able to change skeletal mesh but then no animation - just a t pose moving

The animation blueprint should be made for the mesh in question. If the skeletons share animations, configure the skeletons of both the old mesh and its replacement with the retargeting configuration. That way, you can copy the animation blueprint for that particular mesh.

You might want to read those:

https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Engine/Animation/RetargetingDifferentSkeletons/index.html