302 numbers

[Dp351zcar]

Does anybody know where the id numbers are on a ford 302?

[blueovalz]

Well, I'll give this one a shot and hope someone will correct me if I'm incorrect. I believe the casting number is under the row of cylinders either at the front or rear just where the waterjacket meets the oil pan rail.

[Dp351zcar]

Thanks Terry they were there under layers of goo. The numbers are D4DE-6915-A

4D6 Does anybody know what this engine is? I was told it came out of a 74 truck. I was thinking of using this one as a stocker to build my z with then swap it out with the 351 when I can afford to. The wife is starting to talk about a new livingroom set.

[blueovalz]

It is a '74 by the D4****, but don't know the rest. A lot of the truck 302's had larger main caps (very similar to the old HP289 caps), and a 6 quart oil pan if that helps ID this block.

[Dp351zcar]

Ok are large main caps a problem or are they there for strength? Is there any problem with a 6 quart pan? I think I will rebuild this thing stock so I can build and run (test) my car and not worry about a high strung 351 (plus giving me more time to build the 351).

Thanks Terry

 

Don

[BLKMGK]

Bigger caps are better. As the 302 progressed through th eyears Ford figured out how to take more an dmore metal out of it. Current 302s can handle about 450 well tuned HP with a stick before they become very iffy. Run juice and it really gets hairy. Aftermarket girdles are used to keep the main caps from walking and that's good but aorundhere we've had a few motors spit the entire crank out WITH the girdle still attached to the mains! Seems the meat the bolts go into is what's been thinned and the bolts simply rip straight out.

 

I've been told by a reliable engine builder (Steve Christ) that 351W blocks and cranks can take 650HP before they get iffy. The stock crank in a 351W isn't so bad it seems The 351W need not be real hairy to make that power either. 351W with GOOD heads + 10lbs of boost from a blower and a decent cam should hit 600HP. This is how my 351W was built but I've never really gotten it running right - that's right after the Z. Emissions will be an issue I'm afraid.

 

What are your plans for the 351W? What sort of power are you looking to get from the 302? Unless you're goingt o go nuts most any 302 block ough tto be fine. It's usually things like rods that will go first anyway.

[blueovalz]

BLKMGK brought up a good point about the webbing above the caps. I've only broke one crank the entire time I've raced, and it broke out the webbing before it broke the main caps. In regards to the 6 quart pan; I run this one myself. You can't have too much oil in an engine. With this pan, plus two "full quart" oil filters and hose, I'm running close to 9 quarts of oil through my motor. Lastly, these hermarphodite looking rods that Ford uses in the 302 have gone to 8 grand more times than I can remember in the past, and to 7 grand now days each and every time I take the car out (same rods I've had for 15 years). They have taken their share of ridicule from other "groups" but they do hold up very well (even with their silly 5/16", 24lbs of torque, rod bolts).