So heres where im at:

My 1987 RX blew a head gasket.

Two options im considering:

EJ "swap"

or rebuild w/mods

I read the ej swap threads and a bit about the ea82 so i have an idea of the work involved in swapping, and i know the limitations of the ea82T. So I need some input on this. Reading the ej-ea document(sorry cant remember the author off the top of my head) the part that has me a little anxious is the wiring, mainly the removal and installation of the wiring harness. so for the swap my questions are:

Is there anyone who would splice the harness for a fee?

is there a shop who could do the whole swap?

Whats the ideal(easiest) donor for this project?

for the ea mods, i know it cant handle a ton of boost so i’m mainly looking at the rebuild to begin with:

Is there a difference between the turbo and non-turbo blocks? and the different years? my current block has been tapped in two locations, and id like to have stock threads for the distributer and the tensioner pulley.

I guess my overall question is what donor block can i use and how can i tell if the head is warped ahead of time?

and then besides all that, while i have the engine out, ill be doing the belts/water pump, but what else should i do as far as maintenence and reasonable mods?

i dont want to spend more than 4k on the whole thing, but the cheaper the better. but obviously i want as much quality as money that money can buy.

Double post

Edited April 22, 201312 yr by BratRod

lots will say no to the EA82, period. Personally, for 4k I would build a really nicely done EJ. I believe SJR does the wiring harnesses and other stuff (http://sjrlift.com/index.php/catalog/engine-swap-parts)OBD1 would probably be less wiring, if that concerns you.

This information is gold. thank you, that's just enough push in the right direction. the prices are all really reasonable on SJR, i think thats what ill do.