Please help. Trying to pull a 302 out of my 88 Bronco and I have been stuck for a while. All the accessories are off(alt, ps, ac, ap)and their brackets. As far as I can tell all the wiring has been disconnected. Fuel lines too. Motor mounts also. I have had no success at removing the bolts holding the flex plate to the torque converter. Not sure but it looks like they might have a spotweld on them. I know that we did get two count them two bolts mating the engine to transmission.

Is there more than two? Does it sound like I need to take tranny out also? Is there an easy way to keep the crankshaft from turning?

Sorry for the long post but I am lost and have been up all night working on it. Any help is greatly appreciated. A thousand thanks.


Ryan

 

There's a minimum of 6 bolts mating the engine to the tranny bellhousing. The starter can also hold the two together, there can be grounding-straps, etc. that you haven't disconnected yet...Deen

 

Don't forget to take out the small bolt that may be still holding the sheet-metal piece between the engine and trans, near the inspection cover. You need to get those nuts holding the torque convertor to the flex-plate off too. You have to turn the engine to get to them all. After you get all the bell-housing bolts out like the other poster said, you will need to raise the engine/tranny assembly up enough to clear the motor mounts. The rear tranny mounts will flex enough to let this happen. Then you need to put a jack under the transmission and put some pressure on it. This will take the strain off the bellhousing which has dowel pins in it. Once the strain is off, the engine should slide forward. Leave the tranny in this position, or put it back later in this position to put the engine back in. Then lower the whole assembly back down onto the front mounts.

 

Thanks for the replies. I just woke back up. Feel better now. Lets see the sheetmetal piece has been removed and I do have access to the driveplate bolts. They just didn't give to. If I put the starter back on could that keep the assembly from turning. Once again thanks for all the help. Time to get some breakfast and get back to wrenching.

 

It was being stubborn; but, with a few of and a bunch of this it has finally come out and is now on the stand. Now to get some rest. Thanks for the help guys. Any suggestions as to what I can do to it? I got a base idea that I am building on.

 

>It was being stubborn; but, with a few of and a bunch
>of this it has finally come out and is now on the
>stand. Now to get some rest. Thanks for the help guys. Any
>suggestions as to what I can do to it? I got a base idea
>that I am building on.

Glad to hear you got it out. As for what to do to it, page TorqueKing on this forum. He's done a fantastic build on a 302 and is very knowledgeable about how to wring the most horsepower out of this engine.

Good luck and happy building.

Ron

 

I'd get a new set of rods, and most importantly, Rod bolts. ARP makes their premeir "wav-loc" rob bolts at a reasonable price. Crank can be turned, and the block will probably need a cleanup. The best advice I can offer you is to use new fasteners. This will save you hours of greif and frustration when you break an old bolt off. Although pricey, even for an almost stock buildup, ARP fasteners work beautifully, and have made every job I've used them on more pleasant. Look for total engine kits in Jeg's or Summit, they even include the little bolts that are failure prone, such as timing cover bolts (been there, broken one of those). The heads will benefit greatly from larger valves, and a new deck, and most importantly from high-quality valve stem seals. All this will help your engine run smoother, more powerful, and leak nothing. An aftermarket cam is a quick and easy way to take advantage of bigger valve heads, as long as you don't get carried away with the duration. Don't look at HP figures, in that Bronco you need Torque, which will be best acheived with a short duration cam, Ideally in the range of 210 intake duration @ .050" cam lift. What trans. and rear end are you using?

'77 F100, 302 (the aftermarket Prodigy), C4
Cadet Second Lieutenant John F. Daly III
South Carolina Corps of Cadets, The Citadel
The TorqueKing

 

It has the Aod and I believe 3.55's.( not sure on gears) I am in the process of cleaning it right now. When I took the throttle body off it was black, very black; so was the Intake manifold. I am thinking bad rings right off the bat. Also needs all new gaskets and seals. When I bought the truck I had to replace the oil pan due to the fact that whoever owned it before me had welded the oil plug in. Also the Exhaust manifolds were held on by 4-5 bolts each. Bad exhaust leaks. I have yet to break apart but am hoping that I still have a good block. Will find out this weekend.

For upgrades I was thinking of MSD probillet dist, msd 6a, msd tfi coil, Ford blue 9mm wires. That should take care of the ignition. I am planning on having the block machined maybe .030 over and replace the bottom end components and machine the crank. Should I rebuild the heads or replace them? as for cam I was thinking of getting a Crower
15916
TORQUE BEAST /PERFORMANCE LEVEL 3 -Delivers impressive
mid-range and top end power.
RPM Power Range:2000 to 4800 /Redline:6200 plus.
it has 210/220 duration. I am in agreement with you on the new fastener package. Anyone or anything else? Sorry for the long post. Thanks for the suggestions.

Ryan

 

I've got that ignition setup verbatim except for a blaster II instead of the TFI, it works killer with a .060" gap and NGK plugs! -TK