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Re: Chevy Beretta FF
Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 6:39 pm
by Money pit Beretta
I understand, didn't know if that was good price for thing you may need later, so I posted it for the hell of it. I had my 83 Z28 waiting for over a year for a new engine and the stock one had spun a rod. At least your car still moves under it's own power.
Re: Chevy Beretta FF
Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 4:26 pm
by Amateur
Well I'm still fixing things as I go. As of right now, this car is in no way, shape or form ready to make a 900 mile trip to Mississippi. I have a solid month to see if I can get this thing in fighting shape before then but it's gonna be a close one.
So I'm tackling the car to do list: first and foremost I had to change out the passenger side half shaft. the cv axle boot fastener gave out awhile back spewing precious grease everywhere and adding some accelerated wear and tear before I finally noticed. I just found it cheaper and easier to buy a new (not remanufactured) halfshaft and plop it in. All it took was 2 hours and 3 beers.
You can see how stiff the rear is as the wheel lifts readily when jacked up
Puking out the pennzoil synchromesh
old vs new, notice my lazy ziptie until I replaced it:
coming along nicely
These are always good to have around
All done!

Re: Chevy Beretta FF
Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 8:32 pm
by 1988GTU
Nice.
If it helps you later in the future; you dont need to remove the strut assembly.
Pop the bj, unbolt brake line from unibody, tap the axle out from hub & swing the knuckle away tying into position. its doable. Dont need to worry about an alignment afterwards. Save u some modification monies.
Re: Chevy Beretta FF
Posted: Mon May 18, 2015 8:10 am
by 3X00-Modified
As long as he gets the upper bolts of the strut back in the same spot he probably doesn't need an alignment with the way he did it. Hell I had my whole front end out and I put it back together and it still tracks straight. I expect the toe to be off just a bit but I never separated the knuckle from the strut and that's where 90% of the adjustment happens.
Re: Chevy Beretta FF
Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 1:48 am
by 90GTZHO
GM and their wise ideas. They should have done the intermediate shafts for this drivetrain. They did it for the older 2.2 5spds didnt they?
Re: Chevy Beretta FF
Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 11:19 pm
by Amateur
Re: Chevy Beretta FF
Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 11:23 pm
by 90GTZHO
Not too often you see people mess with the 2.2, im intrigued by this thread

Re: Chevy Beretta FF
Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 7:06 am
by themixer
2.2 is a great engine!
Re: Chevy Beretta FF
Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 7:34 am
by Money pit Beretta
Ever thought about indexing the plugs? Looks like that one took a hit. The two facing the intake look the best.
Re: Chevy Beretta FF
Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 8:23 am
by 3X00-Modified
I was going to say the same thing, but that one would be indexed correctly... electrode facing towards the center of the cylinder where the dish in the piston is... The other plug is facing near the edge of the cylinder and pointing the electrode down. I will say it looks like it hit something, Perhaps you bumped it while removing the head?
And wait a min... WTF are you going to drive to Bfest if your just starting this NOW? And I thought I was cutting it close.
Re: Chevy Beretta FF
Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 9:33 am
by themixer
I don't have a transmission on my car waiting for parts in the mail!
Re: Chevy Beretta FF
Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 11:10 am
by 3X00-Modified
Yeah i knew of your project too... Mine is at least resting on it's tires again... I need to install my fuel pump timer relay and then the intake pipes and I should be able to run it on sat.
Re: Chevy Beretta FF
Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 8:18 pm
by Money pit Beretta
What gets me is the other plugs are clean, that one is a bit dirty. Seems to be something that happened not that long ago. Unless the others are new and that one was left in there for the photo. Those other ones are the cleanest damn plugs I've ever seen in an engine. More like they just came out of the box.
Re: Chevy Beretta FF
Posted: Mon May 25, 2015 9:43 pm
by Amateur
Not too often you see people mess with the 2.2, im intrigued by this thread
I really like the 2.2, it's the easiest thing in the world to work on and is a solid workhorse motor. Mpg isn't so bad, the best I've ever managed was 33mpg on an all highway trip to des moines doing 70.
I was going to say the same thing, but that one would be indexed correctly... electrode facing towards the center of the cylinder where the dish in the piston is... The other plug is facing near the edge of the cylinder and pointing the electrode down. I will say it looks like it hit something, Perhaps you bumped it while removing the head?
And wait a min... WTF are you going to drive to Bfest if your just starting this NOW? And I thought I was cutting it close.
I'm just going with the benefit of the doubt that the spark plug crushed itself inadvertently during the head removal as there are really no signs otherwise to cause this carnage.
The idea is to drive this Beretta to Bfest. I'm against the clock with a month left and against $$$. Part of me thinks I'm crazy, part of me says I can pull this off, and the last part says, "eh, save yourself the hassle and take the Sunfire."
What gets me is the other plugs are clean, that one is a bit dirty. Seems to be something that happened not that long ago. Unless the others are new and that one was left in there for the photo. Those other ones are the cleanest damn plugs I've ever seen in an engine. More like they just came out of the box.
All the plugs are the same age, usually when I change them out, it's an all or nothing deal.
---------------------------------------------------
All that's left is to unhitch the transmission and undo the motor/tranny mounts and the engine is set to get yanked out. Work has been slow as I've been working and it's been rainy these past few days. I did make a milestone by buying a new, super cheap engine hoist from Harbor Freight. Now I had one before that I used to swap motors on an Olds intrigue and quickly sold it on craigslist.
Now the battle plan is there is no plan. Seriously. To rebuild the shortblock would require the work of professionals as I've never done it before nor do I have the proper tools and measuring equipment for the tight tolerances this would require. Parts alone is about $350+labor and any machine work. So I'd average that out to about $800 in all+a week to complete.
The other route is to acquire a low mileage long block from a salvage yard for about $500 with a presumable 30 day warranty.
Plus the money I have to budget for Bfest, ughhhh.
Anyways, here's a pic of the Beretta and my former Cavalier grudge match:

Re: Chevy Beretta FF
Posted: Tue May 26, 2015 3:29 pm
by themixer
for the cost of the machine work, why not just try and find a good used engine, slap it and save the old one to rebuild. the 2.2 came in a number of cars