Beta II head on Beta I engine, any gotchas?
 

Since I've developed the dreaded lifter tick on my engine, and want to get rid of it for good, I'm contemplating doing a Beta II head swap to get eh solid tappets.



I can get the head with cams, a new head gasket, and everything else I need for under the price of the replacement lifters, and installation isn't an issue.



The main issue is, are there any nasty "gotcha" things, such as the cams being different duration, or phased different from the cam gear, possible flow problems, etc.



Tried search, but didn't find much of anything. Google brought up some threads about non-vvt guys swapping the vvt heads on, but other than that not much.

Iirc the cam angle sensor has a different output on the beta II, I think it ends up with double the proper frequency. The car still runs, just with a CEL.



Other than that, the exhaust port shapes are possibly different? It has been a while since I read up on this one.

I'll look into the cam issue, if it is just a sensor thing I can fix it.



Intake ports will be different shape, exh, should be the same. Gaskets swap fine from what I can see.

I'm actually going to be doing the same swap in the near future. Just waiting on the head to be taken to the machine shop and brought back and whatnot. As for the cam sensor, just use the beta I cam sensor. I plan on doing that to be on the safe side. And not sure if you know this or not, but there is an oil restrictor in one of the block's oil passages that needs to be removed when placing a beta II head on that block. From my understanding, the beta II head requires more oil flow than the beta I. Other than that, it's pretty much straight forward.

just replace the whole engine. its only 4-500 for the whole thing and you know it all has same milage so realibility isnt an issue. if its bad enough to replace half the engine just replace teh whole thing. (quicker and easier solution)

I was thinking about an engine swap, but that ends up taking a bit more time than a head swap, mostly because I'm anal-retentive OCD about connectors, labeling things, and getting stuff back perfectly...



In the end, I only "need" to replace the hydraulic lifters, but I'd rather swap to solid tappets, since I bounce the redline on a daily basis. :racing2:



I'll discuss more about the "why I'm doing it" in the build thread, the intention is to keep this one a "what may cause issues" thread for people who search down the road.

After swapping the beta I head out for the beta II head, I did come across one thing that should be pointed out. You will need to reuse the beta I thermostat housing on the beta II head. I found this out the hard way and had to change it and drain all the coolant back out.. Again! But reason is there are two sensors on the beta I housing and only on the beta II housing. Now the one that is on the beta II housing uses a different type of plug so it won't even work if you wanted it to. I think the one that is missing on the beta II head and not the beta I is the actual temperature gauge sensor. There is an indent on the beta II housing where it should be located but isn't there. Figured I'd update this for anyone who is looking to do this swap. Oh and you should be able the same intake and manifold gaskets with no problem but you should get a head gasket for the year of the head.

remember one thing. You can put an intake cam from a beta 2 into a beta one and gain supposedly 10 HP. so that means they had to put a more aggressive cam in the beta 2 to match the beta 1 output...just something to think about

Spoolin:

Good catch!

I did noticed it when I pulled the housing off the head before spray tanking it, but others may not have.



Silver:



I do know the Beta II has a different intake geometry, so maybe the cam change was to adjust the torque spread?

it could also have been an emissions thing, with an artificialy capped power output on the ecu side of things.



It does make me wonder...

could be...

BETA I head will fit on BETA II head NP

I would VIN for correct intake cams though cause it could be 2.0 or 1.8 but i do not think it matters 1.8 is what it is though

but dont put 2.0 cams on a 1.8 engine

everything is the same

everything is the same other then the thermostat housing and intake. should be a simple swap in a night

you forgot the oil restrictor on the block and the different cam sensor but yes



it bolts right on



im rockin one right now

oh one beta head differs from the other in that 1 of the heads have 2 thermostat related sensors, and anothers only got 1 figure that out and u will have a lot of information about the type of cylinder you have

Someone said one can swap Beta 2 intake cam into a Beta 1 head. Swap the lifters too, and have one solid and one hydrolic cam? The engines have different lifters, so swaping ONLY the cam will NOT work.



Please advise.

Just swapping the cam works very well and many have done it, i think the valves are different lengths between the 1 and 2 so lifters can't be swapped

Remember you'll need to swap on your Beta 1 intake manifold. The intake ports on the head are pretty different but nothing a mild port job can't fix! Also is the head your getting already good to go meaning the cams are installed? One pain you get from the switch is you'll have to periodically check the valve lash. Its a VERY tedious job and requires lots of shims of different thicknesses.

Valve length, hydraulic vs Solid
 

rob40,
You are correct that the valves are different lengths. Cams do swap. 18 months later, my knowledge and experience with Beta engines has tripled. I don't know why anyone would put the loud solid lifters on a Beta 1 engine. The misery and cost of adjusting (coins are $28 ea) is enough alone. The hydraulic lifters are so much better. The Beta 1 makes more horsepower for a reason. - and a machinist told me that .010" - .050" can be removed from the base circle and the hydraulic lifters will fill the gap. I'm going to research more, but that's my plan. Oregon Cam Grinders will regrind a cam for $100+-

et al., I missed third gear in a drag race and hit first. My Beta 1 did at least 10,000 maybe 12.000 RPM for an instant, and still ran for 2 months before it seized. Powdered metal rods are awesome!

The main reason people in Puerto Rico go with Beta II solid lifters is because you can use higher cams with solid lifters.