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There is no single answer to that question. There are pros and cons with every engine. Start be deciding if you have a preference for petrol or diesel and then start searching. There are enough threads on here on this topic to keep you busy for years.
Kind of a sliding scale. I'd wager that the newer engines are harder to work on but the parts are readily available. Older engines are less complicated, but the parts become harder to find. Personally, I like my basic, simple small block chevy motor. parts are cheap, easy to find, and easy to work on.
Wait - this is the 80 forum, not the 40 forum... Replace 'chevy small block' with LS.... 
JaketheSSnake
SILVER Star
After wrenching on an ls1 for a while, I have no desire to go back to an sbc. Way easier, IMO.Wait - this is the 80 forum, not the 40 forum... Replace 'chevy small block' with LS....
My $0.02 is a 12HT.
I'm fairly certain my 1F on my 1966 FJ40 was the easiest to work on from the Land Cruisers I've owned!
I would say cummins 6BT's are easy to work on...with the exception that every single part weighs a million pounds.
Until you cannot get any parts since it was designed by Toyota as a "bridge" engine.
12H-T will disappear shortly.
Easiest engine to work on.
Easiest engine to work on.
Wrong. Two stroke is easier.
Since we're being pedantic, I'd say that the Stirling engine is perhaps the easiest to work on...
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Corvair motor for the win!
Seriously, though. Once all is said and done, the easiest engine to work on is what came in it, stock.
Going through the gyrations to do a swap, introducing all kinds of complexities just to have an "easier" engine to work on is all kinds of dumb.
Plus, it's a 3FE.
Going through the gyrations to do a swap, introducing all kinds of complexities just to have an "easier" engine to work on is all kinds of dumb.
Plus, it's a 3FE.
The best engine of 80 series is 1FZ-F carburetor version. No headache with wiring, no fuel pump in the tank, no ECU, no cats, no oxygen sensors, no MAFs, period. Always starts and does the job, can be repaired with standard set of tools.
Can be fueled with pretty much anything called gasoline
Can be fueled with pretty much anything called gasoline
It's a 1995 roller block 5.0, dolled up to look like the original 289.
Other than a few quirks, they are stone cold stupid easy to work on.