how do i determine its an HO motor? Good advise and thank you!
on top of the engine there is an ID cover. it will say 2.3 HIgh Out something like that anyway.
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
Yes the cover on the top of the engine will say "High Output". The car will be a 5sp if it has an HO and I think it is the 8th letter of the vin that should be an "a". They came in Achievas, Berettas, Grand ams, and a few other cars. Before 95 they did not come in the cavy. If you happen to find a 2.3 that says w41 on the top cover that version makes 190hp, the HO makes 180, but finding one of those in a junkyard would be like winning the lotto. From what I understand occasionally you can find a LO 2.3 that has the 086 head and HO intake manifold. The suck part is you cant see the casting number of the head with the timing cover on. Do a search on this website for HO manifold. There are dozens of pics and threads telling you how to identify it you have one of those or the LO version. On a side not your engine is technically an LO but it has the power robbing ballance shafts and the cams only have .360 lift in comparison to the previous years LOs having .375 lift. Both have 200 duration @.50. They supposedly make the same 150hp.
The most important thing for you to do first is check your tracks rules before you start looking for another engine to swap in. If they do a tear-down of your engine and know what to look for, they can easily tell you don't have the stock engine in your car. Even looking at the engine itself without doing a tear-down, there are a few visible differences between the 95 and 94-earlier engines.
I have no signiture
well if you can do mods just not visual ones you can do the HG2 cams with a stand alone computer
But yes Zs Z knows what he is talking about and not all the time will it say high output on the idi the HO i found was in a beretta never said HO i knew it was an HO cause it was a GTZ with a 5spd. and after spending some time i pulled the timing cover off and sure enough it was a 086 so i took the head,cams,exhaust mannie. If you do the HO swap you will love it for sure. O be carefull Quads like to pop head gaskets so i'd get head studs for it and putt them in along with cam tower studs cause its easy to strip the head
best of luck
shave the head run a higher compression piston tune
