Is it possible???

[mopar_rocks]

Ok ... I've finally gotten the time to tear into the engine bay to remove the head with the broken plug in the #3 cylinder and I'll send it to the machine shop to have it removed and checked for cracks and .... well some other things. When I removed the intake and such, I noticed the casting date on the block reads 6/9/95. Now .. that's not the only thing I noticed. There are two emissions stickers under the hood. One (96 emission sticker and vacuum schematic) is over the top of the another. The car was built in 95 and sold as a 96. Could it be possible that this car has the 95 engine and "hot" cam in it? The other question I have is, how far can I have the head shaved and still be safe with the valve clearance? The head will be off tomorrow and on it's way for a good valve job and some upgrades and I'll be ordering a new header and a GOOD head gasket kit. (I found a nice oil leak coming from the rear of the head gasket on this one so I guess it was time to replace it anyways.)

Here's some photo's for you to take a look at. I should have done before and after on my $200 Neon!! ....

http://s970.photobucket.com/albums/a...=96Neon006.jpg

http://s970.photobucket.com/albums/a...=96Neon010.jpg

http://s970.photobucket.com/albums/a...=96Neon008.jpg

http://s970.photobucket.com/albums/a...=96Neon011.jpg

[das2123]

That was the color of my 1st 96 neon.

Build date is insignificant. The 95s build dates were 94, so nothing unusual of the build date being a year earlier than the Model year.

[mopar_rocks]

Originally Posted by das2123

That was the color of my 1st 96 neon.

Build date is insignificant. The 95s build dates were 94, so nothing unusual of the build date being a year earlier than the Model year.

Yes ... some were made in 94 and continued to be built through June 95. Also, that was the first year so many were built in 94 to be prepared for the release in 95. I know the build date can be from the year prior as the new model year is generally released/sold in September of the previous year. Right now the 2010 models are out now. Here's what I'm getting at, being in the automotive business for many years, I've seen many cars that require parts from a year prior (or earlier even) and cars that require replacement parts from a later model year due to when it was built and a change in one or more parts occured. The manufacturing date can have an impact on the car in a few ways, so I was wondering if it was at all possible that this car was designated to be a 95 BUT was sold as a 1996 due to the model year release. Maybe the use of 95 engines were used to eliminate the stock they had? I would love to take the one emission sticker off to see what year emissions sticker is underneath it. I don't think that's gonna be possible as the stickers would both probably be destroyed. I know it's probably far fetched to think that the 95 cam may be in the engine already, but I'm starting to see some things that aren't matching up. Why was the computer AND harness changed in January of 96??? I have 3 stickers in the engine compartment stating the change ... I know that there was a recall on the ECU and the programming had to be changed/updated ... why on this one was the entire ECU and harness changed by the Dealer?

[das2123]

I guess it could be possible but I wouldn't have anyway of knowing that about the cam. I know the cam was changed to help idle problems when the A/C was on. The PCM change came due to tuning changes I believe. Which also meant a harness change when they changed the plug style on the PCM.