TheTinSoldier

Hey Guys,

[I also posted this in the 'pre-83 pickup' section, because it involves both years of pickup ('82 and '88) and thought that people with knowledge from both years could be helpful with this. I hope that's okay.]

I've got an 88 pickup 2WD standard bed that had a tree fall on it in 2010, which crushed the front driver's side of the engine compartment and part of the roof. The engine appears to be fine, but I haven't tried to start it since this happened because the coil was crushed along with a few other small things on the left side, and the radiator mounting crumpled in enough to prevent the fan from spinning and the hoses popped off. I haven't been around to work on it.

It was huge tree and the truck got knocked back about 8 feet, so I'm guessing that the frame must be bent, but I don't really know how I'd be able to tell without driving it. Visually nothing appears to be wrong with the suspension or frame that I can tell.

Anyway, I just went down to Texas to tow home an 82 pickup 4WD long bed I had down there. That truck is out of commission too, as it overheated from the oil running dry. The engine actually could still run, but water would come out of the exhaust and it had little power. I'm guessing a blown head gasket in the best case scenario.

So, I've got these two trucks and I want at least one working one. My thinking is to take the engine out of the 88 and drop it in the 82.

The reason being that the 82 engine was rebuilt before the overheat and I think it was done shoddy. I know it seems extreme to switch engines on account of a blow head gasket, but I'm not sure the extent of the damage. Also, the 88 engine only has about 100K on it, and the 82 is closer to 200k.

I also don't really want the 88 and its nice engine to go to waste.


My question is: what are the potential complications with putting an 88 22r into an 82 pickup, and are there any other reasons this is an ill-advised plan? I understand that the 22r from 80 to 85 pickups was a little different from the 22r used in the 88 pickups, but I don't know how that affects the engine mounts, coupling to transmission, wiring harness, etc.

I plan on doing this myself.



Summary:

1982 pickup 4WD long bed 22r ~200K miles - overheated three years ago

1988 pickup 2WD standard bed 22r ~100K miles - front driver's side corner crushed by tree a year and a half ago

I'm thinking I'll put the 88 engine in the 82 truck, and wondering what might be difficult about it.


Thanks guys.


P.S. I also need a new driveshaft for the 82 long bed... anyone know the best way to find that?


...my apologies for the long post, just trying to be thorough...

abecedarian

If they're both 22R*, then it should be a relatively painless swap- meaning not like putting a big block chevy (Rat) into a small block chevy (mouse) frame.

Since the 82 is 4wd, you'll need to take the oil pump/tube/strainer(sump) off of it, and put those on the 88 engine.
You will HAVE to bring the intake and exhaust manifolds from 88 engine to the 82 chassis since they are different between those years, and this will cause you the most grief- figuring out which ports on what manifold did what to who... and that the 82 had the smog pump whereas the 88 had PAIR (pulse-air-injection-reaction) won't be that easy to fix, if emissions are an issue.
Other than that, if the 88 was carbed, you have the lobe on the camshaft to operate the fuel pump, and probably the fuel pump too- .

Once you pass the smog issues, everything between the head and oil pan is pretty much the same on any 22r/re... well except for the change in 84/5 to a new block that supports turbos, but they bolt up just like the old blocks....

At the very worse, you'd have to move the 88's emissions and electrics to the 82. A little involved, but quite doable.

TheTinSoldier

Hey guys,

I've finally started to undertake this project. Thanks for the advice so far, abecedarian.

At this point I'm trying to figure out where a few of the wires are going from the '82 Emission Control Module.

I should note that the truck was manufactured in 09/81, and the Emission Control Computer has "'81 22r Federal" stamped on it.

I've looked at the <'85 manual and wiring diagram, but the wiring is clearly a little bit different than the '82, as the pin assignments and wire colors are different. This '82 ('81) engine does not have a cold mixture heater, and nor do I see any "charge" fuse. There is no relay/fuse box in the engine compartment.

Below is an image of how I can best figure out the pin assignments for the Emission Control Computers for both the '82 ('81), and the '88.

My main question is does anyone know what the red #4 pin and blue/yellow #5 pin go to?

For that matter. does anyone have a bona fide '82 (or '81) wiring diagram and/or "Component Layout and Schematic Drawing" for emissions (shows wiring harness pins).

I'm happy to provide any other info/pictures that might be helpful toward figuring this out.

Thanks a lot.