will the engine from a 77 240d fit into a 82 without much hassel

Yes the 77 will fit in the 82 but the 82 has an unrated engine( more power ). Does yours need a lot of work done to it or are you trying to avoid the cost of rebuilding it.

what year engines will fit in a 74 240 D ,thanks......
William Rogers.......

1976 (115.117)chassis back will fit in your 1974 model. The 1977-1985 (123.123) up won't fit yours because of the Oil Filter housing.

Hold on, the answer here is a yes and no.

I put an early engine into a late 123. There are several considerations. First is the glow plug system. The early is a serial glow plug engine, the late is parallel. The relay and all associated wiring are different. I was putting the engine in temporarily, so I simply used a Ford starter relay and a momentary contact switch to manually glow the plugs til it started. To change this permanently you will need the associated wiring and relay from the early car.

The transmission is different in the early car. Sorry, mine was a manual in both cars. If this is what you're doing I can tell you what to do. Remove the flywheels from the engine, and get the adapter plate that connects the engine to the transmission. Put the adapter plate from the late engine on the early engine, then replace the flywheel. The flywheel bolts are stretch type and must be replaced.

With these two things changed, I think you will find this to be an easy change otherwise.

Good luck,