Hey everyone. I have been posting here for quite a while trying to learn all I can about the success of many modded ecotec's in the cavalier.

I am now getting close to the point of ordering all of my parts to get going.

I plan to do no cosmetic work, no body kits, no fancy guages or light bulb's, nothing of the sort.

My car is bone stock today.

I am recieving a set of stock SRT-4 Wheels and tires from a buddy of mine who is upgrading his SRT-4 so I have that covered. I am also considering doing a 1"-1.5" drop with eibach's in the near future.

What I want to do now is basic bolt ons. This engine will run NA, so as far as bolt on's can take me is my limit.

I have a small goal of reaching around 160 whp.

Is this possible with bolt ons? If so, what are the best places to start?

Intake is a given, and I have already beat that to death so I know which one I am going with.

Should I get an exhaust? Custom made from a shop??

What are the other bolt on's that will increase power? I really would rather not touch an underdrive pulley btw.

I'm sure this is an easy goal to reach.

Can it be done with $1000.00 US??

I forgot to post car info.

2003 Chevy Cavalier 5-speed (ecotec/getrag) No power steering, No ABS

i meant No cruise control (i have power steering!! im just very tired right now!!)

well, 160 wheel hp for only a grand with simple bolt ons? probably not. I'll be honest with you, its pretty silly to have a hp goal. Instead you should think of what you want your car to be able to do. For instance, if you want to drag race, what car would you feel satisfied in being competitive with?

LambofGoddess, otherwise known as Mandy, has gone 14.9 in the 1/4 mile with intake, exhaust, motor mounts, and a 4-2-1 header. Her car, like yours was a 1SV (at least i'm guessing yours is a 1SV from the lack of cruise and ABS). The great thing about the bare bones cav is that it is LIGHT. Mandy's only weighs a little under 2500 lbs without her in it.

We haven't done before and after dynos of Mandy's car, however, from other ecotec owners dyno results, an intake, header, and exhaust only amounts to maybe a 10 whp gain over stock. Stock cars typically dyno between 120-130 whp with a manual transmission. I have heard of as high as 145 whp or so out of an ecotec cav that had a ported head, cams, and i/h/e... but it was not perfectly tuned so more power may yet have been harnessed from it.

The tires that come on the SRT 4 are very good tires, much better than the stock crap that Mandy was rocking when she ran her 14.9. So that at least, is a good start for you. What you really want to think about before spending any money on your car is what do you really want it to do in the end? If you have any aspirations of going turbo eventually, then you're better off saving your money and not buying things like an intake or header since you'll have to sell them again later (at a loss, mind you) once the turbo stuff goes in. You can turbo your car for less than $3k , sometimes less than $2k if you're smart about it and do your own work... then at least, your car will have the capability to make 50-100 hp over stock. With bolt ons, you can wind up paying half of that ($1500) and still having only 10-15 hp over stock. I have seen lots of people start with basic bolt ons only to go turbo, and got minimal amounts back for the parts they sold that they didn't use anymore. In the end run, the cheapest way is to go big the first time.

If you really want to make an impressive all-motor performer, than you're going to need cams and a ported head. You can either spend upwards of $1500 for this stuff, or you can spend time researching, learn how to port your own head, and then save yourself about a $1000. Cams should always be custom ground for your specs, an off the shelf cam will rarely net big numbers unless it was designed around your particular setup.

The most important thing with the ecotec is tuning, especially on all motor setups because so many people worry about fuel but never think about things like ignition timing. Once you start adding more flow or running higher octane, you can also advance the ignition timing through devices like emanage to gain even more power.

In your first post you said you've been learning, its my honest belief that before spending money, you should learn even more. I made the mistake of jumping into spending money on my Beetle with basic bolt ons and stuff, and now i'm at the point where all the money i spent on that crap could have bought a bigger turbo and had me in the 12's if i could have been more patient. Just something to think about.




Arrival Blue 04 LS Sport
Eco
Turbo
Megasquirt
'Nuff said

motor mounts and tranny mounts are a must, custom exhaust with muffler of your choice, possible throttle body, header etc. Check out the ECOTEC BUILD GUIDE at the top of the page. It's a sticky.

Later!


1971 camaro 427 --- here!

Stock... and loving every minute of it.

Thanks for all the information scarab.

I would really like to go turbo, but it seems pretty expensive. My car is a daily driver and that's all this cavalier ever will be. I simply wanted to add some HP to my daily drive. I dont think it will ever see the track, or run a quarter mile time.

I wish they had a discount setup like this for an ecotec...

http://www.raceperformanceparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=65_92_149&products_id=450

Thats great for 2.4's and 2200's tho.

You don't want that package, the only good thing in it is the header. NE ways, You won't hit 160fwhp with $1000 but you could do it na. I would say Mounts, TB, Intake, Header back exhaust, p&p Head, cams, pulley and a good tune should get you close if not over 160 but it will be much more than $1000. Goodluck.


2012 HD VRSCF
2010 Ford Explorer
2006 Ford Ranger
2004 Chevy Cavalier

Scarab, Just forgot little old me and my 14.8 huh? No worries. Anyway what level of automotive experence do you have? I'm running a pacesetter 4 into 1 header with a full
2 1/2 inch exhaust with hi flow cat & dual turbo style mufflers. A modified to fit INJEN intake ( I say modified cause it would clear the ABS modual ) and a home ported head.
the intake and header are bolt ons the exhaust is a custom shop and as long as you have the know how and a Dremmel tool you can port your head yourself. Oh and for the track I switch to a turn buckle for the lower mount.

Anyother questions, Ask away




Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.