My '86 240 was rear ended recently, beyond repair. Engine is good. I have a chance to buy a nice '81 242 with a bad engine. Any problems with a swap? Wiring harness is my main concern, I think I can sort most other things out, but insight is appreciated.

Thanks.

Wiring harness will be an issue.

'86 is still a B23 or is it a B230 (pretty sure it is B230)? Is the '81 still a B21 with K-Jet?

The ideal would be that the '81 is a b21 with K-Jet and the '86 is a B23. Life not usually so kind but if it is, you should be fine. Leave everything the same on the '81 and just swap in the B23...pretty sure that works but who am I kidding, I have a whole between '81 and '90 in my red block experience.

Yeah, it's a B230 in the '86.

Then the question becomes what is wrong with the engine on the '81. I am still assuming it is a K-Jet motor.

From an earlier post, the B21/23 head will bolt up to the B230 block. For the life of me, cannot remember what drives the fuel distributor on the K-Jet system but if the B230 block has it, you can put the B21 head on the B230 block and leave everything as is in the '81 wiring.

For me, the '81 would have to be very special to even consider this. On the other hand, I have seen/heard of very few truly blown B21/B23 motors. That era of Volvo dies from bad wiring harness and rust...or having a tree land on them (the fate of my '81 wagon). B21FT is a different matter.

Good questions.

I haven't seen the '81, just pictures. The owner says a rod is knocking. I'm mainly looking for some way to utilize my good '86 engine, and a 242 tickles my fancy.
Good to know about the heads interchanging, that opens up more options.

Thanks for the info.