2.2 Chevy motors in S-10

Crosley.In.AZ · May 20, 2006, 02:15:56 AM

these motors have any major faults or problems?

I am looking for a small 4 cyl motor with 5 speed behind it for one of my small cars.

tomslik · May 20, 2006, 09:14:17 AM

Quote from: "Crosley"these motors have any major faults or problems?

I am looking for a small 4 cyl motor with 5 speed behind it for one of my small cars.

every once in a while you'll see a blown head gasket or busted head but not very often(they use 'em in cavaliers, etc) other than that, pretty trouble free

Crosley.In.AZ · May 20, 2006, 10:25:59 AM

Quote from: "tomslik"
Quote from: "Crosley"these motors have any major faults or problems?

I am looking for a small 4 cyl motor with 5 speed behind it for one of my small cars.

every once in a while you'll see a blown head gasket or busted head but not very often(they use 'em in cavaliers, etc) other than that, pretty trouble free

thanks Tom,

any other motors that should look at?

I've been checking on craigs list locally the s-10 trucks . 150k miles seems to be a low mileage unit that is up for sale.

If I do an EFI motor , I think it would be best to buy a complete vehicle to get all the electronics off it...... which worries me .

tomslik · May 20, 2006, 11:05:38 AM

Quote from: "Crosley"
Quote from: "tomslik"
Quote from: "Crosley"these motors have any major faults or problems?

I am looking for a small 4 cyl motor with 5 speed behind it for one of my small cars.

every once in a while you'll see a blown head gasket or busted head but not very often(they use 'em in cavaliers, etc) other than that, pretty trouble free

thanks Tom,

any other motors that should look at?

I've been checking on craigs list locally the s-10 trucks . 150k miles seems to be a low mileage unit that is up for sale.

If I do an EFI motor , I think it would be best to buy a complete vehicle to get all the electronics off it...... which worries me .

keep in mind that it'll most likely have to use the fuel tank and all the emmisions stuff to keep the MIL off (or if ya know somebody that can reflash the 'puter to ignor that stuff)

phat46 · May 20, 2006, 01:43:55 PM

How about the Ford 2.3? Very reliable, and lots of hop up parts available. I have one with a five speed stick sitting in the shop now waiting for it's turn in my next project.

Crosley.In.AZ · May 20, 2006, 04:49:53 PM

Quote from: "phat46"How about the Ford 2.3? Very reliable, and lots of hop up parts available. I have one with a five speed stick sitting in the shop now waiting for it's turn in my next project.

OK..... what years to look for?

Can EFI stuff be pulled off and a carb / intake added on?

What about the ol dizzy? Bolt in a performance dizzy?

more simple is a good thing to me.

phat46 · May 20, 2006, 05:08:53 PM

Quote from: "Crosley"
Quote from: "phat46"How about the Ford 2.3? Very reliable, and lots of hop up parts available. I have one with a five speed stick sitting in the shop now waiting for it's turn in my next project.

OK..... what years to look for?

Can EFI stuff be pulled off and a carb / intake added on?

What about the ol dizzy? Bolt in a performance dizzy?

more simple is a good thing to me.

The one i have is a carb engine. I don't know what years are carbs and which aren't, I think mine is out af an '84 Ranger, but you should be able put a carb on any of the rear wheel drive ones. Used to be kinda popular in sand rails around here. Check Ranger trucks for 'em, should be plentiful, 'specially out there! They are apparently raced a lot so speed equiptment is available.

EDIT: A quick check on E Bay shows everything from a stroker crank to 11:1 pistons, headers, valves etc...Lots of sites for the engine too, they were in Mustangs and T birds with a blower on 'em...

GPster · May 20, 2006, 05:45:05 PM

Quote from: "Crosley"OK..... what years to look for?Can EFI stuff be pulled off and a carb / intake added on more simple is a good thing to me.

I Bought an '86 Ranger and they gave me the choice of EFI or carb when I bought it. So they did both in the early years. I bought a cobbled-up '84 to haul yard waste (remember the mobil compost pile?) and it had been EFI originally but the guy put the hear off a '74 Pinto on it with the cam and carb so you could go that way. My '89 has EFI but they also have dual plug heads on them so they start to get more complicated. This may be a waste telling you but the transmissions on the newer ones seem less forgiving on rebuilds. It runs in my mind that Fat Cat took two or three stabs at one before it was solved but I think it may have been on an old NAPA delivery truck that had close to 200,000 miles on it. The one in my truck had 120,000 miles of questionable usage on it when it gave out on me but $1,500.00 seems to have made it right. I'd look around for a junked out Pinto or Mustang II that someone has relieved of its' front suspension and see about it. They had C3 or C4 trannys behind them. From the feel to me The carburated ones seem to have more power , that would be my '86 Ranger with standard transmission and a '76 Pinto with a C4. The '84 with the head change was a mis-match because it was the 2,000 CC motor. At one time I think Fat Cat had one in Frank's barn. I remember a lot of things but I usually only get half of them right. GPster

tomslik · May 20, 2006, 05:45:50 PM

Quote from: "phat46"
Quote from: "Crosley"
Quote from: "phat46"How about the Ford 2.3? Very reliable, and lots of hop up parts available. I have one with a five speed stick sitting in the shop now waiting for it's turn in my next project.

OK..... what years to look for?

Can EFI stuff be pulled off and a carb / intake added on?

What about the ol dizzy? Bolt in a performance dizzy?

more simple is a good thing to me.

The one i have is a carb engine. I don't know what years are carbs and which aren't, I think mine is out af an '84 Ranger, but you should be able put a carb on any of the rear wheel drive ones. Used to be kinda popular in sand rails around here. Check Ranger trucks for 'em, should be plentiful, 'specially out there! They are apparently raced a lot so speed equiptment is available.

EDIT: A quick check on E Bay shows everything from a stroker crank to 11:1 pistons, headers, valves etc...Lots of sites for the engine too, they were in Mustangs and T birds with a blower on 'em...

forgot about those, thought you wanted a trouble free motor;)

find an old mercur xr4ti, they'll redline so fast, it's a challenge to keep up bangin' gears.
(injected intercooled 2.3L)
as goofy a car as they were, i'm surpised you ain't got one,cros....

jaybee · May 22, 2006, 12:09:22 PM

I don't know how closely related the 2.2 is to the 2.0 from the '80s, but I had one of those in a Cavalier. Had trouble when I rebuilt the head. When it was magnafluxed it showed a crack between exhaust port and spark plug, cylinder 2 or 3 I think. Bought a junkyard head, same crack. Junkyard took it back in exchange, same crack! The fourth head passed inspection at the machine shop. The machine shop owner said that's about par, in his experience about 75% were bad.

When it was all done I could have bought a factory-rebuilt head with warranty for almost exactly what I spent to disassemble and magnaflux 4 heads, rebuilding 1.