cavalier project

hi i am in the middle of tradeing my brother for a 1997 cavalier i beleive it just has a 2.0 but i could be wrong at first i thought about trying to put the cobalt motor in it but with a little research seems most people say it would be better to just drop a ld9 the 2.4 z24 motor ill admit i dont know too much about these cars iv always been a v 8 kinda guy but being i cant aford the insurance with sr22 insurance id like to build a sleeper out of this cavy realestically it would be nice to get in to mid 14's but obviously lower than that would be awsome so what i need to know is. is it worth the time and money to get a 2.4 and build it or can i get just as much power out of my current displacment? and also can i use the same trans?? please any help would be greatly appretiated