96 Cavy 2.2L 5speed.

Im looking at buying a 96 cavy 2.2L 5speed this weekend how ever the engine needs some work done to it. i was wanting some input from people that have done work on a cavy and i want to know what i have to do to make this engine stand runing about 5000 to 5500 RPMs.
my intentions on using this car is for racing in the 4cyl class and i want to know what i can do to help the performance without braking the bank.

also what is the most common problem in the 2.2L that you have come across

1997 and down 2.2s are inteferance engines when the timing chain breaks,not caught in time and the valves do bend.2.2s do have problems with timing chains breaking.Once in a while head gasket,leak out the left front corner.

1997 and down 2.2s are inteferance engines when the timing chain breaks,not caught in time and the valves do bend.

that is also the case for the 2200s, made between 98-01/02ish

after reading here for 4 years, i would say the most common problem with the engine itself would be the head gasket

1998 and up 2200s are not interferance.Every timing chain job I have done on a 1998 and up,no valves bent so far.Another thing with the 2.2,it is cheaper to fix over the 2.4 quad 4 which is more expensive to fix when it breaks.

I've never heard of one of them snapping their timing chain however.

if your looking for power, don't look at the 2.2 OHV motor. Its best used as a daily driver from point a --> b and saving gas.

Well, not sure what you're racing, on circle track, the old 2.2L hangs in there, but the Honda's and Fords, and a couple of Toyota's are a little bit of a challenge, work on you're handling first, only way I keep up is I outhandle them:) Know the 2.2 and2.4 eccotech are hot, but spendy, am guessing this is your first year of racing, best advice is put it back into good mechanical shape, learn from it, save up some money and put your knowledge, and savings together to get faster the next season. Racing is a lot of fun, but like everything else ya gotta crawl, before you can walk, ya gotta walk before you can run, then after that the checkbook controls everything:)