Compatability???

I am wanting to put a 3800 in my cavalier z24 with a 5-speed manual. I'm wondering if the stock transmission will work??

no...also the 3800 sucks....do something worthwhile. I had a 2003 Bonneville SLE and that thing was completely gutless...for the money, you could turbo/supercharge your stock engine and make more power

2000+ Getrag 2.2 5 speeds will work but you need a Camaro flywheel and it needs to be machined. you will also need HP Tuners or send it to Digital Horsepower and they will tune the PCM for you so the PCM knows it not an auto anymore because they only came in autos. building up a V6 will always beat building up a 4 banger. even when it comes to money because you will rebuild the 4 banger alot quicker than the V6 and theres no replacement for displacement.

I am wanting to put a 3800 in my cavalier z24 with a 5-speed manual. I'm wondering if the stock transmission will work??
Look up SHOoff on www.clubcav.com

building up a V6 will always beat building up a 4 banger. even when it comes to money because you will rebuild the 4 banger alot quicker than the V6 and theres no replacement for displacement.


not necessarily and i really doubt he's going to get to the point where displacement is going to make a big difference. The fact is, the 3800 is a piece of crap engine that would give you minimal improvements over the stock 4 cylinder for a few thousand dollars. You could easily build a cheap little turbo setup and see a lot better gains and spend less money. In the end, yes, it will come down to displacement, but i see it as one or the other...either he swaps in the 3800 or he boosts the stock engine....dollar for dollar, building the 4 is a better choice.

The reason i'm so against the 3800 is because in our 2003 Bonneville (which we sold in lieu of an 07 Mazda 6 Gran Touring) was a gutless piece....that and it had no resale value which really pisses me off....

i dunno about 3800's being completely "gutless" i have seen them hang with some pretty quick cars, granted they had some work done. couldnt think of any other gm v6 to put in there that doesnt cost out the ass....and will a getrag 5 speed really be able to handle the power? always seemed like a pretty weak tranny in my book

see your problem is your thinking its gonna be like the Bonneville and the Cavaliars are nowhere close to them in the weight. there's a video of a Cavi with the 3800 swap done and it squeals the tires even in 3rd and not going full throttle (when the video was made he was still breaking in the motor). i have also seen a video of a 2.4 turbo charged that even squealed the tires in 3rd but i think i remember him saying he had to rebuild his motor already which as far as i know Raven hasn't had too.

to be totally honest its all about the personally preference. if he prefers to do the swap you shouldn't stop him instead explain all thats needed and if you don't know then let it go. i think after he reads all that has to be done he'll give up. then again you can buy most everything you need including the engine cradle. yes it needs a new engine cradle you have to gut the entire front end.

and finally yes the 2.2 Getrag can take the power there are many of them being used on the L67 version of the 3800. but theres really no reason to use it (unless you just like going through the gears) because auto's are better for drag racing and manual's are better for track racing. if you think you can go around a track with all that weight up front you are dead wrong its gonna push like crazy but the weight is good for drag racing because extra weight on the front tires will help it hook up better.

a 3.8L that makes 215bhp and 200btq is not exactly fast....my 1.8L makes over 300bhp and about 225btq. I can make a 4 faster than a 6.....wait til this spring too.

Also, what is the weight difference between the two. I cant imagine that beast 3800 is light.

Cost vs benefit
Boosting the 4cyl is going to be better than the swapped 6cyl

first off your comparing a no power adder, untuned engine to a tuned turbocharged engine theres no chance for it. 2nd i'm not talking about the L32 motor you had in the car you had i'm talking about the L67 (which if he's talking about the L32 then its not worth it at all the L67 is the way to go even if you prefer a turbo). 3rd you can build alot more horsepower into a V6 than a four banger and you can build alot more into a V8 then a V6 its just a fact more cylinders more power plus you add more reliability (provided you don't dog it everywhere no matter the engine you dog it long enough its gonna pop). and finally more horsepower always costs more money fact of life.

Edit: i forgot about the weight thing the cars the L67 come in weigh in at around 3800 pounds a 97 Z24 (i used my car) weighs in around 2800 pounds and you have to take out the weight of the engine.

the thing you keep overlooking is that he has a set amount of money...you're going to have to pay for the swap AND THEN add more money to make it faster.

The way i see it, he has 2 options. Either build/boost the 4 or swap in a STOCK 6. What do you think is a better option in that instance. I agree with you, if he was to have an unlimited budget, then yes, i would agree with the 6, but seeing as that's not the case, i'm thinking practically

well a tuned 4 cyl will of course be more powerful then a untuned V6...
the 3800 supercharged motors in the Monte carlos in my opinion have some balls... droppng that into a Cav would be sick...not to mention the bigger motor will be able to handle more boost and whatever else you add to it...

you know what...you guys know my opinion on this and if you want to make a stupid decision and fight with a swap, then spend more money on something else to make it fast....go right ahead. I dont really care. I'm more or less trying to offer another solution to the problem. I dont think it is smart to waste a few thousand dollars on a swap that is going to give you minimal gains. Yes, it would be a fun swap, but then again, you could do things to the stock engine that would make it as much fun, if not more fun than the V6 for the same amount of money.

Have fun and do what you want...

Thanks for all the suggestions I think I will stick with the 4 afterall... Just to much work with the 6

I still say contact SHOoff and show him this thread.

...I dont think it is smart to waste a few thousand dollars on a swap that is going to give you minimal gains. Yes, it would be a fun swap, but then again, you could do things to the stock engine that would make it as much fun, if not more fun than the V6 for the same amount of money.

Have fun and do what you want...


It would cost him more to soup up his 4 cyl then to do the swap... depends on his plans after the swap, if he was going to turbo/super charge it... the swap will be better then his current 2.4, but it wouldn't compare to your turbo'd go kart motor...

it wouldn't compare to your turbo'd go kart motor..


my turbo go-kart motor huh? Well its a better design than anything GM has come out with for a 4 cylinder and it is faster than any of the Cavaliers on this site....past and present

so why are you even on a cavalier forum if the only thing your going to do is dis them and tell everybody how badly they suck?

Everyone has their own opinions about diffrent cars.... If you dont like J-Body cars then thats fine but dont down them on a j-body forum....

i didnt say what i said without reason...dont bash on me and i wouldn't do the same

I didn't, you said it first... mine was a "comeback".....or even an inquirey to your haste....