I have two 2200 Cavaliers and I'm thinking of either buying a third 2200 motor or a 2.4 to start buliding in my basement. I know that in stock form, the 2200 has basically no known issues and is more or less rock solid. The 2.4 seems to have a habit of spinning bearings so I'm hesitant to start with that motor. Also, I'd have to get a new ECU for the 2.4.
What I want to know are breaking points for the stock components in our motors and if possible, those of aftermarket parts. For example, I know the 2200 snaps connecting rods at around 180hp. Say I replace them with forged rods, how much are the rods good for then and what is the next part to break in my stock motor?
2002 Cavalier 2200 5spd
There's a bunch of bad information up there...
1. 2200 has known issues, nothing major, but they are notorious for head gaskets.
2. 2.4 typically only spins rod bearings in the 97/98 model year.
3. There are a number of 2.2's out there pushing 200hp on stock internals.
Usually, the first thing to break in any boosted motor is the pistons. I rarely hear stories of people snapping rods, but I always hear stories of people busting ring lands. If you are going to replace the pistons, you might as well put rods in there, or vice versa.
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Rods, pistons, and head gasket like Ron said. The ring lands seem to be the first thing to go when we put the LN2 engines on boost or nitrous. As far as rods and rings and bearings and what not, a lot of that has to do with how you drive the car, how you maintain it, etc. I've heard of the LN2 taking
well over 200hp on stock internals, and I've personally seen the LN2 eat itself at around 170hp. There's no magic number, really. Valvetrain components should hold up if you keep the motor under the stock rev limiter but if you go with a more aggressive cam you'll want to change everything else too. Aside from the obvious required fuel and ignition upgrades, I'd also recommend swapping the oil pump just for cheap insurance. Look for an earlier version from a 93ish engine. For some reason they have a bit more flow than later versions.
the 2200 is a tough bish! So is the 2.4 though!
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My 2200's have no head gasket issues. My 98 had a valve cover gasket problem which wasn't a big deal. My 02 never leaked oil from anywhere. As of now, neither of them leak.
Say I get forged pistons and rods, what numbers can I expect before something else goes boom?
2002 Cavalier 2200 5spd
The 2200 has the revised cooling system, it was the 97- 2.2L that had head gasket issues.
I have forged rods/pistons in my built motor, and the pistons have VERY low ringlands. However, I'm still waiting on the Cometic gasket before I can finally get the head on, then I need to have some pushrods made for the odd setup.
I'd be willing to bet the stock parts can take 300bhp with a VERY GOOD tune, as everyone has broken ringlands from heat/detonation.
fortune cookie say:
better a delay than a disaster.
