87 RX rebuild

[Iokua]

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.

[BratRod]

Double post

Edited April 22, 2013 by BratRod

[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.

[Iokua]

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.