Both my websites and domains that are very similar

Will having 2 similar sites cause problems down the road for SEs?

[stinky]

I have MySite1.com and it is doing will on the serps. I created MySite2.com which is a copy of the design, similar domain but different content. My objective with the MySite2.com was for experimenting with new seo ideas and technics. But todate MySite2.com has risen in the serps to the first page close by to MySite1.com. Any advice on what you would do to prevent problems to both the sites in the serps?
Some of my ideas were to change the design and graphics of MySite2.com to look different then MySite1.com but the down side is they will still have similar domains.
I though about doing a 301 redirect but i always read about problems that people have with this. (example here: [webmasterworld.com...] )
Also MySite2.com does not have alot of content but whatever content it does have is different then MySite1.com
Any advice is appreciated.

[JAB Creations]

This may be better suited for the Cloaking or SEO forums.

Regardless if you setup 301s you'd be sending serverside repsones to the search engines...and that is probally going to be a little suspect. Especially if you're 301ing between two similar pages.

Regardless I think if you're using the EXACT same (x)html/css layout as long as your content (title/meta/body) varies enough you shouldn't really have too many issues.

[Frequent]

If both sites are hosted on the same IP block move one of them. Definately go with a different template design.

Either way, if the whois matches the engines will still know both sites are yours. If the contents are truly different then I wouldn't be too concerned though.

Freq---