Whst year Engine will fit

1991 & 1992 motors had a different crankshaft (with different crank timing) than later years. You'd be limited to these two years if you want the easiest swap.

The 1991s had a different type of motor mount setup than the '92s and up. The 1991s don't have a torque-axis mount to the left of the cam cover. While a 1992 will run in your '91, you'd have to replace the cam cover and timing chain cover to fit it into your '91.

Later years can be made to fit, but the average driveway mechanic would shy away from the job since it requires stuff that can make normal people 'uncomfortable'. For example, I put a '93 motor in my '92. In doing so, I also had to swap in a '93 PCM (due to the '92 PCM in the car expecting the crank timing signal from the '92 motor) and '93 ABS computer (needed to match the year of PCM). A little bit of messing around with the harness that plugs into the PCM was required, and a coolant temp idiot light always stays on in the gauge cluster (although the gauge cluster no longer exists in this car, since it's my track-only car). If you don't mind this sort of thing and using a good number of external parts off your existing '91 motor, you should be able to put any DOHC motor up through 1998 into your 1991.

A good reference for this sort of thing can be found here:

Otherwise, a very knowledgeable group on this topic (since many people have done similiar swaps) can be found on the Saturn Performance Club mailing list. Info on how to join or view the list archives can be found on the main page at Lane [ l a n e @ p a i r . c o m ]

OK. so it's best to stick with the 91 engine..

Thanks Lane