It neds more oomph.

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Originally Posted By: MGregoir
What would be the biggest "simple" gains to make off the start, and where to go from there?

Sell it and buy something else that will do 1/4-mile in 15 seconds. Those old powerful gas guzzlers shouldn't be that expensive right about now. Simple enough and probably more reliable than adding forced induction to the existing engine.
 
3800 engine swap. Don't know how to do it, but that engine in a Cav would give mildly modded mustangs bad dreams, and pretty good mileage too. Otherwise, he should probably buy a bike or a nitrous kit.
 
Originally Posted By: Shaman
3800 engine swap. Don't know how to do it, but that engine in a Cav would give mildly modded mustangs bad dreams, and pretty good mileage too. Otherwise, he should probably buy a bike or a nitrous kit.


I hope you mean the 3800 S/C, my '87 GT ran 14.2 @99.9Mph BONE STOCK, 13.8 @ 101 with some mild bolt-ons and that was with the stock 3.08's out back still. Many have gone low 13's with just gears.

A "mildly modded" Mustang will run 12's if the person chooses the right mods (disclaimer: my definition of mildly modded may be completely different from yours).

My old 302, with the mileage that is on it, with ported GT40's laid down 270RWHP with a god-awful 10.5:1 A/F due to an injector sizing issue. Looking at 285-290RWHP with the right A/F ratio. That's well in excess of 325HP at the crankshaft; not bad for an engine with the mileage it has on it, a pretty random OTS cam choice, and no tuning.

The S/C motors are what, 240HP flywheel? Doesn't take much for a 302 to get there...... They are 225 stock, an intake swap is worth 15....... And then there is the traction issues with high HP FWD........

That being said, it would DEFINITELY make the car a completely different animal!
 
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I know someone who did the 3800 SC swap into a 1994 Cavalier, the previous body style. It was a beast, the car weighed about 2400 pounds and the motor had a fair amount of work done so it was putting 310 horsepower down at the front wheels.

Thing was way, way too fast for its own good and downright scary to drive because of torque steer and being so front heavy. It could only go straight with any kind of authority.

This guy already has a bike and a Mustang, he just wants to see what he can do to his daily driver to give it a touch more punch.
 
Originally Posted By: MGregoir
I know someone who did the 3800 SC swap into a 1994 Cavalier, the previous body style. It was a beast, the car weighed about 2400 pounds and the motor had a fair amount of work done so it was putting 310 horsepower down at the front wheels.

Thing was way, way too fast for its own good and downright scary to drive because of torque steer and being so front heavy. It could only go straight with any kind of authority.

This guy already has a bike and a Mustang, he just wants to see what he can do to his daily driver to give it a touch more punch.


LMAO! I know of a guy with a Pontiac 6000 that did basically the same thing!!!! I can imagine that the torque steer would make it almost undrivable when applying any sort of pedal.

I take it he stripped a lot out of that car eh? I don't recall them being anywhere near that light stock.....

A good friend of mine actually has a GTP apart right now. Belongs to his cousin and ate a rod bearing with only 145K on the clock
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He used to work after-hours in a machine shop, and so he's giving his cousin a good deal on rebuilding it. I was rather surprised at the internals on these motors. Beefy casting on the block, factory windage tray....etc. But look to be cast or hypereutectic pistons, which is surprising on a factory boosted motor!
 
They weighed 2350 pounds with the stock motor, and the motor that went in was much heavier but the back seat got taken out, spare tire, all carpeting, different front seats, smaller battery mounted in the trunk, lots of stuff came out. I went for a ride in it once and inside the car was like sitting inside a coffee can full of marbles inside a dryer for acoustics.

Once in a while he would do a big brake stand and the car would end up...somewhere, it would kind of take off left or right or sometimes straight, but it would get wherever in a big hurry.
 
2350? Was that actually on a scale? I'm just surprised as the lightest listed weight I've ever seen for that body style is 2,509lbs.....

I imagine it would have been a weapon, and I'm sure weight distribution was awful
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With a full tank of fuel it would come across at 2450, roughly.

This is the second generation Cavalier, the lightest the third generation (1995-2005) was the 2509 pounds you quote I believe. The higher trim level sedans weighed almost 2800 pounds.
 
Same weight as an early Fox Mustang! LOL!

Sounds like a [censored] light car! Not Saturn light mind you, but light
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We were thinking about getting a Sprint of all things, stripping it, lexan windows, fibreglass hood/front fenders/hatch, and getting the biggest displacement of the engines that fit in it (I believe a two litre), and putting a turbo and possibly nitrous shot on that.

Pure front drive straightliner, but it would appear stock enough, and with an exhaust bypass and a quiet muffler you might be able to play with people by only using the exhaust dump when you're looking for trouble.

200-230 horsepower in a 1600 pound car with the right gearing and if it could put the power down would just about be a Vette hunter in a straight line.
 
That would be sweet!

A buddy and I have planned to put a 302HO in a Festiva, but finding a cheap Festiva up here is a challenge.
 
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