Hey guys,

I blew the 3.2L V6 in my 1996 Rodeo about a year ago. It is a 2wd with a 5 speed manual. The problem is that I LOVE my truck and couldn't get rid of it, so I had a knowledgable associate from work find a guy to do a motor swap for me. All I could find after months of hunting was a 1994 parts Rodeo on eBay complete with 3.2L V6 and automatic tranny.

The guy had to make a few minor mods to the exhaust manifold, but didn't have any real problems until he tried to mate up the motor to the transmission. The parts car was an automatic and apparently, the little torque converter cap (not even pretending to know what this is) isn't coming off the way he expected and he fears that their may be a bushing instead of a bearing, which is what I have (at least I think thats what he said).

My question is, are the 3.2 V6 motors from 1994 and 1996 the same? More specifically, are the crankshafts in the motors the same? If so, how do you remove the cap? If not, what should we do at this point? I appreciate any and all help. I can't find a dealer anywhere near here so I have no other recourse.

Thanks

1993-1995
different engine:
1995.5-1997

I don't even know if the wireharness is the same?

are we talkin "intake and valve covers" different or "you're pretty much screwed" different? I'm confident that my mechanic buddy can handle some minor mods (he's already performed a few), but if this is like a square peg in a round hole project, I think I may have to just let it go.