So I have this idea...first let me tell you my plans.

I want to turbo my car and rebuild the engine. I want this car to be pretty rebuilt. I was thinking about doing the SRT-4 swap. The reasons were for a better built engine, .4 extra liters, DOHC, and turbo. I found that I could do all of those things except for the DOHC and .4l with my engine now. I could bore out my neons engine to a certain degree and i know it probably won't be 2.4l still...thats fine. The thing that I can never come close to is the DOHC. I didn't want to really get a ton of money to do the swap though. I heard that DOHC in the long run is a pain but is better then SOHC.

Just recently from a post on these forums I discovered that the DOHC 1st gen head would bolt up to my engine now. I think I would need to take a few other parts from the first gen but not sure what yet. What do you guys think of that plan? In the long run will it be that much better or would the SRT-4 swap just make way more sense? If i did the 1st gen thing I would turbo and build up the engine as well. If you could give me some of your thoughts that would be awesome.

Thanks

 

I would go with the Srt4 swap. Its has other extras then just the .4L an dohc, like oil squirters in the pistons, a block that can take alot more abuse. Plus others I cant think of.

 

Food for thought...

I made a bit less than SRT-4 horsepower and a bit more than SRT-4 tourque (stock wheel power) with .4 liters less, 4 psi less, and one cam less.

Never under estimate the power of a single cam.

on to your topic, if you do swap a DOHC in your car be prepared to swap all the wiring and computer control too.Also if yourcar is an 03+, you will have to switch to a pre 03 block as well. Just about the same work as an SRT swap.

 

Well i have an '02. I just don't want to buy super a super great already build engine and spend all of that money. Then replace almost everything...

 

Im with graphite.

The only real benefit with the srt-4 isnt the .4 liters, its the DOHC.

A stock SOHC 2.0 will make just about as much power as a stock SRT engine will. Stock for stock, if the 2.0 was turbo'd they'd be close.

You will see much bigger benefits much later on if you do a swap. That DOHC allows you to get a bit more power out of the smaller block, and the .4 liters will help when trying to get those last few ponies.

People under-estimate a propperly built 2.0 SOHC engine.

It has its limitations, yes, but with a good amount of work... you can have a mean 2.0L SOHC engine.

 

Hmm...I'm kinda lost on what you are saying. I agree with what you said about the .4l not really being the big benefit. I said I don't really care about that too much but the thing I really care about is the 2nd cam(DOHC over SOHC). I know if I stay SOHC I think im going to go with a magnum head. But I think if I swap the 1st gen DOHC head(not SRT-4) head onto my 2.0l engine that will be better. Its cheaper. What I was saying is that there are two things I can never get with my engine now. Those are the 2.4l and the DOHC. I can bore out a little bit and getting to exactly 2.4l isn't a big deal. Its the DOHC thats getting me.

Does that make more sense?

 

How are you going to control the DOHC?

alsoa 2.0l can be stroked to about 2.2l...

 

What do you mean by that?

 

A Magnum head will outflow the 1st Gen DOHC head anyday, and a port and polished Magnum head will really do wonders in an N/A or F/I buildup. I wouldnt say swapping a DOHC head would be cheaper either, because the Mag head is a direct bolt-on, while the DOHC head would take quite a bit more work.

The one and only poblem with the Neon Magnum SOHC cylinder head are the restrictions we have in cam sizing because the journals are cast into the head itself which limits the size of the cam lobes drastically. Although, the Magnum head will outflow the DOHC head, you can get huge cams for the DOHC compared to the Magnum, but then you have to consider the fact that even though you have huge cams the heads flow is physically limited.

Just some Pro's versus Con's to consider...

 

He means the DOHC has different spark and fuel tables, and having a SOHC PCM controlling a DOHC would make it run absolutely horrible. You would need MS'n'S to run fuel and spark, or a Howell AFxR PCM would probably do the trick as well.