Hey guys! Im new here, i've owned a 2000 Cavalier for 2 years now, it's been my daily and I love the car to death. Recently I've been really wanting to build it. I have decided though, to keep my current Cavi as is, and find another to build. I have been looking (in my area) for a little over a year for a Car just like mine, but a manual. (2.2 ohv, coupe) but have not had any luck. How rare are they? Would it be easier to do a manual swap? Thanks for any feedback.
Check your local Craigslist!
That is how I found my 98 4-door sedan 2.2 with the manual. The car that you want while somewhat rare these days is not nearly as rare as the sedan with the manual. The sedan with the manual is the real unicorn. There are also Z24’s with the 2.4 manual floating around out there still.
The 2.2s with the manuals tended to be the plain Jane Low cost cavaliers or cavalier RS models with the black unpainted bumpers. Almost everything was no frills about them. The instrument clusters would mostly be the stock ones without the tachometer and the real temperature gage. After I found my 98 it took me awhile of hunting on eBay to find a tach cluster for my year to swap out. With my 98 being an early mechanical odometer type one I was able to transfer it over without losing the exact miles on the odometer.
You could also should not rule out a sunfire. (Their dashes don’t crack either and their best stock radio has a real equalizer on it too)
Changing from auto to manual is a ton of work and will cost more to do than just about any entire intact manual cav you will find these days.
Good luck, stay patient and you will find your car.
99LN2
Hello, Craigslist is a good place to look as well as Facebook marketplace. I found my 03 2.2 manual on there for just under 2k. Granted mine is the OHC 2.2 so might not be what you're looking for.
Lots and lots are seem turning into Facebook. Definitely try searching there.