I found a guy selling built short block assemblies and he is selling a 302/306/308 CID 302 short blocks and these are listed by him as 85-95 application and are roller blocks.


My question is, I do not know anything about interchangeability when it comes to ford engines.


If I were to purchase one of these short blocks will all the oem parts bolt on from my '82 F150 which has a 302 in it?


I know Chevrolet kept the same block externally so you can put a '80s model 350 V8 in a 55-57 Chevrolet as they kept the front mount pads in the block.


Did Ford keep the same mounting points on all of their 302's?


I would really like to go with a roller block to open up some more interesting low RPM torque building cams as well as not have to worry about this lower zinc levels causing premature valve train wear. But I am concerned that I will spend $850 on this built short block and find out that my accessory brackets will not bolt up and I am stuck with an expensive paperweight I have to try and unload.

 

Most of the bracket holes are on the heads. You are only getting a short block correct? So that would not come with the heads. Most of the heads have the same holes anyway though.

1st thing that is going to happen, your pushrods are not going to work. The roller cam valve train takes a shorter pushrod I believe.

The later block should have the dipstick on the side, so you should be ok there.

If you want to use your early timing cover with the fuel pump, you may need to drill out the alignment pin holes in your cover. A drill makes that easy to do.

Your 82 is right in the years where they changed the balance of the 302. You need to make sure you know what balance your engine is(either 28oz or 50oz). The later blocks were all 50oz. If yours is a 28, your flywheel and front damper are not going to work.

 

Yes, the one I am getting is just the block, pistons, rods, and crank. I have to supply everything else. This will work for me as I can either reuse what I purchased new for this engine recently like the water pump. It also allows me to purchase items for this year if they will work.


My dipstick is on the driver side so I guess I should ask the guy where the dipstick is located at so I can retain that.


On the pushrods, I planned on running everything new there. I was going to get a cam kit, push rods, guide plates, and roller tipped rockers. I wont be going full roller rockers as the polylocks I doubt will fit under the factory valve covers.


The OEM timing cover on mine is stripped out on one bolt hole I had planned on purchasing a replacement. If it wouldn't hurt to get a late model timing cover and still have the '82 year model water pump bolt up then I should be fine there.


I don't know what balance this engine is, I could check it out online to see what they list for mine but I think this one is the 28 oz imbalance, I know my 351W is a 28 oz imbalance for sure.


But if mine is a 28 oz imbalance then that will screw me. I would have to see if the guy could do a 28 oz imbalance as I hate having a mix of parts cause then you have to remember so if the part goes bad you get the correct one years later.






I guess its a 50 oz imbalance, everywhere I read online so far says '82 and up is 50 oz imbalance and everything produced '81 and older was the 28 oz imbalance for a 302. I got it from


http://diyford.com/rotating-assembly...-ford-engines/


First then I see some other posts saying the same thing as '82 being the first year for the 50 oz imbalance.


That works for me then. It also explains why that balancer seems heavier than the one on my 351W when I put a new timing set in.

 

Ford sometimes did things mid-year. It's hard to tell sometimes when they did something.

What are you going to do about heads? If you are getting guideplates, it sounds like you are going to spend a lot of money getting your heads modified.

I would not go with the later timing cover. It will not let you run a mechanical fuel pump and I want to say the earlier waterpump will not fit correctly either on the later cover. Some waterpumps turned backwards, some didn't.

 

I am still on the fence about this, I originally was looking at doing a Edelbrock Performer aluminum head swap on my current 302. But now that I am thinking of taking my time and building a motor for it over time as money permits I can do it right. So I will probably go with these heads on the short block. If I get the 58cc version which I think they offer one, the compression would be 9:1 as the guy stated in his ad.


Now Dale, our engine builder we use that works next doors to our shop. He told me about a brand of cast iron heads that flow better than stock and is not that expensive. I might go this route but I would have to drop the compression down some though to give myself more wiggle room for pump gas.


On the timing set, I was doing some reading and this site here Swapping a Late-Model 302 into a Maverick or Comet said this.


If this is true, then I could use a late model timing cover and still retain my mechanical fuel pump. But this doesn't make sense though because '85 and up should be fuel injection so theres no reason for the fuel pump eccentric.


In any case if need be I will just buy a '82 year model timing cover and just drill out any locating pins if need be.


The only thing that has me thinking right now is the camshaft. I am trying to grasp how is it possible to run a 302 HO cam in a plain 302 block and it work right. The firing order is different and that would mean the pistons would have different positions. Maybe I am just over analyzing this but if I can drop a 302 HO roller cam in this build I would do it.


The most expensive thing I think I would be spending money on is the heads. The Edelbrock performer heads last time I looked were like $1,200 for a pair ready to go out of the box.


Well I guess not on the Edelbrock, they are 60cc, I don't know how much lower the compression would be between 58cc and 60cc. Only thing I can do is see how thick the oem headgasket is compressed then compare it to the recommendation by Edelbrock for their head. If its thinner then it could make the compression up in that way to keep it at 9:1.






On the balancer I can go look at it but I think its a thick looking balancer compared to my 351W in my Mercury which was thick on one side and then pencil thin on the other side.

 

I could not tell you what the thick/thin balancer means, if anything. I don't know a definitive way to identify which balance your engine has. Possibly a engine builder could look at the flexplate and tell if it's the 28 oz or the 50 oz.

The HO cam will fit no problems. All you have to do is move the sparkplug wires around. Even though the pistons are locked in their positions, they come up to the top twice for every one revolution of the cam and the distributor. So there are two opportunities to fire the sparkplug. Of course you have to work it all out between all 8, but the piston will be at the top for firing and will also be at the top when exhausting. The only difference is the valve position and you know what controls that, the camshaft.