new to this forum but i have a 98 2door cavi with the 2200 5spd. just looking for some input on what mods this motor seems to respond well to? Im not looking for a race car lol, its just that these 2200's seem pretty nutless... and from searching on here, i see youve all confirmed it.

so... im not going to do a swap but im looking for some simple performance modifications (engine, trans, or suspension) to make it feel a little less like a POS.

the plan right now is a header, motor mounts, high flow intake, and a full exhaust. dont know where to go with it from there though

Okay... First, a warning: The LN2 (That's the RPO-code for your engine. It's best just to refer to it by that from here-out) was designed from the get-go to be a workhorse engine. Meaning: It was never meant to be a "performance" engines [from the factory] by any means, and any of most mods to improve it's performance will be garner minimal results at-best. Many here will berate it--even try to detract you from it--because of this alone, but don't despair... There are many here whom've come to know & love the LN2, and have achieved great results with their efforts. How does in excess of 400hp grab ya? It's been done, but it took a lot of work [and boost] to reach that marque... Not to mention a lot of money. But still, goals [providing you can be realistic] can be achieved. It's all just a matter of how far you're willing to go.

Now, with that out of the way... I suggest you look into the 1.6-ratio rocker mod. And for long-term reasons, invest in the Melling M98 oil-pump. That alone will cure any cold-start lifter-tick woes you might have. And if [and when] you pull the head for any reason... Do the LN2/LT1 lifter check-valve spring & plunger-spring swap. This--combined with the oil pump--will permit the future possibility of seeing high-RPM operation without worry of lifter collapse. Read MadJack's valve-spring thread as well... There's much to learn there.

I wish you luck & hope you keep the faith while building-up this engine... The more that get into & come to appreciate this engine, the better it is for all interested in it.


Go beyond the "bolt-on".

well... next time i do a tune-up im going to be pulling the head anyways i believe... last time the plugs were replaced (before i owned it) they stripped a plug hole and used loctite to hold it together.. its working but im not impressed. as it stands the car has 227k on it... so it may not get alot of high rpm abuse... but id like to have a little power there when i step on it.

no interest in boosting. too much for my taste. this is my little gas saver, i just wish it wasnt so soft in the nads lol.

what is involved in the 1.6 swap? ive seen what numbers will fit and such, but i just want somebody to tell me exactly what is needed to make this work. studs and guideplates? modify the valve cover? im just trying to make sure of what is involved.

how bad are the ebay headers and catbacks?

will a punched or hi-flow cat throw an o2 code?

opinion on best low price intake? or maybe just cheapest?

no im not an idiot, i just always own and work on SBC trucks. this in not really my area of expertise

Believe me, I meant no insult to you! In fact, I'm glad to hear you're familiar with turning wrenches... Too-many hammer-wrench noobs that can barely handle a screwdriver come on this forum looking to just plug-in "insane" amounts of horsepower, and even I'm one of the newer guys here, I'm starting to feel the wear of it getting thin.

Okay, that out of the way... What's involved in the rocker swap is everything you may have read already in MadJack's thread on it. Pushrods are critical because of geometry involved, and self-guided rockers don't need guide-plates. The numbers for all the additional parts needed are listed there in the thread, along with the special pushrod size measurements & a guide as to where to grind for clearance on the rocker-cover.

I never really trusted eBay headers... Might as well be buying them for a Buick Turbo-6, with as easily as I hear they crack. As for cats... The ones listed in the Summit catalog, that are made with a coated metal substrate & spun-metal casing, are what I would go with when the time comes. If your area doesn't have IM240 emissions testing, you'll get away with it. Plus, with the model-year of your vehicle, it's not only illegal to remove or gut the cat on a road-going car but not permitted by it's engine management (computer), as it also monitors the exhaust gases after the cat, looking for a certain percentage of difference that determines the catalyst performance & possible need for replacement. If it still throws a code, even with that substrate cat on, look into the 2nd EGOS spark-plug adapter mod... It'll still permit usage of the rear EGOS, but just move it so it's reading the exhaust tract indirectly so the computer will think (Re: Be tricked!) everything is fine.

The best low-price intake tract is the one you build yourself. I've always argued that the best design is a FAI (Fresh-Air Intake) that's carefully built for the smoothest, most-direct path from the opening (facing forward into the headwind the car sees as it drives down the road, usually located in the front-fascia or a scoop well-above the hood-line) gives the best results of any "un-silenced" air-filtration system. And I must be right... Because the big corporations proved it in competition years ago, and such methods are still in-use today.

227k on the clock, eh? I've also always said that a properly maintained LN2 will endure like a SBC would... And lord knows I've sen enough of both. Just be sure to take car of that timing-chain set & you'll be okay. I've seen the factory one fail after as little as 80k-100k, and the cheap ones fail after 35k, so I suggest getting the factory one. It may cost more, but it'll be worth it.


Go beyond the "bolt-on".

I'm posting from my phone so I'll keep it short, a bottle neck for making power on an Ln2 is the head, if your going to pull it, I'd suggest porting it to make anything worth while. I've owned an LN2 bolt on's help but aren't worth the money per gain.....but they respond welll to boost but the most fun I've had was when the suspension was done, struts/springs/addco swaybars/ subframe brace/ and strut tower bars made it a blast to drive daily with little to no power.

So I'd put money in the suspension since if you ever move onto another 3rd gen you could just swap the suspension to the newer car with an eco or ld9......

You are right, JUCNBST... Performance-wise, the head is the biggest [if not the main] hangup of the LN2. I can't believe how backwards GM's engineers got the port design on it, in light of how similar in design it is to the Big-block Chevy head. First they give it race-level exhaust ports that require a cheezy little dam to be cast into the floor of the short-side to hinder reversion--because of it's odd drop--and combine it with smallish "peanut" ports on the intake side. Then, in the second version ('98-later) they finally give it larger "rectangle" ports on the intake side (Proven helpful in high-performance builds of the BBC) and raise the floor of the exhaust, but they also shrink the overall size of the exhaust port to something barely big enough for the application in question! So unless you work a miracle in porting the head while it's off, any big changes within the engine (like a cam, per-say) will be for nothing.

Come to think of it, even with mild bolt-on mods just to improve efficiency or performance mildly, just enlarging & reshaping the exhaust port on the later head carefully will lend a lot & go a long way towards improving things.

BTW: BBCs always performed phenomenally while boosted... Just ask Gale Banks! Turbos are just an add-on air-pump that increases operational displacement & dynamic-compression, both of which make critical differences in torque production. Especially at [off-idle] low RPMs, where out-of-the-hole & rapid acceleration while just cruisin'-along is started from. It only takes about 5% of the total HP made to operate it... Even less with more modern turbo designs. Plus, it's only there when really working when the demand for it is there. Otherwise, the engine just acts like it's not there and acts just as efficiently. And that's the real beauty of it.


Go beyond the "bolt-on".

Stay away from eBay for anything more complex than an intake, unless it has a brand name attached. Even then, I like the "almost no name brand" intakes (cosmo racing, option racing) over them. The Pacesetter header is about the right price for that, and they make a cat back system if you want, too. Its not great quality, but its not awful either. There are a lot of options for cat backs, and a lot of them sound decent. As for everything else, Jucnboost and Nickelin are the guys to listen to, and MadJack if you read some of his posts on the LN2. There are other LN2 guys I'm missing, but those are the more prominent ones that come up. Oh, and I guess there's a fair bit to learn from Bob Guptill's race car builds, too.


2010 Honda Fit LX

I've heard bad things about Pacesetter lately... Go with Banshee for a header. And Bob is Master-Maniac builder of N/A LN2s. He's done things with it that make some of us go "Dear Lord!", and yet impress us just the same.


Go beyond the "bolt-on".

http://www.slickcar.com/details/7385-exhaust-headers.asp

just found those... if the link works. 99.99 for a header with a warranty against factory defects... maybe?

where can i find a cheap catback? ebay doesnt even seem to list them any more. i looked a while ago and they were everywhere. now no headers and no catbacks

it doesnt even need to be a catback... but im looking at replacing everything front to back and i figured that a header and catback would be my best option. i dont know how the stock pipes flow...

I have that header. Unfortunately, it sucks. The knuckle leaks like a siv. I had to cut it off and weld on a decent flex pipe. The coating disappeared in a few weeks as well (not a huge deal to me). Also, the ports on the head side of the flange aren't all even. I had to take a belt sander and a straight edge to it so I could install it without massive leaks that can burn valves. It hasn't cracked or broken yet, so I will give it that. I've had it for 4 years and about 60k. Finally, and I'm not sure if all headers are going to give you this trouble or not, you'll need to upgrade to a heated 4-wire O2 sensor since it's moved further downstream. Otherwise it'll eventually throw a code and/or not give the pcm an accurate reading of the gasses; obviously not a good thing.


"In Oldskool we trust"

Ryan Pitt wrote:I have that header. Unfortunately, it sucks. The knuckle leaks like a siv. I had to cut it off and weld on a decent flex pipe. The coating disappeared in a few weeks as well (not a huge deal to me). Also, the ports on the head side of the flange aren't all even. I had to take a belt sander and a straight edge to it so I could install it without massive leaks that can burn valves. It hasn't cracked or broken yet, so I will give it that. I've had it for 4 years and about 60k. Finally, and I'm not sure if all headers are going to give you this trouble or not, you'll need to upgrade to a heated 4-wire O2 sensor since it's moved further downstream. Otherwise it'll eventually throw a code and/or not give the pcm an accurate reading of the gasses; obviously not a good thing.

the pacesetter doesn't have any of these issues when installed properly.



JBO Stickers! Get yours today!

Yeah, I definitely should have sprung for the pacesetter. I was young and dumb


"In Oldskool we trust"

I have the pacesetter 4-1 with the armor ceramic coating and I love them best on the market I think they have dulled alittle but that is expected also has no leaks and am still using the gasket that came with the header with no problems. Way better than the megans I put on my ls vtech. I also added a flex pipe beyond the knuckle and recommend that for any system. But as far as performance gains I saw little until I did a p&p and 3 angle. Definitely go for a head build to find hidden power of the ln2.good luck