Well I recently picked up a 96 2.2L Auto(3spd...) Cav as my winter car/daily driver so I can keep my 2003 Mazdapseed Protege in sweet condition(no salt for her). I figure since this cav is gonna be my daily, I'll do some work to make it a better car for me. It was given to me at a low cost from my grandparents, and is a typical grandparent car. Smells new, excessive service done, low mileage(80,000kms, dunno what that is in miles, other than low for its age), and is a very non-me colour. It's teal green. First thing I did was pick up a z24 body kit and coilovers for a very cheap price(got lucky cause a friend had to let his j-boyd go). I'm painting the car black and taking care of the small rust spots. Also, coming soon is a Pacesetter headers-catback with a highflow cat in there. Also, engine mounts from carcustoms.net and eibach front/rear sway bars. I'm also getting a stereo system that has a Panasonic CQ-C8401 HU, JL components, JL 10W6v2 in highoutput box and a JL500/1 for the amp and I'll be getting some form of amp for the speakers eventually, but I'm told the pana's digital amp should be alright for now. I'm also looking at some form of an intake, maybe an rksport from carcustoms also or some other form of one. I'm also doing some ricerizing with euro projector headlights and getting altezzas(maybe CF ones) and tinting them slightly. black/stealth look is the way for me. SO my questions are, where do you go for your performance? What else can I do to a 2.2L and remain reliable(this is my daily after all), and also, is there anything I can do to the 3spd? I know there is a B&M thing for the 4spd auto, but I haven't found anything for the 3spd...I don't wanna spend money converting to a manual or anything, just upgrade what I have. Also, for the stereo, what have you done to fill the space after you took out the stock stereo and put in your single din HU? Also, anything I should look out for with this car? I know the headgasket is prone to letting go, it's already happened twice on this car in previous owners possesion. How do I know it's blown? Thanks for the help.
also, is the dome light a 194 bulb?
Dan Kruse wrote:where do you go for your performance?
Check out the performance forum for suggestions and you can go to these websites for parts:
www.carcustoms.net
www.definedparts.com
www.rksport.com
www.aplusperformance.com
www.gravanatuning.com
Those are for starters
Dan Kruse wrote:What else can I do to a 2.2L and remain reliable(this is my daily after all)
Actually you can do anything to your motor and still remain reliable. I'd imagine that you don't want to invest too much money into your vehicle so you probably would want to do bolt on work (intake, exhaust etc).
Dan Kruse wrote:is there anything I can do to the 3spd? I know there is a B&M thing for the 4spd auto, but I haven't found anything for the 3spd...
The 4-speed Automatic transmissions are electronically controlled, the 3-speeds aren't, that's why you won't find any shift kits for them.
Dan Kruse wrote:I don't wanna spend money converting to a manual or anything
Any type of motor or tranny swap with our cars is very expensive and time consuming.
Quote:
I know the headgasket is prone to letting go, it's already happened twice on this car in previous owners possesion. How do I know it's blown?
You sure you don't mean the gasket for the header? I can't imagine the headgasket going twice with low mileage...
Hope this has helped you out...
Also, welcome the
!
www.kronosperformance.com / 732-742-8837
yes it was the headgasket...the second one went because the dealer installed it incorrectly...my grandparents then had me do the install...it was done correctly...at the time I was 14...funny how a 14 year old kid can install a part better than the supposed factory help can...lol. How strong are these 2.2L engines then? I am not to sure. I was told they are not boost friendly by a guy who used to own one. I've been all over those sites already searching and researching. I pretty much have my entire game plan set out for this car...I'll list in order of install/importance to me.
1.Z24 Body kit with coilovers and car painted black...kit was free, paint at cost. It pays to know people.tint getting done fairly cheap also for same reason
1.5.Stereo already ordered for other car, but since it has a system allready will be installing in Cavalier-Panasonic Head unit, JL comps, JL10w6v2 in highoutput box with amps
2.Snow tires for winter-whatever is cheap and decent
3.Exhaust(headers, cat, catback)-Pacesetter with highflow cat(2.25pipe all through)
4.Intake-RKsport
5.Euro Style Black housing projector headlamps and side markers.
6.Eibach Swabars and RKSport Strut Tower bar.
6.Rims/Tires for spring-Unsure yet but probably Falken Azeniz rubber
and in with all of this all those little goodies one ends up buying for a car...you know how it is.
The 2.2 OHV motors ok decent motors...it really depends on what you plan on doing to it to really gain potential. As far as boost goes, they aren't as friendly as an ECOTEC or 2.4L TC motor.
www.kronosperformance.com / 732-742-8837
make sure you get some struts w/ those coils. me personally i think its pointless to boost a 2.2. if i were gonna boost my car, id swap in a 2.4. id like to swap in an eco but since my car is a 98, a 2.4 is more easier to swap in. that just my personal opinion.
I'm not going to boost, ever, it was just something someone told me about the car. At first with the coils I don't plan on going lower than maybe 1.4inches if that....but yes I will be getting struts too I think. I won't be swapping engines or spending big cash, this is a daily driver/winter car, not my weekend/summer car..I have one of those already.
Also, the interior dome light, is it a 194 bulb? And whats the code for the headlights? Also how do I remove the dome light cover...soo many questions I know.
the dome light cover just comes off. no screws or anything holding it in,
its great you want to mod a cav and all. but you already have a 2003 Mazdapseed Protege. why not just put all your money into that instead?
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
99redz24 wrote:the dome light cover just comes off. no screws or anything holding it in,
its great you want to mod a cav and all. but you already have a 2003 Mazdapseed Protege. why not just put all your money into that instead?
I am going to be..I'm just putting some initial cash into the cavvy to make it less....stock..lol. I hate driving a stock car. So I'll just put some love into the cavvy, then continue feeding the speed. I already have roughly 3grand in parts coming right now. Just prepping her for the good stuff.
Wow, I wish I had the money to put into a winter car... or a winter car.
Wide Body Progress
It's wierd with me, it's like most people are addicted to something normal like drugs or alcohol...I'm addicted to tweaking cars...lol..it's kinda sick really. As soon as I got the car I told myself no mods...by the end of the day I had a game plan for the next year of it's life...lol. And my speed is beeing spared non either, she's in the beginings of a full motor build up, right from the bottom end out the 3inch exhaust. my goal is 300+ at the wheels, and with time and money thats attainable. With the cav my goals are to be cleaner, sleeker, and a bit faster....very attainable with my budget for her...so alls well.
