I bought a 87 nissan stanza. Has high mileage.The car hesitates and shuts off when you put it in reverse. Anyone with ideas or info?

i have an 89 stanza. it has a simillar body style but the same engine. wut i was plannin on doin' is to put an SR20DET. its a japaneese engine that makes a lot of HP. i have the same hesitation prob thats why i will swap the engine.