well my game plan and I thought i was on the right track here was to use a second gen block with my first gen heads. did I miss something somewhere? my understanding was that you can use first gen heads on a second gen block, still keep your ecu and use your cam sensor setup. while I was at Kayser Mitsu Madison today picking up my tranny bracket, I asked if they were differnt because I was worried about the piston peaking over the cylinder/deck wall on my newly acured, used second gen shortblock. It seemed to be a bit higher than I remember my other. well the guy at the parts counter said he wasn't sure so he would check with one of their service techs. he came back stating that yes they are different / well I know they are to a point of no cam sensor but is that it or are they usable? I left my card with my number asked the counter person to ask the seveice tech to call me but havent heard back from him yet. He may not bother, dont know. I have to pick up my other block to double check piston hieght. I had brought it to a builder and was going to have the crank done when I decided it would be much better to invest in the second gen setup.

am I on the right track here or do I now need to invest in heads too?

I've installed 1G heads on 4-bolt motors with no issues. However, if you're concerned about it, you won't need heads, just cams. The 2G cams have a slightly shorter overlap than the 1Gs. I've never really understood why, but if the deck height is taller on 4-bolt motors, then I could see mitsu changing the cams to counter possible clearance issues.

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06 Blue EVO 9

I was producing good power with my 1 gen setup until the spun berring.
My car has been down almost a year now and funding has been scarce, so if I am on track and can use my heads without any changes I would prefer to go that route for now. plus my heads were producing good power, so if I dont have to change anything there I would rather not. I'm glad to hear the red flag is turning out to be a false alarm but any more I dont like to leave anything to question...... the past issues with this car have made me sure not to leave anything to chance...... because murphys law seams to apply to this car.

any preference on head gaskets. cometic, felpro, what did you use? what is the best middle of the road price wise? I noticed on the last head gasket set I got that the water jacket holes were prety restrictive. wouldnt that make the water pump work harder, robbing horsepower? it would be nice to know what sets are better as far as that goes rather than ordering waiting and finding out after they are in that they have the restrictive water openings.

If you're really that fussy, then genuine mitsu parts have proven over and over to handle the abuse. If I can daily drive my car @19psi with the stock internals, stock headgaskets, and stock head bolts, I'm sure they'll take whatever you throw at it.

Countless other people have pushed the envelope MUCH farther than I have...

I'd suggest you purchase your parts from one of our dealers that offer 25% off. Places like Renner Mitsu, Brookdale Mitsu, and Keyser. I believe we have their contact info in one of the stickies atop this forum section.