I've had this crazy idea since I was 16, i'm 26 now, about "stuffing" (quite literally) a V8 into a Cavalier. I've already been told many times that this wouldn't be worth it and would just cost an incredible amount of money and accomplish next to nothing, but I'm determined and now have the resources and finances to do this. This would only be for the sake of laughing as I blew someone away in probably the biggest sleeper known to man.  Not only that but there are alot of kids in my town that drive imports and it would be nice to see the look on their face when they get smoked by good old american muscle.  I don't mean any disrespect to the import guys though but the stock Cavalier doesn't hold a candle to the vast majority of imports, and the same goes for the Z24. Although I'll probably get laughed at for even thinking of this idea. My particular interest is Horsepower to weight ratio. Although I am keeping in mind that if you can't effectively get it to the pavement it doesn't mean squat. Wider tires in the rear will be a must, but I don't want it to be obvious that the car is RWD and there's a little bit of power being fed to them.  A 1997 Cavalier weighs in at 2617lbs, a Mustang at roughly 3200, a Camaro at about 3500 and a Corvette at about 3200.  Not a whole lot of difference between some of them, but there is the old formula "lose 100 pounds gain a tenth in the quarter."  I was thinking the best way to go about doing this would be to get rid of everything from the firewall forward and custom fabricating a frame for the engine, making mounts for front suspension parts and custom inner fenders as I don't think the stock ones will fit anymore.  Moving back a little, reinforce the unibody with some sort of subframe (more likeley than not, custom) so it doesn't twist.  I'm 100% certain that there is no way the body can handle 300+ horsepower.  I was hoping I could help stiffen things up a little more by adding a 6 or 8 point roll cage.  I plan on drag racing this a little bit so that would pretty much be required.  For the trans I was thinking of going with either a 5 or 6 speed manual.  A manual trans is a must for me. For the rear end I was thinking a 4-Link Rear end would do the job. I don't know a whole lot about 4-Link rear ends but I though I remebered someone saying that they aren't street legal or that they don't offer a very good ride for daily driving. If there is a better option for the rear end I'm all ears. Given the short wheelbase of the car the drive shaft would not be long at all, maybe 2 feet if even that.  I've got a 97 Cavalier that I've had for a while and I have a '69 Buick 350 sitting in my garage that is just taking up space and it seems I have nothing but time these days.  I was wondering if my best be would be using a premade front and rear end kit I've seen for Novas, Mustangs, '57 Chevys and many other cars, but I was thinking that these would probably be too wide.  Stiffening up the body is a definate must though as I'm hoping to get at least 350hp out of this motor.  If anyone can control their laughter long enough to offer any information it would be appreciated.  Or you could just tell me I'm crazy and get back in my rubber room.  Thanks in advance.  

Hey man, why destroy your car?  There are several companies that make turbo systems for your car and also supercharger systems as well.  I know if I can make my 2.0 liter in my 240sx make 400 plus hp and 390 ft lbs with 20 psi, you can make that Cavilier make some power.  You do not need a v/8 for power.  When you do a large conversion like that you run into reliability issues from cutting this, taking off that.  Hell the suspension work alone is going to be expensive.  Just install a turbo, supercharger and/or nitrous and still kick ass and take names and the car will still be light and nimble, not nose heavy and unstable around curves.  And BTW, Summit and JEGS have thier new Sport Compact and Tuner Cataloges out and they have some nice, cheap stuff in there, check it out before you start cutting and welding.  I know this from experience, long, long time ago, when I first got my 240sx I was dead set on putting in a 5.0 Mustang engine.  Then I relized, if the motor was not pushing atleast 350 hp, it was kinda of stupid to add all that weight and custom work, not to mention the fabrication of the motor mounts, tranny mounts, drive shaft and mating all that to the 240's rear end.  I just bought a NISSAN SR20DET motor from Signal auto and now I have 400 plus hp, rear wheel drive import.  And also, before you get on the "I hate imports"  band wagon, I also have daily driver 93 fox body that runs 10's.  I like Domestics and the rear wheel drive Imports, I am not too fond of high horse power front wheel drives, torq steer sucks.  You have to admit, a good tuned Supra, 240sx or a 350Z are all great cars, I just wish they would re-release the last gen RX-7, the rx-8 is a turd, hell the Honda S-2000 is faster than the RX-8, that's pretty sad.

get something that started off rwd and little instead like an opel gt or a 240z, because unless your one hell of a fabricator it wont be a feasible task  

I guess I should check out the Sports Compact catalogs again.  I looked at it a few years ago and didn't see anything that really peaked my interest.  If I remember correctly, there was a supercharger or turbo kit for the 2.4 but not for the 2.2 and the power gain wasn't enough to justify the price.  If I remember correctly it was only a gain of about 75hp and cost over three grand, not including labor. I just figured I had the car sitting there not doing anything and the engine wasn't doing anything either so I though I would make an attempt on putting them together somehow.  Perhaps I'll look into getting a 240 or something like that.  I don't see too many of those arround my town. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not on the "I hate Imports" bandwagon, I love 'em.  I wish a Skyline GTR was in my price range but unfortunatley its not.  Supras, RX-7's, 3000GT's, 350z, Civic Si, and the 240Z are all favorites of mine. I guess I should start saving my money.  Really what I'm looking for is high horsepower and light weight but I want something different than what everyone else has here.  Thanks.  

Make it easy on yourself.  A SBF in a Focus is a bolt-up deal with a properly engineered kit.  Forget the Chevy hackjob.

http://www.kugelkomponents.com/focus/focus.html

http://www.theracingreport.com/docs/8565.html

Not wild enough? How about 470 hp and 466 lb-ft of torque in an '03 DOHC Cobra-powered "TERMINATOR" Focus (a little pricey now, but someday ordinary Car Crafters will be building these little sleepers w/ crate mills and JY parts . . . .)

"it zipped through our slalom at 72 mph--about 1 mph slower than the last EVO VIII we tested (So much for the BIG Cammer making it too nose-heavy!)."

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/features/0404scc_focus/index.html

i'd say go for, don't hold him back, let him do something fun and unique. the ford focus thing has been done, so it took alot of fabrication to get it right, maybe he can do the same with the caviler. don't listen to what the others say, do it, and have fun with it.  

The point is that it DOESN'T take a lot of fabrication to build a V8 Focus. It's a sano, bolt-together deal with the Kugel kit.

Over the past 20 years, plenty of V8s have been swapped into "pro"-style Cavaliers (using tube frames from Art Morrison, Alston, Chassisworks,  Jerry Haas, Mike Duffy, S&W and others), so I guess the "thing has been done" criticism applies to that project, too.

More power to him if he wants to cut up his old Cavalier. But I thought he wanted somthing to drive, not an endless project rusting in the yard on blocks while he's taking welding classes.

There's a non US version of the Focus that has AWD. Because of this it has provisions for a driveline and a rear differential, the 8.8 from a mustang "happens" to fit without being narrowed and the shock towers are wide enough to accommodate the modular motor.

It'd be cheaper and easier to build a V8 focus and at the end of the day that's what it's all about.

Joe

Where I live there is an older Cavalier, the body style before yours, Which I think is the same chassis, that has a 350 Chevy in it. The difference is that it is still front wheel drive. An adapter was made to bolt the 350 to the stock transaxle. I have no idea how much fabrication this required only that it can be and has been done. Also don't put a turbo on your car, prior to the Ecotec, there has never been a cavailer with a strong bottom end, I would not suggest adding boost to the factory configuration. You really should consider the Fox body mustang, basically a 5.0 in an Escort sized car. There may be a lot of them on the road, the only way to set yourself apart is to make yours faster.

so what if it takes alot of time, it doesn't sound like he minds, let him go at it.  

yeah go for it. dint magnante put a cadillac motor or something in a chevette awhile back? mid-engine wasnt it?
yeah go for it....ya might stumble on something. Right off the bat I`m thinkin..."frame" though.
M  

Great idea!

I'm sure someone has a fit togrther floorpan kit to fab up for it. Definitely do a full box or tube frame and mount the body on it. Ford 9 inch narrowed to your spec. Could be done fairly cheap and bet you wouldn't see another one too soon.  

makes me wish  had picked up a yugo a couple years back....i got a few sbc sitting around that would fit great