I have a '00 Avenger and want to get your suggestions for engine and suspension upgrades. I already know what I want to do for my body kit and i am going to completely gut out my interior and start from scratch. I want to know what all of your suggestions are and if you could also put an estimate on how much you think it will be. My avenger is stock...completely...and i want to change that.

My wish list:
-Engine swap...can't figure what engine yet...suggestions are welcome
-Suspension upgrade
-Lower about 1 inch
-Magnaflow catback exhaust-dual exhaust straight piped
-Interior gutting and redoing from scratch
-Rims
-Body kit
-Automatic to 5 speed manual/new transmission

Any and all suggestions are welcomed and wanted. New member on this forum.

Avenger22

**EDIT**
Wish list:
-Keeping 2.5L and making engine upgrades as well as a turbo.
-Suspension upgrade(lower car 1in.)
-Magnaflow catback exhaust-dual exhaust straight piped
-Interior gutting and re-doing from scratch
-Viper body kit
-Automatic to 5 speed manual/new transmission

Still finding stuff for the V6. If you guys know any websites that have parts for the 2.5L V6, please comment it on here so I can keep up some research. I won't be doing anything right now to the Avenger until around October. Trying to get some ideas before I decide to do anything. Still, any and all suggestions are welcome!

 

Well, if you want super fast....I'd say do a SRT-4 Neon motor swap....it'll take some work...but well worth it. Plus, you'd get the 5spd manual aspect with that motor.

The guy you really want to talk to is silvercoupe97. He did an AWD turbo conversion to his 97 Avenger. It's one SWEET ride. He's probably the most knowledgable person when it comes to the Avenger in here. Good luck and welcome to DodgeForum!

 

Thanks Devil for the props .
Ok, Avenger22, there is 1 minor motor swap and 2 major swaps that can be done with our engine bay...Avenger/Sebring alike. The minor (common and more easily done) is the 3.0 swap, the majors (meaning a lot of work) are the 2.4L and 2.0L AWD swaps.
I don't know what trim you have, other than you having an automatic tranny from your post. So I'll say this, if you have a 2.0 420A motor...stick with it, there's power to be tapped out of it...our brotheren, 2g Eclipse/Talon, have taken their 420As up a notch by adding a turbo and rebuilding the internals to support horsepower levels higher than the stock capability of 300hp. Straight forward.
If you have the 2.5L 6G73, stick with that too if it's low milage, then build up the internals and turbo that, if it's high milage and isn't running up to par then swap in a 3.0 from a Stratus, 3g Eclipse...you add only about ~35hp but that's ~35hp that the 2.5 didn't have. The 3.0 can also be rebuilt and turbo'd. Also straight forward.
As for the 2.4, you would be swapping in the Chrysler motor from a Stratus type, PT Cruiser, or Sebring convertable and using the 420A's head. This option is the hardest because there are parts and pieces that have to be fabricated and some aren't as straight forward (so being mechanically inclined is best). Parts and pieces come from just about everywhere to include the SRT4's pistons mounts and such. This isn't my swap of choice because of it's complexity but if it's done right, you'd have a badass car. This is also what some of the 2g Eclipses are doing now. Not so straight forward.
Then last but not least, there's the 2.0 AWD turbo. This is pretty complicated too but it seems more straight forward than the 2.4 swap. The motor is out of a 2g (block should be swapped out of a 1g for the 6 bolt conversion) and so is the entire suspension, drivetrain, and electronics to include the wiring harness (see more straight forward). The 4G63T guys have been making power out of these motors very easily and there's a lot of support and info behind it. Just to note "crankwalk" isn't happening as much as it used to because of the 6 bolt swaps and proper supporting mods. This is what I've had done to my car and I'm LOVING IT!!! The cost to have it done was $6k and that was an undercut, IMO, considering the things that Jason did...6 bolt swap, 4 bolt rear, rebuilt motor, custom motor mounts and so on. That was done by someone I knew btw and I don't think there are any shops that can/will do this. Jason at Redifined Rides (<--link) can though. On top of that was about $4k worth of mods/supporting mods (can you say....fast!). If you're mechanically inclinded, then you can too. If I had the time to do it myself, I would have but, I didn't. Anyway you can buy a 2g GSX, AWD TSi for that amount, granted it won't be low milage or have a rebuilt motor, but...More straight forward than the 2.4 swap but still complicated.

There are your motor options, it's funny because 9 years ago, there weren't any options for our cars...except an aftermarket air filter, lol.

As for suspension..that depends on if/what motor you go with. Also, being an automatic is not as bad as you think...hint...high stall torque converter.
Hope this post doesn't make your eyes bleed, lol.

John

 

I forgot there's also a 3.5L swap...
http://www.geocities.com/rbsounddesigns/motorswap.html