I don't see any links or price lists.

The Kugel Komponents Focus is for real and isn't speculation. The parts are available and reasonably affordable. No need for "floor pans," welding or other expensive stuff.

Realistically, if someone is building an 8-second drag car, a tube frame, tubs and floorpans are necessary. But for a street cruiser, that stuff is simply a waste of money.

Excellent points!

The Kugel kit is more within the skill level of most Car Crafters.   Welding up a tube frame car is a huge project. Almost nothing is worse than starting a big project that is too difficult, time consuming and expensive because they usually end in failure and frustration.  

The funny part is that some object to the expense of new pistons in a rebuild while others want expensive tube-frame cars as a way of saving money! Frankly, I don't see how CC can sift through all the noise. Maybe that's why we get so much of the same-old, same-old.  

Good point.  

I once saw a VW beetle with a 440 stuffed in the front of it, so....

stay away from the buick 350 though, they are'nt much of an engine. get a chev. parts will be cheaper and such. Also, it might not be a good idea to do this without any sort of fabricating background, cavaliers have literally nothing in the front end but a basepan. good luck

Oh man I think I love you hahaha.  I love the idea of doing that it would be really fast.  My neighbour has this old crappy Honda I have tried to buy off him for the last year or so because I too wanted to do the same thing except with a 302 ford and a C4 tranny and 8.8 rear from a fox body(I put those useless science classes to good use).  But if u do that it would take u a long long time.  but I think u should start with an old rear drive import but if ur dead set on the cavalier go for it I think one hell of a guy to do that.  

Not laughing. Thought about the same thing myself. theoretically speaking a small block chevy CAN fit.
v8 archie sells a v8 fiero kit the fiero and cavalier share the same transaxle and his mounting system could be adapted for this application (i actually went so far as to buy a kit...had to know.)The real obstacles are 1.) The steering rack and righht side exhaust manifold are trying to occupy the same space (a set of block hugger headers "massaged" to fit would solve this) and 2.)here's the real duzy- the radiator  will no longer fit in the front of the car. in a fiero the radiator is not a problem, but in a cavalier the radiator occupies the space that is necessary for the left side exhaust manifold. no amount of tinkering would change this. the radiator won't fit in the stock location. if this were an alky burning application, this wouldn't be such a problem, but i was thinking sleeper. Also running power steering or air conditioning (or anything other than the alternator for that matter) ain't gonna happen- no room.
and speaking of the alternator you would have to fab up a bracket to mount it either up high in the valley (above the intake) or find a really small one and mount it on the right side (rear) of the engine. i mocked one up in a 94...then ran out of money...then sold the engine...then the car...with half of the kit installed. (DAMN!!!!) anyhoo you might have better luch with this swap in an early 80's cavalier as their hoodline wasn't so tapered and you could move the radiator forward. another long term durability issue would probably be the inner tie rod ends- they are of a pressed bushing design which deteriorate due to the heat from the stock engine, so, with the exhaust manifold less than an inch away, you could probably measure their life expectancy with a stopwatch. I REALLY NEED TO GET A LIFE...
your buick engine, being wider than a sbc would probably be best mounted longitudinally. aint tried that one...too typical. if u need any more info just holler at me...(and to think, my therapist said i was dellusional.)

Tree

ive been toying with the idea of a similar swap in a 93 grand am. the car is worth nothing to anyone but me and ive got an abundance of 305's (again worth nothing to anyone but me). a torsion bar setup similar to pretty much every rwd chevy built in the 80's minus the vette would provide streetability, but if you plan on doing more racing than driving, i would go with the 4 link setup. ive never dealt with them, but have heard several times over that they are good for racing, but bad for driving. i would toss any notion of keeping the car front wheel drive, because you'll destroy it with torque. torque is the key word in this equation. for comparison purposes, i looked at the srt-4 caliber and a mustang gt. real close in hp ratings, but torque is what the caliber lacks. hp means nothing without torque. torque means nothing in a mangled ball of what used to be a car. long story short, build the car strong as an ox, build the motor stronger than a freight train, and put your frankenstein coat on, because you've just created a monster!  

Wow...this thread is over two years old...people actually paid attention back then.  As I recall you'd miss quite a bit by checking twice a week...not so much anymore.

Anyway...novel idea...but awful expensive/time intensive project.  

will since it is so old and nobody mentioned the obvious swaps..    somebody put sbc's in fieros... and it worked..

cad has the north star motors ... that should pep up the ride a bit......and they are already sideways...

and with fwd gm trannys.. there are a lot of differnt options...    like 40 or 50 differnt stall conveters.. (converter companys are now using the innerds from those to make custom high stall converters.. )  

there are differnt ratio gear sets for the drive chains... these transfer the power from the center line of the crank to the center line of the clutches and drums...

and to really top it off.. there are differnt final drive gear sets...   again guys it's only a thought...  

and there are even larger driveshafts and cv joints... right off the shelf...


wayne712  

If i had the money, time, i would take an early 90's nissian 240 and put a sbc in it, with a centrifugal blower, and kick some ass!!! By the way, how come i always here people complaining about there 240 motor that just blew chunks?  

First off if you atill check this post, DON'T listen to the guys saying use a turbo kit or get a 240 SX. One very PLAIN AND SIMPLE reason. The engine is still a 4-cylinder. It is good for gas mileage. I think you have a great idea, I have heard of ppl doing it with athe older style sunbirds. Guy said he has pictures, I 'll see if he still has them. Also told me it took three years to work the bugs out. It can be done. I have seen Chevy Berettas and Pontiac Grand Ams that were converted to RWD and ran like 8 sec qtr miles. They weren't street driven obviously. An in that body style not only are you lightwieght, but you have aerodynamics as well. Those body have a nice slippery design with lots of curves. I won't laugh at you for the idea, and noone else will when you blow their doors off by 6 miles in a qtr mile race.  

DO IT!! my buddy put a 350 in a rx7 im not sure what year it was but yea. i think that would awesome might take alooot of work but im sure it can be done.  

dont know how long my response is off but basically ive thought of doing it myself, and you would have to get a new frame the cavalier frame doesnt have an option to have a drive shaft so you would have to either be a great fabricator or take your chances with another carr frame, the closest ive found was a 3rd generation camaro its only a few inches off the cavalier is actually a bit bigger , hope this can help jsut a bit