Hello all... I have a franken-motor that I'm building to drop into my 1996 NA8 that's using a BP4W head. I've read that you can use either CAS, but is there a particularly *better* one? I know the NB's monitors the intake side and the NA's monitors the exhaust, and I'm not 100% sure if the NB cam even has the groove for the sensor (haven't had a chance to look at it for a moment) and I will be running an aftermarket ECU. So what's possible? what's better?

 

I have no idea if one is 'better' than the other, but why not use the one that comes with the head? You may be able to swap the exhaust camshaft for one with the drive, but the head may require work to fit the sensor.

The NB one is failure prone, so check out the thread on the several options to bullet proof it, depending on how good you want your 'better' to be.

 

They all have the drive, but the NB cam/crank setup is better. Especially if your ECU supports 36-2 trigger wheels.

 

The stock NA8 CAS will slot into the back of the NB cam. Easiest to reuse all the NA electronics and NA valve cover, unless you have the time to swap everything to the NB setup. When I did the swap on my 94 I reused all the electronics and sensors on the NA because the early 1.8 oil pumps don't have the tapped hole for the cam sensor to mount to. I think your 96 will be okay in this respect.

 

Thanks for that correction folks!

 

Just wanted to ask about this, I did some searching through the forums about bullet proofing it, and found a link to Ballenger, is this what you are talking about?

 

That is part of the answer.

There was a recent discussion here which referenced this discussion.

So you have Misubishi, or one of the Ballenger options. Spoiled for choice!