please help, i need to find out if it is possible to put a sohc engine from a 95 in a 99 that originally had a dohc engine. i have been told that this will work if i change the computer does any know if this is accurate. i really need to put a cheap car together for my wife ! any help would be appreciated.

 

The '95 engine will swap over very easily. There are a few differences with that particular engine that you should be aware of though:

- Many of the sensors have different, incompatible pigtails. Most notable are the O2 sensors, fuel injectors, and MAP/IAT (seperate sensors on the '95, combined sensor on the '99). The TPS is different between the two as well, and should be swapped. It's easy enough to grab parts/sensors off the '99 engine and swap them in. Much easier than trying to swap over the '95 wiring harness into your '99 chassis...

- The PCV setup is different. This won't really make too much difference though. Just something to look at.

- The oil fill hole is on the opposite side of the valve cover. Again, just cosmetic. Also, the coilpack is mounted differently.

- The coolant temp sensor on the SOHC is on the driver's firewall side of the head, where the DOHC's is up by the thermostat (intake manifold). You just need to reroute the wiring.

- Should you ever need to replace the main bearings, be aware that they do not make them for the '95 anymore. The tangs are set differently than all the other years. You can use bearings from other years, you just need to machine (Dremel works) spots in the block for the tangs to go.

- If you keep the '99 DOHC wiring harness (which you should, like I said), you can use the '99 DOHC stock PCM. It will work. You will run a little richer at idle and WOT, but everyday driving will not be affected. If you want, you can swap in a '97-'99 SOHC PCM (stock or Mopar) provided it is for the same tranny type (auto vs. 5-speed). If you use a 5-speed PCM in an auto car, your torque converter will never lock up, you'll get crappy gas mileage, and you'll probably overheat and ruin the tranny. If you use an auto PCM in a 5-speed, you just get a Check Engine Light telling you the torque converter lockup feature isn't working...

- All of the '95 model year 5-speed cars used a standard clutch setup - flywheel, clutch disc, pressure plate, alignment tool. If your '99 car was assembled in Toluca (11th digit of the VIN is "T"), then it has the regular clutch as well. If the 11th digit is "D" (Belvidere), then it has the modular one-piece unit attached to a flexplate (out of the auto tranny). Either version will work with any 5-speed tranny, but the dust shield on the trannies with a modular unit have a hole cut out to reach the clutch mounting bolts. Again, this is really going to be a cosmetic thing, just something you should be aware of.

- Obviously, the intake and exhaust manifolds are not compatible between SOHC and DOHC. The throttlebodies are, just be aware of that TPS.

- The '95 has a steel oilpan, the '99 has an aluminum one. Cosmetic mostly.

I think that's about it...

Best of luck!