I bought this car about a month ago. Did the tune up, power steering pump. The rack is leaking, which I know should be replaced with the pump, but I live in Michigan so I'm trying to buy some time until it gets warmer out. The lower intake is also leaking, valve cover gaskets as well. I also own a 1997 Olds 88 LS that currently has 96,000, I bought it with 78,000 so I've done a fair amount of work to the car. It also has the lower intake leak and rack and pinion leak, which was the reason for buying the Regal. I originally planned on buying a nice looking car with high miles (200K+) and swapping them, but at 144K, I know the engine will last awhile, so it wasn't worth the work.

However, since they both have the rack and lower intake problem, I'm reconsidering the swap. I planned on doing both myself anyway and selling the Olds, but would it be more worth it for me to change the engines out? Putting the 96K into the 144K Regal. I know it can be done, they're both 3800 Series II motors, but I don't know how to go about this. Ordering parts, I know there are different steering racks for each vehicle, so the other parts that basically "connect" the engine to the other various parts of the car are different to account for the different distances between the components.

If it is worth it for me to change the engines out, I won't be able to do it for a few months til school's out. Would I have to fix the lower intake and change the racks in both cars then? And I'm thinking it'd probably be worth it for me to swap trannys too, right? I've kept everything on the Olds in tip top shape, changed all fluids, done scheduled maintenance, etc., that's the only reason I'm considering this, but I need another opinion before I get rid of the Olds-registration's expired next month, so I could tinker with it until May if I needed to.