1987 K Wagon 2.2, 1986 New Yorker compatibility?? HELP! :)

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1987 K Wagon 2.2, 1986 New Yorker compatibility?? HELP! :)

Postby jepopp » Tue Apr 17, 2012 2:18 pm

Hey everyone, new member, long time K car lover. Here we go:

I have a near-mint 87 blue/woody K wagon that I am gonna fix up to be a beach/camping mobile. I love this thing, and I love never seeing another one like it anywhere. I plan to lift it and inch or two, put on some mags and AT radials, and air shock the back to lift it a little. It's gonna be my camping/scuba/cross-country car. I absolutely love it when I tell this to mechanics, and they say it needs to go to the junk pile. The body is almost mint, it was my classmates grandma's car, maybe has 40k on it.

She took good care of the body and interior. It's a front bench, which I acutally like, much more functional than console/buckets for my adventures. HOWEVER, she ran it low on oil many times. By the time I bought it for $300, it had a slight tap and lacked power. I commuted with it for a year, and when I run it now, it's ready to blow. The tap can be heard for a quarter mile (no joke), and it can hardly maintain 40mph in a headwind. She's toast.

SO, now that my background is complete, my question. I have found an 86 New Yorker with 57K, in good shape and running well. It is a ways away from me, and I only have pictures, but I assume it is a 2.2 or 2.2 turbo. (I don't see hood louvres in the picture, so probably a 2.2 carb?) MY QUESTION (finally), is, can I swap the drivetrain from this new yorker to my reliant relatively easily? Mounts match, wiring harnesses, etc?? I don't have the ability to do this, but I have a buddy in town who can, as long as it isn't an insane custom job. Does this bolt right in? Keep in mind, I want to be able to take this thing on a 2000 mile road trip, so I don't want something that "might work." We want to pack it up and head to Seattle next summer (from North Dakota). I've researched a bit already, both are FF layouts.....the tranny may even be identical. I wish I had the VIN. I'll work on that...

Also, the dash shape looks identical. I'm really inept with electronic, wiring, etc....but can I put the digital dash in the K Wagon too? Will the computer from the New Yorker work and make the dash all good? It looks like it will fit?

I'd appreciate any help at all. I will be posting pics as I go. I can't afford a crate motor for this thing, or else I'd just do that, that's how much I love it. But if I could get the drivetrain, and sweet dash set-up, maybe some other interior parts, from that car into my wagon, I'd be in hog heaven. Thanks so much for your help!!

(PS--are there any k-car club window decals available???)

Jeremy
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Car Information: 1987 Plymouth Reliant Wagon

Re: 1987 K Wagon 2.2, 1986 New Yorker compatibility?? HELP!

Postby K-CAR_WAGON » Tue Apr 17, 2012 5:23 pm

You should first find out exactly which engine is in the 86 New Yorker, 2.2 carb, 2.2 TBI, 2.5 TBI or 2.2 Turbo MPI and which engine is in your 87 Wagon 2.2 carb, 2.2 TBI or 2.2 Turbo MPI. Get the VIN #s. In general, I would suspect most of the New Yorkers had the more powerful engine: either the 2.2 Turbo MPI or 2.5 TBI. Swapping a turbo engine/set-up into a non-turbo car or vica-versa is not simple and requires wiring harness replacement among other things. Different computers for the different engine options - even for the same year. If you want a simple replacement find a match to your car.

Wiring is different for the two types of dashes. Its not just a simple plug-in replacement.

No decals.

Here a few links describing some changes/refinements from 86 to 87
http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/enginehistory.html
http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/ecu/index.html
http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/vacuum.html
K-CAR_WAGON
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Re: 1987 K Wagon 2.2, 1986 New Yorker compatibility?? HELP!

Postby Pete in NH » Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:25 pm

Hi,

Yes, that kind of engine swap can turn into a major project. Anything can be done with enough time and effort but the question is, is it worth it? I would go one of two routes, one, find a good used engine from the same year or two, rebuild your enigine. But first I'd want to know what is really wrong with your engine. Have you checked engine compression and do you know if it is a ring or valve issue? I would want to know i really had to replace or rebuild and engine before getting into that. If it is a valve or headgasket issue, replacing a head gasket or swapping on a rebuilt head is a lot easier than replacing an engine.
Pete in NH
 
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Car Information: 1986 Plymouth Reliant SE

Re: 1987 K Wagon 2.2, 1986 New Yorker compatibility?? HELP!

Postby capev86 » Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:13 am

the tick could be just the valve train that is going. good upgrade to swap to a roller camshaft and followers that was phased in in 1988. the old slider cams have a lot more friction and modern oils generally do not have the zinc that old school cams require. i generally don't like to put an older engine in a newer car. your best bet is to find a 90's K based car and swap the long block in. if your car is a 2.2 and you want to put in a 2.5 for a little more grunt, i have the power module and logic module for a 1986/87 2.5tbi/auto that will not be going back in my K wagon because i'm putting in a 2.5 turbo inter cooled engine with 1992 electronics grafted in.

a note on dash electronics. i think 1987 and 86 are the same. one of the two gauge cluster plugs in my 88 parts car is different than on my 86 wagon and it would be logical they would change it in 1988 because they ditched the logic module and power module setup that year for one under hood computer called the SMEC.

also keep after the transmission as they are prone to let go if not flushed and adjusted regularly (i recommend a quality synthetic atf). also, 1987+ had the redesigned diff (won't use axles from earlier years) and your car "should" have the lockup torque converter which is desirable for highway driving. my 86 K wagon 2.5/auto got a best of 28 mpg and my 91 dynasty 2.5/auto frequently pushed 32 despite being bigger and heavier.
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Re: 1987 K Wagon 2.2, 1986 New Yorker compatibility?? HELP!

Postby SgtSylund » Tue Jan 15, 2013 8:09 pm

Mini-Mopar switched server host. New link is: http://www.minimopar.net/
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