Ok boys, i need some suggestions.
I've got roughly 1500 i can invest into my stock 2200 SFI motor. I was wondering, what you think i should purchase to get the most bang for my buck.. thanks



cavy:bagged easystreet front, bags to be in in back soon, tubd, 18s.
celica gt-s:6speed, AEM Cold air, hi flow cat, muffler deletion, NGK plugs, Carbon fiber headliner, B&M shift kit, sportline 2.2" drop, factory rear disk brakes 1/4: 14.5sec. top speed: 145mph

a 2.4 engine or an eco, is my choice for $1500.

El Fuego ( the grounded one ) wrote:a 2.4 engine or an eco, is my choice for $1500.

probably the best bang for your buck

so with 1500 dollars with of parts (ill do my own labor) i couldnt make a 2.2 faster than a 2.4?



cavy:bagged easystreet front, bags to be in in back soon, tubd, 18s.
celica gt-s:6speed, AEM Cold air, hi flow cat, muffler deletion, NGK plugs, Carbon fiber headliner, B&M shift kit, sportline 2.2" drop, factory rear disk brakes 1/4: 14.5sec. top speed: 145mph

you'll need more than $1500 to swap in a quad4 or ecotec.

i spent $700 on my 2200 and im as fast, or damn close to as fast as either of the others.

if youre certain you wanna spend money on this engine, buy a 2.25" catback (no monza or pacesetter garbage), some kind of intake whether you wanna mickey mouse up some crappy ebay intake to fit your motor like half the people on this website or install a good name brand such as injen or aem, a decent header like dcsports (although ive had terrible luck with pacesetter headers, a good amount of j-body drivers are hell bent on them rather than dc), a magnaflow carsound catalytic converter, have youre throttle body boared to 56mm or swap a 2.3L quad4 throttle body, and top it off with a set of crane goldrace 1.6:1 roller rockers.

seeing that your car's an automatic, it still may not end up that fast, but it will definately be much quicker and fun to drive than before.

if you happen to get more than $1500 to spend, by all means invest in an L61 ecotec (they came in some of the 2002 j-bodies and all of the 03-05 j-bodies) with a 5 speed getrag transmission. its a much better engineered and more powerful engine than the 2200.

hope that helped, and good luck.

thanks tbag, that was accualy pretty informative.
accualy, perffectly what i was looking for..

there is a 99 cavy ina local junkyard,.. it slid sideways into a pole.. didnt really bend it up that bad, just caught the joint between the passanger door and the back 1/4 panel.. its got a 5 speed in it.. owners says it works fine.. if i drop 500 on tranny, the other 1000 on the things you listed.. it should run better than the 19 quarter mile its runing now? or should i leave the auto, and put the extra 500 into the motor, or 500 tranny, 1000 motor.




cavy:bagged easystreet front, bags to be in in back soon, tubd, 18s.
celica gt-s:6speed, AEM Cold air, hi flow cat, muffler deletion, NGK plugs, Carbon fiber headliner, B&M shift kit, sportline 2.2" drop, factory rear disk brakes 1/4: 14.5sec. top speed: 145mph

You might make your 2.2 as fast as a STOCK Quad or Eco for $700 but that's about the best you'll get for that price. I suggest a Ecotec swap. You'll never regret it.



I used to race cars, now I race myself.
5K PB: 24:50
10K PB: 54:26

i was looking into a Hahn Racecraft Turbo stage II kit for the 2.2 its 3,2** but will boost me anywhere from 90-100 whp, and leave me with approx 171 whp. with about 6-8 psi of boost



cavy:bagged easystreet front, bags to be in in back soon, tubd, 18s.
celica gt-s:6speed, AEM Cold air, hi flow cat, muffler deletion, NGK plugs, Carbon fiber headliner, B&M shift kit, sportline 2.2" drop, factory rear disk brakes 1/4: 14.5sec. top speed: 145mph

19s? My car ran 17.76 down the quarter and it's a stock 98 2200 with the three-speed auto...

For $1500 I would do intake/exhaust/dry nitrous setup.




I was happy when I heard my car ran 10s. Then I found out that was 0-60.

for sure do the header and the rest of the exshust. that was my biggest gain, then an intake. you will be happy with what happens, then if you still have money left over start on the engine things. i have a 2200 three speed as well, and i did the 1/4 in about 17.6

Man, i really need to get my 2200 3 speed clocked if you guys are pulling those numbers on stock.

I just realized you have extra stereo stuff in your sig, presumably that slows your car down a bit due to weight. I plan to go back to the track, still stock, but stripping out the interior. FIngers crossed for 17.5, haha.




I was happy when I heard my car ran 10s. Then I found out that was 0-60.

You could get a used complete or near complete turbo kit or build your own piece by piece for that price if you aren't wanting to stay all motor. That would get you significant power increases depending on the tune. A lot of guys have made 180hp on only 5psi and many have made 200+ on around 8psi. And stock internals have been known to hold up to this. If it were me, I would want a 5spd and all motor. I would swap in a five speed and port and polish the head myself, port match the intake and header, may want to get a larger throttle body (56mm from the 2.3 is a good swap) also send the cam for a regrind after you decide where you wanna make the power in the powerband (low to mid or top end or wherever in between and talk with Crane or whoever you decide to send your cam to for the best regrind for what you want). Theres an old saying: the old methods still work if theyre applied right. Old school tricks work on these engines just as they did/do 60s V-8s and everything else that has combustion chambers and cylinders, etc. You could also send your ecm to be reflashed to turn more than the factory 6000rpms. But all this all motor no power adder work should be done together to see the gains, and should be anyway since you'll have the engine out. You could add 10 or 10.5:1 pistons. Also, rebuild the valvetrain with stronger springs and stainless steel valves, etc. Keep in mind with this level of compression (10 or 10.5), you would need to run 93 octane. Pricing of all this depends on you doing the work yourself or not, of course. You can definately make this engine quicker than a stock 2.4 or stock Eco. I would think you could get the turbo kit for a grand and spend the rest on the tranny swap. Or all motor you could spend 1000+ and not risk the hassle of getting the right tune or not, blowing the head gasket, or hurting anything else with the turbo. For a daily driver, I would rather do the NA all motor build and be satisfied with around 170-180hp. Hope this helps. Let us know what you plan to do.


I root for the underdog...figured I might as well be one

hypsy, i'm glad you made sure to capitalize the word stock, 'cause for a second i thought the 2200 was faster than the eco and the quad.

alex - hey the transmission swap sounds like a good idea actually, and you'd have a lot more fun with a 5speed. i believe the '99 cavalier had the isuzu 5-speed transmission, which isn't really a bad transmission, but its not as solid as the getrags in the 2000+ j-bodies. just make sure it hasn't been pounded on or have a huge amount of miles. also make sure you've got the right tools and someone who knows what they're doing to help you do it. i'd like to give you some tips but i've never had to drop my transmission for anything.

the rest of the money will still cover most of the modifications in mentioned in my last post, so start of with the intake and exhaust and hold off on the roller rockers and throttle body for now.

i'd also rethink the turbo idea, if you wanna go all out and spend 3 grand on a turbo kit, you'd probably be better off just buying an L61 ecotec with a getrag transmission. like i said before, its a better engineered and more powerful motor, and it also responds better to bolt-ons and boost than the 2200 does.

Oh, forgot to mention exhaust upgrade and the fact that by the time you spent all the money for the Eco swap, you could already have a boosted 2200 blowin the doors off of most J's and a lot of other cars on the road. Granted, if you want the Eco and save some more money for a buildup later, that would be a good platform to work with, no doubt, but if you want the power now, build what ya got. Good luck.


I root for the underdog...figured I might as well be one

wow, 17.5's......I know I got the 4 speed so I am a little quicker but still, for mostly stock if my car is only a low 17sec car I should not be winning the races that I am.......

as far as your car though, it all depends where you wanna go. I want a car that will hit low 13'sif not faster all motor while still having an interior and be streetable. so after doing much research I decided I would be happiest if I just ceased modding this car and save up for a eco and work from there. but thats just me

I will never say the 2200 is a bad platform. it is not an attention whore like hondas and other motors that have high hp numbers. but what it lacks in being super high tech and being able to rev to 9000rpm it makes up for with very usable torq. I mean look at all the guys that biuld up these motors. check thier numbers, how many 2.2 liter 4 bangers do you see still making more tq than hp even after seriouse modification.

point of story.....I think the 2200, 3speed would make a great sleeper/drag racer setup if you got the money to put in. but when deciding how to spend your money now on your car you should look to the future of what you want it to be and aim there instead of just throwing parts on becouse you can afford them right now. who knows, you might end up doing what I am and just saving for a completely different motor all together



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when you beat someone in a civic people wine and make excuses
when you beat someone in a cavalier they pull over and check under thier hoods