Hey guys, thanks for the welcome and I'm glad to be a part of this forum. It looks like there is a wealth of info here and that's just what I'm after...


...because I've gone and put a deposit on this old girl. She was advertised as a "1978 Ford Freighter" with a 302 V8 and 4 speed manual, plus the wrecker/towtruck gear on the back:








I had no idea such a beast was lurking a mere 4 blocks from my own house so needless to say I went and had a gander. I talked to the owner for a while and also looked at a 351/C6 equipped F100 he had... but this was more to my liking due to the manual gearbox and interesting history.


The engine is a 302 Cleveland, not a Windsor, as that is what we had down here in Australia with local production. The coil is mounted to the side of the air cleaner in the V of the engine and other things also seem to indicate this, such as the production year being right for the last of our local 302 Cleveland production. We did get the 351 Cleveland produced but I honestly would prefer the 302 for cruising instead of outright grunt. Our local 302's also had closed-chamber heads with 58cc chambers to help the little mill keep some compression, which is nice.


She was a runner in the recent past, but there is no guarantee that she runs now. I'll be taking a go-to bag including a heavy duty jump starter, electric fuel pump, fuel jug and socket/ringend sets so am prepared for most scenarios. Under the bonnet looks stock for the most part, but I know the transmission is missing a slave cylinder so I will need to relocate one of those before anything.


Anyway, hopefully I can update this before too long. If anyone has any info they can throw my way just by looking at the picture let me know!


Cheers - boingk

 

looks to have a lot potential. Good luck with it. Be sure to post some pictures of the right hand drive setup. Interior and under the hood....We don't see to many of those here in the States.

 

Thanks dynamic, I'll be sure to post a ton of pictures when I get her back here.


For the moment I'm happy enough with ordering a slave cylinder for the clutch and a new intake manifold to allow fitment of a 4-barrel carburettor I got in a bulk buy.


The carby is only a small one, a Holley Economaster 450, but it should have plenty of go for the engine in stock form.


Cheers - boingk

 

That seems like a nice find there. We definitely need more pics. of the truck. I find it interesting that in Aussie you got the 302 in an F250. And that yinz guyz had a hydraulic clutch in a dent. Here in the states we didn't get the hydraulic clutch (at least in light duty trucks) until the 80's. In the bull nose Ford trucks.

 

Yeah, we made our own engines - Cleveland blocks. Our '302' is simply a 351C with 6.020" rods and closed chamber 58cc heads, streamlining production and sharing all other bits with the 351C, which became the only V8 option after 1978 as by far the majority of trucks were ordered with a 351C.

I can't comment on the hydraulic clutch, but assume it may have had something to do with our RHD packaging.

- boingk

 

Cool truck!
Maybe the hydraulic clutch has to do with the hydraulic system to run the PTO....just guessing, here.

That 'roo-bar has GOT to weigh a hundred pounds or more. I've got a "cow-catcher" on my 26-wheeler (trip axle trailer plus single tag-axles on the tractor and trailer) but it's a hollow POS meant to absorb impact and be crushed/replaced. You've got the real deal...cool.

 

Good guess Jonnyuma, not sure yet but I'm bound to find out.

The bars like this are pretty common out here, they have a bit of forward rake to them so the animals are deflected downward and under the vehicle instead of upward and through the windscreen. The bigger trucks often have a simple billet aluminum bar fitted that is about 4ft high and the width of the truck.

 

Got a bit done today and sorted a new intake for the truck. Its a Procomp singe plane design I topped with a 1" phenolic spacer and Holley 600cfm 4bbl with vac secondaries. Nothing special but I know it works, and should be a reasonable improvement over stock anyway.





I was going to fit the Economaster 450 but didn't have the right spacer for it to adapt to the square-bore pattern manifold. I can always tap it later to spreadbore pattern, but the 600 is probably a better choice anyway.

- boingk

 

Progress so far involves me on my back under the truck in the rain... not the best fun I've had but I narrowed its 'no clutch' problem down to it not having a hydraulic line between the master and slave cylinders!


Damn.


I don't suppose anyone knows the threads of these two parts so I can order a replacement line?


- boingk

 

I'd be willing to bet their metric threads.

 

Don't bet too hard on it... we have a god-awful combination of things down here and hydraulic anything usually (but not always!) ends up as Imperial sizing.


I'm probably just going to order a new master and take both it and the slave down to the shop to have one made. It'll be easier in the long run.


- boingk

 

Now that's something that I never knew. Sounds like the way that I'd handle that situation as well. But I might recommend that you take the old broken hydro line off as well. That way if by some chance the threads are different on the side of throw out bearing you'll be sure to have the right threads made.

 

The lines no longer part of the equation, the master and slave are going to be taken to the shop making the hydraulic line. Shouldn't take longer than about 20 minutes to make up, and most of that will be figuring out what the threads are.

Meanwhile, I've got a bit more of a plan with the truck:

1. New intake and Holley 600
2. New valve springs & seals
3. Mild hydraulic camshaft
4. Headers & exhaust

I'm looking at two mild Elgin camshafts:

The first is marketed as an 'RV / Torque' camshaft. It has int/exh duration of 254/264, @ .050" of 204/214 and lift of 486/512.

The second cam is a bit more aggressive, with int/exh duration of 269/269, @ .050" of 219/219 and lift of 505/505.

It looks like that second one would suit my needs a bit better and probably deliver a bit more performance out of the 302 with my planned mods. I'm not after anything too crazy, just a solid all-round performer that will cruise okay on the highway and not be a pig around town.

Does anyone have any experience with either of those two, or similar?

- boingk

 

I've got the H272-2 in my 460 with .518 lift and 272 duration intake and .513 lift and 284 duration exhaust using 1.71" rockers. the motor is a 88 block with older dove heads on propane and has a performer intake. It has good power all things considered but its getting efi this year to bring it to life. I'd go with the 269

 

Thanks Privateer, although I'm guessing your big ol' 460 would tame the wildest camshaft for a 302.


I'm still leaning toward the 269/505 though.


- boingk