Spyder Should I Frankenstein a 4G64 for a Spyder GS?

[96SPYDER907]

Couple years ago picked up a 96 Spyder GS and after taking it out of storage for the summer the year before last I blew the engine, haven't taken it apart yet but 99% sure the crank and at least 1 rod are shot to shit. Last year I found another motor but out of an 03. Took that one apart and everything looks ok but when I go looking for a rebuild kit the 96 and 03 don't use the same kits. My plan had been to just rebuild the 03 after having it checked and machined as needed and then drop it in the car but with the difference in the rebuild kits I am now wondering if I should reuse as much of the original engine as possible and only use the parts from the 03 I need to use. The engine in the 96 had fewer than 80k miles and the guy I got the 03 from said it was somewhere around 130k if that makes a difference. Any and all advice would be appreciated. This is my first engine rebuild so I'd appreciate constructive advice and not "why don't you already know this" twatwaffleness.

 

[99eclipsegs-2t]

just looking at some pics online, it appears the 03 Spyder 2.4 is facing the opposite direction as the 2g Spyder motor. the 2g timing side faces the driver side, whereas the 03 timing faces the passenger side?

 

[96SPYDER907]

just looking at some pics online, it appears the 03 Spyder 2.4 is facing the opposite direction as the 2g Spyder motor. the 2g timing side faces the driver side, whereas the 03 timing faces the passenger side?

That never even occurred to me but after a few minutes of looking you're absolutely right, they inverted it for gen 3.

 

[99eclipsegs-2t]

yeah super sorry to be the bearer of bad news on that one, and if Washington was close enough to ship, I've got an extra 4g64 short block for a 98 Spyder gs

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

The 2g 2.4L is a 4g64.
The 3g 2.4L is a 4g69.
Very few parts are interchangeable.

 

[pauleyman]

The 2g 2.4L is a 4g64.
The 3g 2.4L is a 4g69.
Very few parts are interchangeable.

Hold up there. You may be right about interchangeable but 3g is 4g64 . 4g is 4g69.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Hold up there. You may be right about interchangeable but 3g is 4g64 . 4g is 4g69.

Good correction, Paul. Caught me fresh awake. '06+ models are 4g69 equipped.

Aside from all the information I'll share below, the result is still the same for the OP. Essentially, you'll need to assemble a 2g era SOHC 4g64 to use in your 2g DSM shell. Otherwise, incur some unnecessary fabrication.

It's confusing to know that all of these engines are a 4g64, yet are very different.

The '00+ 4g64 has much in common with the 4g69, while the pre '00 4g64 has little in common, besides being a 2.4L Mitsubishi engine with 100mm crank. The DOHC 4g64 can actually be swapped with the 4g69 directly. This is not true of the early 4g64.

Things get strange if you research all of the different variations of the 4g64. Why couldn't they implement the codes 4g66 and 4g68 to make things easier? Who knows.
Honda had it figured out at least. Like the F series and H series using the same block/crank, F being SOHC and H being DOHC. But regardless of SOHC or DOHC, you've still got a 4g64.

Below I'll drop 2 images of the 1998 Mitsubishi Galant. They're both the same car, both 4g64 equipped. The difference here is literally as far off as comparing a 420A 2g DSM to a 4g63 2g DSM.

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Fun stuff.