m42 vs. m50 similarities?

[1mz]

I was wondering exactly how similar the two engines are... I know the m42 is basically a shorter m50, but are any of the parts interchangeable? I'm wondering because my luck continued to suck last night and I can't seem to find one of my cam followers for my m50 and I was wondering if I could use one from my m42 in its place? My intuition says no, but the similarities between the two engines makes me wonder if ANY of the parts could be swapped - sprockets, etc. Either way I will probably just order a new one and suck up the cost to have it overnighted here but I'm planning on taking apart the m42 anyways if people need parts...

I had a thread for it at the beginning of the summer when I was originally thinking of parting out the engine... now I just need to get it the hell out of the garage.

[Cobra Jet]

go on www.realoem.com and cross reference part numbers - if they are the same, the part numbers will not change between the 2, unless there was a manufacturing revision to the part(s).

[gearheadE30]

The engines use the same basic block design, and, to an extent, head design. The e30 variant has a lot of different bits than the e36 version, but they seem similar to the M50 NV vs later M50s. Realoem is the best bet though.