I agree with the 2.6 being a boat anchor. I do disagree with the 302 though. I use to own a Shelby Lancer with the 2.2L turbo engine. Which is in the same family of the 2.4. I own a 89 Caravan with the 2.5L turbo and a 5-speed manni. I use to embarrass $60K mustangs with that car. I paid 1500 dollars for it, with electronics I probably put another 700 into for injectors and a wideband, BOV and piping. Stock intercooler, stock bottomend, I cut out the cat and ran 3" exhaust (the absolute biggest bang for the buck), and was close to running 12's in the quarter. All this and getting over 30 miles to the gallon.

the 2.4 L is an awesome engine. It has a lot of low end grunt (comparatively speaking), parts are everywhere, it won't have the low end of the 302 but it WILL bolt right in to a dodge D50 using the stock trans.
Obviously if you have a 302 kicking around that's the better route money wise but that 2.4 could be a potent little mill and get better mileage.

Here is my Caravan:


Here is my Shelby:


Oh and here are some pics of my 2.4 I built for my PT cruiser :