Been doing some homework... There arent many Ford boat engine discussions, relatively speaking. The ones that do exist are years old.

One I read that was interesting was referring to a special damper which had the Configuration of the earlier, 28oz, motor with the balance of the newer 50oz motor.

Anyone got any idea about this? I cant find a 50oz marine flywheel.

 

Do marine engines use a special flywheel or flexplate? They're usually direct drive to the gearbox so I kinda doubt it's actually a flywheel at all probably more of a flexplate type deal.. but I'm not boat engine expert either.

 

The carb is probably either a 350 cfm or a 500. Either is plenty for the newer engine. The 500 would give it more speed on the top end, but at the cost of using more fuel overall. The electric fuel pump is an excellant idea, but I'd check with the local marine regulations as to whether it'll pass inspection, if you're subject to that where you are. You would defiantely want to wire it into the ignition switch to insure it'll get cut off in the event you fall overboard or there's a fire on board.

 

I had an 89 inboard/outboard with a Chebby 4.3 V6, pretty sure it had a flywheel not a flexplate. The flywheel would be an advantage when engaging the outdrive to prevent stalling

 

I researched the carb; it looks to be a 500 cfm.

They are referring to it as a flywheel; it looks to be thicker than your typical automotive flywheel.

Been rethinking the fuel pump; it doesnt sound to hard to simply install the eccentric and all. I feel The less I modify from the original setup the better I am; plenty of time for tweaking things down the road but for now I want to not be too creative. It might lead to more variables if I end up trouble shooting.

The only hang up I think I have is the balance issue. It doesnt look like they make a 50 oz marine flywheel for the 302. I read on a boat forum that there is a special damper which accomodates this but I cant find it. I even called Summit Racing and they didnt have a clue. The other forum referenced this as something a hotrodder or dragster might be familiar with. He didnt give a source though and I am getting nothing from that forum.

One thought I had was putting a 28oz crank in the newer motor. Would this work? I would prefer not doing this if there is an alternative.

I dont want to do something that is cost prohibitive just for the sake of doing it but can they modify a flywheel to change its balance sort of like a tire? Obviously this would be different than a tire; my reference is to point out the dynamic nature of balancing.

As soon as I figure this part out I am ready to go... I sourced an engine from pnp but holding off until I get the balance thing figured out. Otherwise the new long block is a paper weight.

 

Btw... Besides turning, compression and general condition, is there anything else I can/should look at before taking an engine home with me from the j/y?

 

Found a little more. It appears the flywheel is the same as the automotive application or at least close enough to work the same. It is a small 50 oz flywheel which ford never made; its an aftermarket thing. Apparantly this along with an early 50 oz damper is needed to use the pulleys.

I will try to source the flywheel in question tomorrow from jegs or summit now that I have a little more intel on the elusive little falker. The damper should be an easy j/y find.

 

The Fox Mustangs came with a 157 tooth, 50 oz/in flywheel. There was however no factory made 157 tooth, 50 oz flexplate. The harmonic balancers for the 50 oz 5.0's are the same as far as the pulley flange offset as the 28's, until you get to the Explorers and the 89-93 T-Bird and 94-95 Stang. And it's cost prohibitive to try and use a 28 oz crank in a roller block. Ford made a switch to a 1pc rear main seal in about 1982, the seal area on the cranks are quite different, the 28's having a flange back there that has to be machined down to work in a roller block.

 

Thanks for this... It is definitely a flywheel I need so this really helps in sourcing the parts. I am going to try to get the short block completely removed this weekend so I will be able to get a good size on the flywheel; the 50oz should pretty much be the same tooth count and diameter, correct? Has anyone ever heard of a 5.0 148 tooth 50oz flywheel? Its an aftermarket only device I read about. Once I measure what I have, it may turn out that this is what I need.

Thus far I have disassembled the engine the boat came with and have yet to pull it all the way out. I will have to more or less repeat this in the exploder motor. I have to yank the timing cover from a vic. I also have to pull the flywheel (tranny separation) & damper from a stang. This is amounting to a fair amount of work. This MF'er better run like a scolded dog when I am done. I am thinking I might pay a little more for already removed parts for at least some of this; probably worth saving me the hassle.

I did find that the head gaskets and freeze plugs are a little different as well. Because the engine is cooled with river water versus anti-freeze, the head gaskets use stainless steel. The freeze plugs are made of brass/copper for marine applications. I guess its all about corrosion.

 

I know everyone likes pics so here are a few of my progress:

 

The Mustang II's came with that little flywheel, although it was a 28 oz/in. The 50 oz flywheels came in two sizes: 157 tooth(Mustang) and 164 tooth (truck) If you have access to someone who does engine balancing, the 28 can be rebalanced to 50. You can use your timing cover, only you will need to center the cover with the bolts loose to align the front seal with the harmonic balancer.(they used to make a tool for this) You don't have to use brass freeze plugs with fresh water, you do need to make sure you drain the water after use out of the block.

 

Thought I would post an update... Got the engine all the way out... Here is the oil that came out:



Tearing it down just to see whats actually siezed. Got the main bearing caps off and they look good so it must be a piston cap. Not matter what I am going with the new engine. I cant see any cracks and the head gaskets were not blown out anywhere. Maybe something warped...

Pnp is having a 30% off weekend coming up so the newer engine long block is gonna be about $110 or so plus core; cheaper than regrinding snd machining and so forth. This leads me to a question... There are a lot of good parts in this motor. Is there much of a market for stock components? If I can break it down and get more than $30 I will do this rather than turn it in but otherwise I will junk it.

I found the answers I was looking for regarding the flywheel and the damper... Its basically a small sized 50oz flywheel. I will by new as used is gonna be a PITA; more work. The damper is simply a 50oz with the provisions for the v belt pulley ad previously stated. I learned these things do break down after a time so new here as well. This crap at summit is the same price a the entire used long block.

Since I will have the replacement engine broken down so far, I figure I might as well freshen it up a bit. Someone suggested a regrinding of the cam into an agressive marine cut; not sure about this price just yet. A new timing set will go real well with this since the old is off anyways and will have unknown miles on it... Thats my next question.

Doea anyone have any suggestions on timing sets. There are lots out there. Summit has several double roller steel sprocket timing sets starting around $25 or so; I want to ve mindful of a budget but don't want garbage. Any sets to stay away from? Any recommended? This component does not seem to be any different for marine applications. The one on my old motor has a ford stamp on it; its the oem phenolic type.

 

Spell check missed a bunch of crap on that last post. Let me know if I need to clarify anything.

 

You could try advertising your old engine as an early 302 rebuilder for $50. Some people might want the block and crank cores.

Save all the peripherals like timing cover, balancer, oil pan (obviously, as it's marine) fuel pump, a few head bolts etc. Ideally you would get the replacement engine finished up before disposing of the old engine in case you misplaced an oil pan bolt, odd bit of hardware etc.

 

Yeah saving all the peripherals... The balancer is shot and its 28oz. The new engine is a 50oz. You make a great point and I have been saving all the hardware. Planned on dressing it up a bit before putting it in so not sure how much hardware I will need. Wont hurt to save it until the end though.

Btw... Should I change the rear main seal on the new engine? It seems like a good time to do so but I am not sure I want to if it means retorquing the bolts after a few uses. I know everything wears out but these have always been fairly reliable in my experience.