Maybe some of you Ford Gurus can clear something up for me. I'm confused about the water pump exit on a 302. The engine I have has a driver's side exit. I know some Ford engines have a passenger side exit. I will want to put a new water pump on this engine before I install it so I'm wondering if I have a choice as to which side I can exit the water pump. Which water pump (application) would I need to change it to a passenger side exit and what changes would that require as far as alternator or PS brackets if any. What other problems would I encounter with such a change? This engine is supposedly an 85 (don't know for sure) and it has V-belts...

 

I have a 351w in the Fairlane but the waterpump is the same as the original 289 and it exits on the passenger side, look to the late 60's.
I am not sure but didn't they start the reverse flow about 85, that would create a whole different set of issues.
Hope that helps
Mark

 

I am using a 5.0L out of a 91 crown vic. Water pump outlet is on the left.The engine that was in my 52 when I got it was a 302 out off a 72 pick up. So I was told.That 302 had the oulet on the right. Which would of made my rad hook up easier. The 302 pump would bolt up to the 5.0L and the water ports lined up perfect.The outside casting of the pump where it contacts the timimg cover is a little different shape.Would not matter there because there is no coolant in this area just thought the ports .The brackets would bolt back up in the same pattern but you would need to make some spacers. The biggest proplem in that shaft for the 302 pump is lower in the casting and when you install pullys the crank and water pump pully hit each other. I was going to use a under drive pully set to fix this proplem but I sent the rad out and had the neck changed to the other side of rad.

 

I'm confused. Which pump has the shaft lower in the casing, the passenger side outlet pump or the driver's side outlet pump? I would not want to lower the pump shaft any more than it is already...

 

Vern

If you don't get a specific answer here, you might try to look in the parts manuals at a vendor (other than the national chains that are totally computer catalogged). The old paper manuals show pictures. When I was trying to figure out a similar situation, I found there were 20 waterpumps for smallblock Ford. The pictures narrowed it down some. The bracket issue was a big one though. Ford was horrible about changing the accessory brackets in the 60s through 80s.

 

All the 302's that I have seen have the lower hose on the driver's side and the upper hose on the passenger side.

 

I'm not ready to make a definitive statement, but I think the only time it wasn't that way was on some 289s, and maybe very early 302s. Here's what I know for sure.... If you try to mix and match accessory drive pulleys and brackets from two many diferent years of SBF, you will be punished for it. Been there, done that, took two five gallon buckets of scrap metal to the recycler.

As I recall, here is what I ran into trying to use late 60s with newer parts. Harmonic balancers had different bolt patterns. OK, so you use the matching pulley, which now kicks the belt alignment out a half inch. Tried a bunch of different brackets and several waterpumps trying to get everything lined up. Perhaps it can be done, but I found it easier to buy the entire front off of one car, buy a new matching waterpump and you know it will work. One more warning, 351W accessories look the same. Remember the 351 block is taller. Some brackets look identical, until you try to bolt them on. The late 70s 302 used a serpentine setup that is clean looking. That's where I ended up.

 

Yeah, I'm going through that now. This engine came with a GM one wire alternator mounted on the left side and no PS pump. The PO had used spacers behind a single groove water pump pulley to align the GM alternator. I'm keeping the GM alternator, moving it to the right side, and trying to mount a Chrysler PS pump on the left. So far I've re-drilled a GM water pump pulley to line up the alternator and still working on the PS pump mount (bought a two groove Ford pulley off Ebay but it would not line up with anything). There's a chance the PS pump will interfere with the lower hose so I was thinking about using a water pump that exits to the right since I'm going to replace it anyway.

Any comments or suggestions are welcome. Heck, I'm not even sure that this is a 302 engine. The price was right and I was told it was an 85 so I'm kind of working in the dark here.

 

Now would be a real good time to clear that part up Vern. Post some casting numbers off the block in a new thread and the Elder Ford Council will convene.

 

...and just where would those numbers be on the block? I may not be able to get to them now since I've just about buttoned it up for the winter...

 

Look on the block just above the starter...it may be difficult to see with the starter installed however.

 

The only 1970's (and the very first) cars to have serpentine belts were the 1979 LTD/Mercury Grand Marquis with 302/351W's.

There is a 302 waterpump out there that has a right side connection, but what it's from I cannot recall, and the parts catalogs do not say.

The 302 pump used on 1975/78 Mustang II's was an oddball, used on these cars only because there was limited space under the hood.

A Mustang II is really nothing more than a reskinned 1971/80 Pinto.

 

The old 302 pump from the 72 engine had the inlet on the right and the shaft was lower in the casting.

 

Per the Ford Engine Parts Interchange book by George Reid, which I highly recommend. Small block cast iron water pumps remained the same thru 1969 with a right hand inlet. Beginning in 1970 302 and 351W started the left hand inlet water pump. However, as we all know unless you've been with the engine since day 1, its likely a mismatch of many years of parts.

 

Easy way to tell is by looking at the front of the block, drivers side corner. If there is about an inch of space between where the timing cover bolts to the front and the top of the cylinder head deck its a 351W. If there is little to no space its a 302 or 289.