I am building a 36 ford truck. A friend gave me a 302 and 4speed auto. The engine has Ford HO on the fuel injection, shorty headers, alum valve covers, surpitine belt, seams to have rear sump ( kind of like early V8 Nova ). What year is it and should I leave it alone or can I switch to carberation and short water pump? You might have guess it is my first ford.........Jim

 

Sounds like your basic 5.0, let's say about '86 or thereabouts to early-'90s, depending on what it came out of. Look at the casting number and the date code cast into the block just above the starter (you'll have to have the starter out to see it). Get those numbers and get back to us, and we should be able to pin it down for you.

Of course you can go carbed, but if you have the EFI stuff it's not TOO much of a hassle to keep it. You can adapt a stock late-model wiring harness to your truck, or get an aftermarket harness that's made to work with the EFI -TD

 

Thanks for the reply
I have removed the starter and can't seam to find any numbers that meen mutch. Found a large 28 and a large S and there seems to be something else on that slop but can't make it out. Also on the flat there is a 7A27? Does this help? This will be my first Ford in a Ford................Thanks Jim

 

Okay, 7A27, that looks like a date code. As I'm guessing at the decade based on your info about the engine, I'm gonna say it was cast on Jan. 27th, 1987. -TD

 

Does that meen anything ( good year, or )? Thanks alot Jim

 

Well, it's not a bad year, it's not like wine or anything! It would be a Speed Density system rather than Mass Air, which wouldn't make any difference to you anyway if you're just going to pull the EFI and go carbed. It's a roller cam motor as well. -TD

 

What were the good years for a 302?

Of course not including the boss 302.

I was just curious.

 

I'd say all years were pretty good...with the possible exception of the over-smogged mid seventies to early eighties, but that applies to just about every engine of that era. But the basic block and internals are still decent even from the lean years (lean in terms of stock HP!) -TD

 

Thanks
Does the roller work with the carb? I have herd I need to change cam and dist. and the front cover does not interchange with the one with fuel pump. Do you have a formula of what parts to use short water pump etc? Jim

 

I would leave it alone as much as possible. Use an electric fuel pump, just not the high-pressure EFI pump. A carb wouldn't like 40 psi, so you can use an aftermarket 5-7 psi pump, available at any auto parts store. I'd leave the serpentine drive on there, it would look cool in an older truck like that and be simpler for you since it's already on the engine.

The distributor... yeah, probably best to change it, I don't think it would work too well without the computer to control it! If you get an aftermarket unit, make sure it has the proper gear on it to work with the roller cam, they're different and if you mix and match it won't last too long. If you use a stock Duraspark unit, take the gear off your EFI dist and swap it, or get new one if it shows any sign of wear.

If you do decide to go the v-belt setup, be aware that the waterpump for a serpentine setup rotates backwards, so you have to make sure you get a std. rotation pump. So now you have the option of an early pump with the inlet on the pass. side, or a later pump with the inlet on the driver's side. You'll need to match that to the radiator you are using. The shorty pump you are asking about is a reverse rotation pump for a serpentine belt drive, and requires a different timing cover as the bolt pattern is different.

Hope there's something you can use in all of that! -TD