Eveything you've touted as far as the Mods go is also true of the 302/351. Longetivety in any engine depends on how it's maintained. I've taken several 302/235's apart that had 200K+ miles on them and they too still had the cylinder cross hatching visable. As for the thing about having to tighten the timing chains, what you posted is correct but you failed to mention the tensioning blocks in the front cover that are made of nylon, these DO wear out, my son's 5.4 was a case in point, in his you could hear the chains slapping the cover as it ran. This also affected the timing events, and hence the power and fuel mileage. After he got his back together and timed correctly, the fuel mileage jumped upwards by at least 3 mpg. And his did not have 300K miles on it, it had around 150K when it spit the plugs out and had worn timing tensioners. The Mods do not last any longee than the pushrod motors, but at rebuild time, they are a LOT more expensive to rebuild, IF you can rebuild one. The cylinder walls are very thin on these, and thus you cannot bore one as far as a pushrod V8. The mods are wonderful engines, but they DO have their drawbacks.

 

Thanks for the info. As an old guy (who has owned a couple vehicles with really solid 302's in them over the years) I'm guessing that most of my mental references to the earlier engines are based on the carbureted ones, which had more of a tendency to dissolve the cylinder walls.

I think that Ford's decision to move to overhead cams in all of their car and truck V8 engines was stupid--it makes the engines huge and does necessitate a lot of extra parts. But their production consistency offsets the extra parts compared to the old days. I've got an old OHC BMW 4 cylinder engine ('91 318is) with a lot of miles and my son has run two of those engines up beyond 200k miles without any problems with timing chain tensioners; likewise, the million mile van guy didn't have any problems running a 5.4 up to 1.3 million miles...and my buddy in the limo biz whose mechanic I talked to didn't mention any problems with the tensioners in the limos that they regularly ran up to 300-400k miles.

I absolutely agree on the rebuild costs. Most taxi companies hold onto smashed taxis and simply replace engines when they go bad. Likewise, my limo buddy's mechanic would just replace whole engines with good used ones.

I once had a freak timing chain failure in a Chevy 305 at 42k miles that killed the engine, so stuff occasionally happens when it shouldn't... It had meticulous care, but the nylon teeth on timing chain gears fail too. (As a matter of fact, a hundred years ago I replaced the timing chain and gears in my dad's old '69 Pontiac engine--those gears would ALWAYS shed teeth...)

Again, if Chevy and Chrysler can build high performance engines with the cams in the block, I'd think Ford could have done so as well (OHC's are a waste IMO in low-rpm applications)...but they didn't, and history is history.

But before my '02 E150, I had a '96 GMC Savana van which, in 66k miles (bought it new) had 7 valve bodies, 3 transmissions, an alternator, a starter, 2 fuel pumps, 3 oxy sensors, and a bunch of other problems fixed under my 60k warranty....what put me over the edge was the Dexcool dissolving the intake manifold gaskets at 65k miles (GM paid half after I wrote a lot of letters). Now THAT was a POS and despite my late stepdad working for GM for 30+ years, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Ford guy these days.

Thanks for your input,
George

 

Great to know about Motorcraft being so good and will do on the air filter. I never have either but just heard folks doing the K&N thing to save milage but it makes sense to me now...sounds like i will run your recommended list , got my parts spec now so thank you! Good to know they are same price too. Gonna pass this info along to my buddy who has a new(to him) Quigley and was talking about his plans to get road worthy tonite.

Rust...grrrrrrr. You have me in the years on the road by 18 or so..feel like i have been dealing with it my whole life in so much equipment etc. i really want to be proactive with this rig to ensure it lasts for years to come.
Thanks again for this, means a lot!

 

Ford made huge strides in making the 392/351's last longer in the last ten years of production. The key to minimizing cylinder wear wasn't fuel injection, that was a result of the switch in the late 80's to low tension piston rings. They also improved on gaskets and sealing with these engines too, aside from the rear main seal. The expanded graphite head gaskets are truly wonders for sealing over all the rest also the one piece oil pan gaskets helped a lot too, although the pan bolts will work loose over time and need to be retightened occasionally, or at least checked. Not much you can do about the one piece rear seal other than change it when needed. That so far is the only thing that leaks on my 96 351, but it doesn't leak enough to warrant changing. The one thing that needs attention to on these is the waterpump bolts,specifically those four long ones that run though the timing cover and into the coolant jacket, Someone at Ford decided that the application of thread sealer on these bolts must have cut into the bottom line, these seep coolant into the timing cover holes then weld themselves to the cover. They can be removed without snapping them off though the gentle use of a little torque as heat is applied to the cover. If you don't then you're sure to snap em off if you get rough with them.

 

Thank you Sir---kind of you to say! Truth is I do the write ups mostly to remember what was learned for the next time I face the same task---memory ain't what it once was! (Mostly kidding but if my little bits helps anyone even the slightest the goal is achieved. When the '97 and later E-Series were new to me most of the tasks I've performed weren't documented.)

As for the CAI, K&N filter and Motorcraft oil filters George is 100% spot on. Plug wise I perfer the Motorcraft brand although Autolite are from the same manufacturer and purpose designed for the Modular Motors. While its merely anecdotal experience so many in the V8 and V10 forums also highly recommend Motorcraft a few have ventured with other brands, often times to mixed results. The consistent thing does seem to be Motorcraft is (mostly) issue free.

George along with a few others disagree with me plugs don't really last 100K miles but that's mostly personal preference too I'm sure. Warmer weather will find me changing plugs in a spare van with about 55-60K miles---I'll photograph and measure the electrode gap to see how its affected at that interval. On that same note those fricking Granatelli COP's are failing one by one which only serves to make me a bigger fan of Motorcraft COP's. After all the failing ones are being replaced by the OEM's from 2000!

Rust can be a problem especially when left unattended. If your rockers and rear wheel wells are relatively rust free at the moment I'd strongly consider something like 3M's clear masking ureathane film DIY applied. Since rock chips etc tend to be how rust begins in those areas minimizing their effect might add to the van's rust free life.

Several products like color-matched bed liner applied to the rockers and wheel wells would also work well---a product called Monster Liner would be my choice for this.

So before this thread lapses more into bickering about Modular Motors being less than their predecessors I'll repeat I hope to see some photos of your new ride when you're able Mr Nomad!

 

sounds great! have been talking with a guy about a really cool undercoating process that is used for land rovers that can be done that costs about $150 in material and can be done in the driveway. its called Waxoyl i think?
that same guy has began a sideline of fabricating too and will be doing some bumper love on our new van at somepoint as money allows and after we get the vital stuff done. he has done his own 4x4 conversion too.

all kinds of options..really looking forward to it and will share with you all as it develops after we return from a trip at end of April.

thank you kindly again to all of you!