2.2 Manual Engine Swap

Want to know how to get more out of your Beretta? Or have a mod you would like to share?
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LorettaTheBeretta
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2.2 Manual Engine Swap

Post by LorettaTheBeretta »

I have a 1996 5 speed Chevy Beretta base model with the 2.2 in it, I’ve owned it about a year now and I’ve done all the exterior mods I wanted to do (fixed the rust, tinted headlights, new rims, etc). I now however want to start doing preformance mods so I can drop the 1/4 mile time. I’ve seen all the posts for the 3100, 3400, and 3500 engine swaps but I’ve only seen them for 3.1s. Basically the question is can I do a swap? What swap do you recommend? Is there other things you would recommend other than an engine swap? And any other information you could give me would be awesome and super helpful. Thank you in advance.

Ryan

1996 Chevy Beretta “Loretta”


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themixer
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Re: 2.2 Manual Engine Swap

Post by themixer »

You need a junk car to rob all the parts from. Its a big job! If it was my car, I would give it a nice wet shot nitrous oxide. Less to modify, a 50 shot would get you a decent power gain for reasonable money.


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GT_Indy
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Re: 2.2 Manual Engine Swap

Post by GT_Indy »

I never looked into this that much, but the 2.2L in the S10 can be turbocharged easier, there is a turbo manifold out there for it:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevy-S10-Cava ... SwUwlbEdaS

If you read into it, it might be possible to turbocharge your engine after building it to handle boost.
Maybe even turbo + Nitrous?
The I4 is nice because you have space to add stuff under the hood. The v6 is pretty cramped.


LorettaTheBeretta
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Re: 2.2 Manual Engine Swap

Post by LorettaTheBeretta »

Never really looked into nitrous, I’m still a high school student and I planned on racing the high school class which I pretty sure forbids nitrous. Which sucks but rules are rules. That being said is there any proven benefit to having a cold air intake because that’s something that is super easy to do and require not a whole lot of money. Sorry for the dumb questions just trying to pick your brains before I decide where I go.


LorettaTheBeretta
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Re: 2.2 Manual Engine Swap

Post by LorettaTheBeretta »

GT_Indy wrote:I never looked into this that much, but the 2.2L in the S10 can be turbocharged easier, there is a turbo manifold out there for it:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevy-S10-Cava ... SwUwlbEdaS

If you read into it, it might be possible to turbocharge your engine after building it to handle boost.
Maybe even turbo + Nitrous?
The I4 is nice because you have space to add stuff under the hood. The v6 is pretty cramped.
I will be honest I don’t have a whole lot of experiences with turbos so that would be whole new ground for me. I would love the challenge but is there anywhere on the internet that would provide help?


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GT_Indy
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Re: 2.2 Manual Engine Swap

Post by GT_Indy »

LorettaTheBeretta wrote:
GT_Indy wrote:I never looked into this that much, but the 2.2L in the S10 can be turbocharged easier, there is a turbo manifold out there for it:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevy-S10-Cava ... SwUwlbEdaS

If you read into it, it might be possible to turbocharge your engine after building it to handle boost.
Maybe even turbo + Nitrous?
The I4 is nice because you have space to add stuff under the hood. The v6 is pretty cramped.
I will be honest I don’t have a whole lot of experiences with turbos so that would be whole new ground for me. I would love the challenge but is there anywhere on the internet that would provide help?
There are several members who have turbo setups, mostly v6's, but there are some quad4 turbo's.
WOT-Tech.com might have some info, I know they sell parts (mostly v6 stuff I think).
Milzy Motorsports does turbo's, swaps, and tuning, but it can be costly having it all done for you.
Maybe some S10 forums might have info, if your engine is the same (I used to know if it was), just the FWD version, then it could be a possibility.

It depends on how much you want to spend, how long you plan to keep the car, what you want in terms of acceleration, etc.
Only thing with Nitrous is the bottle will need refilled depending on how often you run it.
If you do a v6 swap you have more displacement to work with, but then you need to get a v6 engine harness.


LorettaTheBeretta
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Re: 2.2 Manual Engine Swap

Post by LorettaTheBeretta »

I’m looking into the turbocharger, found a kit on eBay for 500 dollars and it looks like it might have it all. But it’s for a cavalier/Sunfire?

https://m.ebay.com/itm/GM-2-2-Cavalier- ... Sw6EhUUSXw

Any idea if this would work. And would I need a tuning chip or how would that work?

Thanks


Oki_Hero
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Re: 2.2 Manual Engine Swap

Post by Oki_Hero »

Or you can run a high compression build like I'm trying. JBO has alot of info if you can stomach having to dig for it. But a 1.6 roller rocker conversion, pistons from a 98+ cavalier, full exhaust and a custom cam would probably get you where you want to be at. Oh and obviously a tune.


96 Corsica 2.2 3 speed auto (awaiting building)
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GT_Indy
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Re: 2.2 Manual Engine Swap

Post by GT_Indy »

Oki_Hero wrote:Or you can run a high compression build like I'm trying. JBO has alot of info if you can stomach having to dig for it. But a 1.6 roller rocker conversion, pistons from a 98+ cavalier, full exhaust and a custom cam would probably get you where you want to be at. Oh and obviously a tune.
Were you able to get higher RPM from your engine after those parts or is it stock redline?


Oki_Hero
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Re: 2.2 Manual Engine Swap

Post by Oki_Hero »

I'm still taking it apart and getting everything cleaned and I'm not sure what it does on a stock tune most of the examples I've seen have an increase in the redline but I'm not sure which ones had tunes and which ones didn't. Hopefully when I get further along I can give you a better answer.


96 Corsica 2.2 3 speed auto (awaiting building)
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Rettax3
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Re: 2.2 Manual Engine Swap

Post by Rettax3 »

Chevy's OHV 4-cylinder engines are NOT RPM engines. This has been a problem for them from the beginning, and one of the reasons why the Fiero with the 2.5L cousin was so disappointing to the buying public. The heads aren't designed to flow well at high RPMs, and the bottom-end isn't designed to handle high revs either. The 2.2, while more powerful than the 2.0, has a longer stroke, further departing from high RPM applications. The strength of these engines is obviously the low production cost and potentially great fuel economy. Trying to make one into a performance engine is sort of self-defeating, but there are definitely things that can be done to make it more fun to drive. These engines were designed for low-end and mid-range torque more than anything else, so either plan on re-engineering the heads or try to enhance the engine's original midrange concept. If retaining the midrange pull this engine has, don't oversize the exhaust system too much, but do look for a header option. A cold-air intake could help a little, and look into the later truck intake manifolds as they are designed to enhance torque, not sure if they can be made to fit a Beretta though... Higher compression would be your best friend on this, a cheap way of doing that might be to have the head shaved-down a bit, I'm not sure how far you can safely go on this one though. Lighten the internals as much as you can, and look for a lightweight aluminum flywheel. Consider undersizing the crankshaft pulley too, as you need every efficiency you can grab from this, and delete the A/C completely. A tiny little turbo would definitely make a difference, but those tend to be more effective at higher RPMs, so undersizing a snail on this would be the only cheap way to add midrange punch.

Personally, if I wanted to really push an OHV 4-popper, I would either go all-out for the midrange torque, or consider swapping DOWN to a 2.0 bottom-end as the first step to going for RPMs, and plan on completely redoing the intake ports in the head -which is NOT a good place for a beginner to start... So, focus on that midrange! :good:

The engine isn't the only place to look if you want the car to go faster... Also consider that you may need to focus on power-to-weight ratios, so lots of fun add-on gadgets in the car are a bad idea for performance -thin aluminum sheets for door-panels are ugly, but take a few pounds out of your car. Do you need the rear seats? Look for the lightest rims you can afford, and don't bother with 17" rims -think smaller, 14s or 15s would give a better edge. Berettas are pretty light to begin with, but certain things on them need help. The trunk-lids weigh a ton on them, especially if you have a stock Indy/Z-26/GTZ spoiler. I don't know if any fiberglass options ever existed for the lid, but go wingless or find an aluminum something that isn't insulting to the Beretta's back-end. The reinforced impact bumpers are ridiculous on these cars -but for safety I am not sure what you would want to do -some newer cars use aluminum impact bars under the plastic, something out there should be close enough to work. You have a good start with the five-speed tranny, but consider researching the Fiero's 4-speed manual transmission gear-ratios, something there may give you better acceleration, and those transmissions weigh almost nothing and should more or less bolt right in.

Do you have any photos of your car you can post up?


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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GT_Indy
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Re: 2.2 Manual Engine Swap

Post by GT_Indy »

Not in stock form, but they can be modified to become rpm engines that can perform. Money would need to be spent on a bottom end that can handle it in the block, porting and airflow, etc. I remember the same being said about the olds 455's in the past and now you can find high reving builds on youtube. lol.

I agree with you on improving the midrange torque. I think its a good starting point. Personally I believe its not worth the costs to do an expensive build, but some people like doing it. I like to reference the olds 455 because its a good example of that. I know there are guys who gut and build up hondas just so they can beat a mustang or something.

One thing I suggest to OP is to take some time to decide what you really want to do with the car before you go after your goal. What kind of mods will you want, what you may want to do different in the future, how long do you plan on keeping the car before buying something newer/better, etc.
I've done a few builds myself in the past and I currently have my 455 cadillac. It was great having learned from them, but sometimes I think I could have kept the money and put it towards my corvette fund. lol.


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