Just Swapping Heads Sohc to DOHC...2 parter

[Bearded1mx3]

Car in discussion is a 1997 Saturn SL1 5 speed.

So I'm about to acquire a car Ima sell. Ima put some money into the Saturn and give it to my girlfriend as her first car. I want to fix it up. I love in an apartment complex so an engine swap is out of the question. So I'm just going to get a JY DOHC head and have it machined up. What else do I need to grab to slap this head on in my parking lot. I know its be cheaper and easier to just swap the engine but I dont have a hoist and an engine swing around the parking lot is far from inconspicuous lol. I'll JY the parts if I feel I can get away with it ie. Brackets and such. If someone can inform me as to what parts are needed for just the head swap.

Part 2

Aside from the head swap I also need I also need to put an auto in this thing. My question is do I need to swap the ECU. Or what is it I need for a ...forgive me for acting this great Dogbone Gods. ...a Manual to Automatic swap.

[OldNuc]

The short answer is to sell the 97 and go find a good Saturn with a good automatic in it now. What you are trying to do is not recommended as your first DIY swap, way too many different issues to solve. You will spend more money trying this swap than you will by cleaning up the 97 and buying another car.

[Bearded1mx3]

Yeah uhh... first swap? Appreciate the sentiment Nuc but I can handle a few issues if someone would be kind enough to point them out. As far as getting a different car. My girlfriend is attached to this one. Plus I dont want to deal with titles and registration and all that stuff that comes with a new car. The swap is because I want to and simply enjoy doing stuff like that I dont care about cost efficiency either just want to put a dohc and an auto here.

[OldNuc]

Use the large search box in the top center of this page, search for the following: SOHC DOHC head swap and manual auto swap these 2 separate searches will pull up the vast majority of how this is done. Kep in mind the 96 and 97 PCM hardware is identical but the firmware is not and any replacement PCM must match the vehicle year and all selectable options with the exception of the engine as it will function with either DOHC or SOHC, what will have to match is the trans --either economy or performance. SOHC is economy and DOHC is performance.

[alordofchaos]

This, in reverse, for the trans

http://www.differentracing.com/tech_...anny_swap.html

(minor differences because you have a 2nd gen)