These pages are dedicated to my 1995 Chevrolet Cavalier 2.2L dubbed "Le Femme Wilburta." My wife bought the car new in '95 and her brother immediately christened her "Wilburta" for some unknown reason.

09/16/07 dynomometer results (DynoJet) thanks to the great folks at Drift Office!

Max power was 106.2 hp and 119.8 ft lbs (at the wheels). That translates to about 117 hp and 132 ft lbs at the crankshaft, assuming 10% driveline loss. For a daily driver with 120,000 miles, that ain't bad! Also learned about the 112 MPH speed governor - gotta get that defeated soon!

MODS LIST:

- Installed power door locks
- Full remote alarm with keyless entry
- Full paint job, factory “Medium Cloisonné Metallic” color
- Painted door handles (just like the Toyota Cavalier)
- Painted outer mirrors (just like the Toyota Cavalier)
- Painted bumper grille (the '95s had black grilles)
- Painted license plate frame
- Painted front license plate mounting bracket
- Painted dash trim bezel
- Auto Meter A-pillar single gauge pod
- A/F ratio gauge
- Water temp gauge
- Oil pressure gauge
- Voltage gauge
- Reverse EL white face gauges (see page 7)
- White face HVAC trim
- White face instrument dimmer trim
- Auto Meter tach adapter
- Pilot racing style switches (for interior neon)
- Sparco Siena racing seat (see page 8 for installation)
- Sparco 500206 seat bracket and 50001 seat hardware kit (see page 8 for installation)
- Sprint lowering springs
- Konig Glide 17" wheels
- Nitto Extreme 450 tires
- Ractive slotted & cross-drilled brake rotors
- Painted brake calipers
- Ractive flame-treated muffler
- Injen air intake system
- Injen air filter heat shield
- AEM clutch reservoir bracket
- Centerforce Dual Friction clutch

When I started driving the car more than my wife, the stock sound system was the first to go. Once tinkering began, my hooptie was re-named "Le Femme Wilburta" after the fantastic French film. The first aftermarket system consisted of an Alpine 7294S cassette receiver, a CHA-S611 6-disc CD changer, a pair of Image Dynamics CTX6 coaxials in the doors, a single Image Dynamics IDQ10v2 10" subwoofer in the trunk, an Orion CS200.4 amplifier running in 3-channel mode, and a Phoenix Gold 1 farad stiffening capacitor (I know that 1 farad is overkill for only 200 watts, but I got the cap for cheap, so what the heck). For a modest system, this equipment sounded pretty good and kept me happy for almost two years.

When I finally saved up some real money, I went full-tilt-boogie. The front stage was upgraded with Infinity's Kappa Perfect 6.1 component set, the sub was up-sized to dual MTX Audio Thunder7500 10s, the CS200.4 was swapped for a Rockford Fosgate Punch 800.4 and bridged to run the components, and a Rockford Fosgate Power 500.2 was added to run the sub. The good ol' Alpine pull-out (what's that?) relinquished source duties to a new JVC KD-SH9700. Then all was right in the world, until page 4...

PAGE INDEX

Page 1………Dash and Head Unit
Page 2………Doors and Crossovers
Page 3………Engine and Intake Project
Page 4………Trunk, Amps, and Sub
Page 5………HIN, Baby!
Page 6………Hong Kong Disco At Night
Page 7………White Face Gauge Installation
Page 8………Sparco Seat Installation
Page 9………Random hot J-bodies

The custom head unit surround was fabricated from smoked Plexiglas and a surgically altered Tsunami voltage monitor. The switches control the voltage monitor and the crossover neon lights. The small holes at the edges of surround are for the hex-head bolts. The larger holes towards the inside hold the switches. Black rubber switch covers were installed over the switches for a more integrated look.

The LED display was liberated from the Tsunami circuit board by way of a computer ribbon cable. It shines through the center of the smoked Plexiglas, and is invisible when off. The circuit assembly was covered with Cascade Audio VB-5 foam gasket material to avoid shorts.

On newer-generation Cavaliers, the entire dash has to come off to access the radio. The real pain in the ass, however, was installing the CD changer in the glove box.

Although not necessary, it’s easier to access the radio with the vent and defroster ductwork removed. You can also unscrew and move the HVAC controls, if desired. Note the Conrero billet aluminum pedals in this photo - cool, eh?

Wires, wires, everywhere! Stinger Dream series interconnects and Lightning Audio Strike series speaker wire was run through the center console. Flex loom covers all the center console wiring to help protect from all the sharp edges. 4 gauge Lightning Audio power wire runs down the driver’s side, while Pioneer data cables and a remote turn-on wire run down the passenger’s side.

The previous system’s Alpine CD changer resided in the glove box. It would have been easier to mount on the bottom, but I thought it looked better mounted on the top. Plus, there’s more room that way. With all the room in the Cavalier's glove box, a couple of 10-disc changers probably could have been installed.

About 2 weeks after installing the surround piece and voltage meter, the Tsunami guts freaked out. Note the missing decimal point. The voltage is also incorrect. The switch on the left is a three-way and controls the voltage gauge (on-off-on with deck only). The right switch controls the crossover neon lights (see page 2). Can you tell what time it was when I took this picture?

Here's a recent pic with the latest white face gauges, tach, A-pillar pod, and JVC CD/MP3 player (not shown). The custom voltage gauge in the dash has been swapped for a white painted trim piece incorporating two racing style switches and indicator LEDs.

PAGE INDEX

Page 1………Dash and Head Unit
Page 2………Doors and Crossovers
Page 3………Engine and Intake Project
Page 4………Trunk, Amps, and Sub
Page 5………HIN, Baby!
Page 6………Hong Kong Disco At Night
Page 7………White Face Gauge Installation
Page 8………Sparco Seat Installation
Page 9………Random hot J-bodies