All,
Just asking an in depth technical question here, please don't take this the wrong way.
What makes a car a certain year? Is it just the VIN on the drivers door? On the Firewall? Those are "easy" enough to change or "fade"
I drive a '94, which I am considering making into a '97. I have been told from many sources that of the 1.8 NA's, the '97 is the far better car to have. And I would love to have the OBDII for trouble-shooting and data logging.
In many parts of the rule sets, especially in the listed engine parts, '94-'97 components are all lumped together, such as piston weights, at least in the NASA rule set.
And I don't mean a cheater, best parts from any which year. I mean a full on, complete build of a '97, with engine, gauge cluster, wiring harness, ignition coils, etc all matching the part numbers for that year. All 100 percent legal to the '97 spec. Just a little off if one runs the VIN to check build date.
Part of this is because I just got a '97 complete block and wiring harness off craigslist, and that motor rebuild is my winter project. So build to '94 or '97 is one of my current questions.
A question to engine builders out there, do you ask a customer which year of car they have when they want a "pro" NA 1.8? For instance, I just got a Drago head, and there was no year specification other than NA 1.8. I don't know if the heads are different, but certain other engine parts certainly are, such as the pistons starting in '96.
Again, this post isn't about cheating, it's about specifying how the rules are written so I don't have to buy a different car after putting 1000s of man hours into the one I already have, that I now know wasn't the greatest starting point. I'm not trying to turn an NA into an NB.
Have I missed anything that people know are different between the '94 to '97 tubs? Stripped Chassis weights, brake boosters, rear brake balance valve, drive shaft length/weight, emissions canister, marker lights, blinker fluid, etc? As far as I know, it's mainly the wiring and engine controls, as they got ready for OBD-II.