ive heard rumors it has to be an 86 engine to bolt in, and ive heard it doesnt, can anyone put some light on it and tell me what id have to do if anything to replace the engine? mine is completely shot

sorry if this is a repost i didnt see anything like this when i searched

 

it doesnt have to be an 86 engine. however sometime around 87 i think they went to a 1 piece RMS...but im not sure on the year. in that case you will have to change the flywheel/flexplate if you get a newer year that has a 1 piece instead of 2. and the center 4 bolts on the newer heads are at a different angle, i think that changed in 87 also. but all those things are pretty minor.

my car is an 85 that has a 1974 motor in it

 

'86 was the 1st year for the one-piece rear main seal.

Something like '79 or '80 was the 1st year for passenger side dipstick.

 

alright cool, im not actually doing the engine myself, not enough knowledge or experience quite yet, but when i give it to a mechanic, id like to be able to let him know that, cuz when i talked to him before, he seemed like he thought he could just drop any 305 or 350 in it, and id hate for him to go through all that trouble and then find out it wont bolt in