Engine swap 85 to 88 Eagle

tojwalk wrote: uncljohn  and carnuck I want to thank you for your replies, in Missouri we don't have emissions laws as far as I know. That is, for car over 20 years old. All I want to do is to be able to get this 88 Eagle to start and run drive decently. It will only be used for the winter months, I'm 68 and disabled and have to walk up and down my long drive way, in the winter. I fell twice this year in doing so,  because I couldn't get up the drive with my car.  Any Help or info that you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks PS - How do I post a photo or video so that you can see what I have to work with.

I am 72 and disabled and I have a pretty good idea what you have to work with and how to go about getting that thing to go up and down a driveway reliably.
I have been there quite often and done that.
So if you send me your e-mail address using a message and maybe some pictures with ur e-mail I can pretty much get it so it is both reliable and understandable.
Fair enough?

Looks like the AIR pump is gone. Is there pipes sticking out of the exhaust manifold?

http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/tojwalk/library/?sort=3&page=1

Just below the fuel filter in this pic. It goes to all 6 ports.

The plastic cover and York compressor says '82/83 at most. 80/81 were tin cover motors and late '83 went to Sanden AC compressors. (which I see isn't hooked up.) 

My 82 was the round Sanden type compressor.

Agree on converting to HEI - SIMPLE as heck, parts from any parts store, will fit and work well. Been there.

Removing the engine - I did much of this while recovering from my bicep being reattached (that involves some small incisions, a drill and tying knots to repair and your bone literally hurts for months and you can't lift squat for a while, nor should you even try, no turning or twisting like door knobs or screwdrivers either)
Remove the engine like this, piece of cake (assuming you can lift the car)



And here it is showing the original compressor -


Now to put new engine in - reverse the process, NO fuss, no fighting a hanging dangling engine, no lining up bell housing, etc.

I raised the car with the chain hoist, slid the engine assembly under it, dolly under engine, transmission jack under the transmission, lined things up close then slowly lowered the car making sure things cleared as the engine appeared in the engine bay. Once the car was down level I set it on stands and moved the chain hoist to the engine. I raised the assembly using the transmission jack at the rear and the chain hoist at the front and pulled up until the cross members lined up, and put in the bolts, screwed on the nuts, done - it's in. It was just a matter of connecting the wires and hoses! No messing around lining up bell, no special sockets and long extensions to reach hard to reach bolts, no balancing the transmission and transfer case - and I did this - what you see here, with one arm. I'm very left-handed, my left arm just went through the surgery the week before so I did this with my right arm only. Myself - no help.
I built the engine, lowered it from my engine stand to the dolly after I attached the cross member and front differential. Once that assembly was on the dolly, I attached the transmission - just a matter of sliding it up to the back of the engine!






Here is the engine (with cross member and differential installed) sitting on the dolly, waiting for the transmission.





Here it is still on the stand, just hung the differential. Note the brace up front due to the extreme weight.
That's something to consider - messing around putting that differential BACK after the engine is in if you use typical "out the top, in the top" remove and install for the engine. This way, no messing around, it's ALL assembled first, while you sit in a chair at a comfortable working height.
You can also have the exhaust almost done before the engine goes back, no hooking up the head pipe to the exhaust manifold while reaching up to those hard to get to nuts.
The front driveshaft is also all installed, no messing holding that up and starting and messing with those small bolts at the u-joints. It was build the drivetrain, be comfortable doing it, install, minor hookup, done. 
It's how the factory did it -






Here it is - hoist holding engine up while I put the cross member bolts in place -


Oh, if you want to go HEI - distributor from a GM I6 like a pickup with a 235 or similar, use a 1981 or later AMC V8 distributor gear on the GM HEI distributor and it's a match.
I used the "divorced coil" type and put the coil on the fender where the Motorcraft box had been.
I also disabled the air solenoid at the back of the original carb and disconnected the computer. So I had HEI with one simple vacuum hose for the advance, and a carb with no computer controls. I ran the pins all the way in using some instructions I have, and quickly unplugged the wires from the carb so they could not seek out again. They full cycle seek in and out when you first turn the key on so if you catch them full in it's the normal rich mixture, like a carb with no controls and it's just fine.