Hey fellas, long time listener first time caller :}

i have a 96 sport I bought with a bad engine. With lots of questions and research Ive found it to be easier to drop the 2.0 down into it. I know to use the 1.8 intake and exhaust manifold... Do I use the 1.8 head as well or is there a different cam sensor I can use on the 2.0 engine? I was told I could cut the connectors and use the 2.0 cam sensor but nobody can tell me the propper combination with the wires due the 1.8 has more wires than the 2.0. Any suggestions?
Thank You

The 1.8 and the 2.0 heads should be the same or very similar - depending on which vehicle the 1.8 was used in, it's actually the same part number - have you tried fitting the 1.8 cam sensor to the 2.0?

Looking at the parts manuals - the 1.8 Esteem uses head #11100-65G00 & cam sensor #33100-77E20, the 1.8 SideKick Sport uses head #11100-77E00 & cam sensor #33100-77E20 (same cam sensor on both engines), and the 2.0 Vitara uses head #11100-65G00 (same head as the Esteem) and cam sensor #33100-65D00.

Going from memory the two cam sensors use different technology - one is a reluctor syle pickup and the other is hall effect, so unless you're planning to swap the ECU & harness, I think you need to reuse the original sensor.

Something else to be aware of - a 96 1.8 should have two wire coil packs and a separate ignitor module, the 2.0 all have three wire coil packs, with the ignitor in the coil pack, so you will need to reuse the 1.8 coil packs & ignitor unless, again, you're willing to swap the ECU & harness.