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I'm polling the pros here as to which engine would be the better canidate for a swap. I've got a rough idea of the work involved for each one, but I'd like to hear you comments before I make my final decision.
The situation:
A friend of mine from college wants to get a 240 Wagon (in decent shape) with a manual transmission. I know of a potential canidate nearby, an '87 240 Wagon (M47 five-speed) but the B230F has some rod knock, and 400,000 miles of highway driving by a previous owner. The vehicle was in an accident with a deer but has been imacuately restored and there is almost ZERO rust on the car. Other/misc issues that I will have to address later (or during the engine swap):
*Air Conditioning Evaporator and Receiver/Dryer are missing. A functional AC system is not a requirment for the college grad, but would be nice if repairable.
*Power steering rack is leaking fluid from the right boot (salvage yard replacement is available).
*The windshield has a single crack down the center.
1st Engine Available:
B23F from an '83 240 Wagon (M46) 208,000 miles, that's in close proximity to the '87 Wagon (about 10 feet away). As far as I know, this would be a "plug-and-play" type engine swap with the exception of the oil pressure connector on the harness (not a big deal since I'll be swapping in a replacement '85-'87 harness anyway). The engine seems good and healthy and compression tested aproximately 185 in all cylinders. To keep the rotational mass as low as possible, I would be transfering the flywheel from the '83 (24.6 lbs) into the '87 as well (34.5 lbs for original B230F flywheel). I don't know of any conflict issues, and if you are reading this and can think of one, -please post and inform me. The B23 engines are very robust and well built, but I believe that they have a greater rotational mass than the B230. (the soon-to-be new owner is a recent college grad, and thus financially strapped, and any chance to pick up a few mpgs of fuel effeciency would be a plus)
2nd Engine Available:
Late model B230F engine from a '90 740 Sedan with Regina system. I'm aware that the distributor will have to be moved from the back of the head and the orignal from the '87 will need to be transfered to the '90 block (but I don't know if I have to change the intermediate shaft that turns the distributor and the oil pump). The donor vehicle was in a hard front end accident, and the upper timing/camshaft pulley was broken in the impact when it was struck by the radiator. Needless to say, I'm slightly concerned about the integrity of the bearings up there, but it seems to be ok from initial inspection. The advantages to the 1990 "L" block B230F engine are the lighter rotational mass, and piston oil cooling (reduces piston slap). I also do not have the ability to compression test the engine, but it only has 140,000 or so miles.
In a nutshell, is the additional work (and risk) required to make the '90 740 B230F engine fit into the '87 Wagon worth the effort??? I'm leaning towards the B23 option unless someone can raise some red flags that I hadn't previously considered. While a fuel effecient vehicle is desired, -reliability would be prefered if I had to choose between the two. This whole post may sound pointless, but I'm just looking for some confirmation on my gut feelings (and educated assessment) of the situation.
Thanks and God bless,
Fitz Fitzgerald.
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'87 Blue 245, NA 239K
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