So, I recently purchased a 2002 long block with 82k miles on the clock. This is due to a large amount of oil consumption on my current 99 motor with 178k miles. The motor still pulls very hard and is reliable (to an extent), but will drink a lot of oil which I believe the oil rings are compromised since compression is in the mid 170s across all cylinders. What I was originally planning to do was to take the head off my current motor, have it inspected and cleaned to make sure the head is in good condition and mate that to the bottom end of the NB2 motor since I've heard the head on the NB1 is more free flowing as opposed to the VVT head. I also have the MS intake cam so I'd like to retain that piece and get the increased compression from the NB2 bottom end. This is also due to me hearing and reading this is the easiest and most cost efficient way to swap since I can retain my current ECU and wiring harnesses.
However, I am being told by someone I autocross with I can use the full NB2 motor with VVT included and full functionality if I use the VVT tuner that DIYAutotune supplies only. No need for the NB2 ECU and wiring harness. I'm checking to see if this is factual and if anyone has done this or if there is more to that idea that wasn't specified before.