Well Guys after a bit of thinking i've decided to keep the current Cav rather than chop her in for something else.
on a rather limiting budget of 2-2500 quid a few options are as follows
Tune the current X20XEV (currently running 160bhp)
Well the options on this part are pretty limiting the obvious way being to go for the dbilas inlet manifold and T/B's which is purporting 35 bhp gains out the box. and so it should at 1300 quid go for a nice shiny 4-2-1 manifold to complement this and continue the headwork a bit further and if theres enough change a small 50 shot of nitrous would see me into some serious 100 bhp per litre fun
Option 2
Ah the much maligned 2.2 ecotec lump. no not the vectra one as its the wrong way round(reversed head) but the Frontera lump. its basically a X20XEv with a longer stroke and a fluffy CR and technically this option could be incorporated with option 1 at a later stage.(although a set of aftermarket pistons and some headwork would be needed.
option 3 Ah now we're talking going for the 2.5 V6 cavalier/vectra lump again this is a bolt in conversion more or less and gives 170 bhp from a stock lump. and the best of it is that a complete V6 cavvy can be had for peanuts. it is a very tempting option if it were not for the cooling issues associated with the 2.5 V6 as there is a lot of options for this donk. 3l block from an omega can be added and 3l omega cams are pretty much the norm in enthusiast owners cars. the other thing to consider is the turbo possibilities by using some bits from the identical Saab V6 manifolds pistons etc are interchangable and the possibility exists to build a very cheap 2.5/3.0l twin turbo cavvy (although FWD)
The last option on the list and the most likely not to be done is to fit a C20Let cav/cally turbo lump. 204 bhp out the box and tuneable (to an extent) the problem is price these lumps command a premium and a guaranteed good lump can fetch 1200 quite easily
penny for your thoughts guys.
and before anyone points it out fret not the rest of the car is up to scratch :)
koni adjustables all round with standard discs on the read and Vectra gsi
308mm stoppers up front :)