engine swap

I have a '98 4door cav. My current engine is at 142,000km and it about to die. I did a lot of body work and want to keep the car for that reason, but i get a lot of flack because its a ricer. Thus i wish to put in an engine that really moves. Im a total noob when it comes to cars, so if anyone can tell me a good engine that would fit and has speed, etc etc, would be greatly appreciated.

why not get the same motor and built it? do some supporting mods and turbo and itll move its weight around. then its a simple bolt up with minimal down time

i would put same motor in that or rebuild it because after you rebuild it or get another motor with low milage your going to have more power than you got now with that many miles on it. if it were me i would rebuild it.

Whats easiest and/or cheapest to do? Better engine, a little bit of mods or same engine and a lot of mods? Need specifics, im learning as i go

if youre unsure i would do lots of research, if you dont, and rely on shops to do the work they will drain your wallet dry...

How much money you willing to play with?

2.2 OHV is junk, you've got the right idea on getting rid of it. It only good for being an economy motor.

2.4 LD9 twin cam - more power and swap-able fairly easily. Motor, trans, pcm, engine wiring harness, radiator, new exhaust from the head to the cat is required. There are a few companies with supporting mods.

2.2L Ecotec - For your year, you need a whole donor car and you have to swap literally everything ever down to every wiring harness. This is what I did to my 99. There are thousands of mods this motor will handle and GM rates the bottom end up to 250hp.

If you can afford it, do the eco swap.

The 2.2 OHV valve is not junk if you take care of it.The 2.4 is very expensive to repair if it breaks and is an interferance engine,bends the valves if jumps time.One mistake on a 2.4 is turning the crankshaft backwards another way to bend the valves.It costs least a grand to get the cylinder head redone with a valve job.I am not a big fan of Quad fours,GM should quit making parts for them and since this engine is not produced anymore replaced with the 2.2 Ecotech in 2002 or 2003.The Quad 4s are the biggest piece of junk ever made

Any motor is expensive to repair if it breaks. The 2.4L's only real big issue was spinning main bearings. Everything else could be taken care of under normal maintenance.

There is no H in ecotec btw.

Another problem was the coil tower too,went out.If a 2.4 quad jumps time which will bend the valves,better off replacing the engine over get the cylinder done for a valve job which is a grand to do.Everytime I turn the crankshaft on a 2.4 quad,make sure the ratchet is switched to tightening side and do not ever turn one backwards.GM screwed up on the 2.4,made the waterpump replacement harder and the timing cover has to come off.Replacing the water pump on the 2.3 quad was real easy.Used 2.4 quads are hard to come by,a grand to twelve hundred for one if you find one.The 2.2 is less expensive to fix and easy to work on.If the timing chain breaks on a 1998 and up 2.2,will not bend the valves.The 1997 and down is a differant story,will bend valves if a timing chain breaks.I have replaced one ecotec and guess how mant hidden bellhousing bolts on the ecotec.If you say one,your wrong and there are two.

Got a question, and I think you may have just answered it. Here's the deal. Just bought a 98 cav. z24, body in pretty good shape, int. also. The motor doesnt run, and it has the 2.4. Tried cranking it and it rolls over. owner said he thought the head gasket was shot, so I pulled the dipstick and sure enough, MILK! So now, the car has 251,000. My buddy has a 2.2 from an 01(?) I believe, and would sell it to me for 200, or take my chances pulling the head and fixing whatever else is wrong, and have a motor w/251000mi's and a new head gasket. I bought the car as a beater to get back and forth to work with and to keep the miles off my truck, not to mention gas mileage. I drive 100 miles a day, so they add up fast. My question is this, will a 2.2 drop in w/o the hassles of wiring harnesses and exhuast and mounts? I only paid 4 bills for the car, and that was my intent to get a beater for cheap. In fact the body is almost too nice to keep as a beater, but I figured I couldnt get hurt for the price. Thanks--
sorry for the book btw...lol

you might try to see if computers are the same if not it wont work. unless you want to chage wiring harness dono for sure.

engine harness are different from the 2.2 - 2.4L

Find another 2.4 in a junk yard 96-99.

The 2.4 is very hard to find used and is not cheap,over a grand if you find one.The 2001 2.2 will fit,you do have to change the injector rail with the fuel injectors on the rail still.