1972 Maverick Sprint

[Maverick]

WXO and I did a road trip this afternoon. We picked up a 1988 Mustang 302 HO roller cam engine.



Heads were redone and then the car was wrecked after about 500 miles. Got it for $250, which is less than I was going to put into a cam, lifters, valve springs, and timing chain for the old motor. Should be able to sell my old motor and the E7TE heads I picked up and clear what I put into the HO. Much better way to go if everything the guy told me is true.
We stopped on the way home and picked up WXO's engine lift to unload it.


Wife didn't react when she came home to a garage with my new engine in it. Sometimes its all good.

[MostMint]

if there was a tag on it that said "I cost $250" maybe she would have at least flinched a little.

[Maverick]

if there was a tag on it that said "I cost $250" maybe she would have at least flinched a little.

Funny thing was, she assumed it was my old engine. She tolerates me pretty well. I explained what a bargain it was.

[Maverick]

Well the 302 HO wasn't quite as advertised. Was bummed when I pulled the valve covers and saw lots of gritty dirt and upper ends of the push rods were dry and a little rusty. I don't believe those heads were redone recently. Also kind of nasty looking down the distributer hole.

But, WXO came by to have a look and chear my up. I'm hopeful again but need to do some testing. Plan to get a starter installed and do a compression check. Drive the oil pump to test flow to the valve train. Then temporarily install an intake manifold and pressure test the cooling/head gaskets. (The motor had a head gasket problem at one point.) Pull the oil pan to check out the bottom end.

If all is well I'll get the insides cleaned up as much as possible and plan to put the HO in the car. If the HO has problems, I'll put the '72 302 back in the car as is, get the car on the road, and then work on the HO.

[Maverick]

I did three tests on the 302 HO and it all looks good. I turned the oil pump with a drill and got good oil flow to the rockers. Did a compression check and it looks good for an engine that's been sitting for a while. Pressure tested the cooling passages and the head gaskets didn't leak. The HO appears serviceable.

Plan to take it down to the short block, check a couple of bearings, and clean the insides top to bottom. The '72 302 was rated at 140HP -- the HO at 225. With pocket porting and headers I should be gaining more than 100 HP. Think that'll do for "Phase 1".

I returned WXO's MIG welder today. Just a little filler to finish smoothing the new seams and the rust repair is DONE!! I like passing that milestone!

The wife and I will be spending July in Michigan so work is suspended till August. Should be ready to lay down some paint when the NC humidity drops in late Septermber.

[Maverick]

Back home after 5 weeks in Michigan. Had a good time but time would have been just as good with one or two less weeks.

Decided to take the HO (?) down a little farther. Stipped everything out of the block and heads (w/WXO help). Learned the differences between an HO and non-HO motor. Its all in the cam (HO has 351W firing order), heads, and intake manifold.

This one has an HO cam, but it's been out before. One of the bolts for the plate that holds the cam in place is definitely not original. Makes me wonder if the HO cam was added to a non-HO motor. Block is correct for an '88 HO but that block is also used in the non-HO motors. Heads are not correct for '88 HO but are correct for an '86 HO. The '86 heads are the crap. Lucky I had already picked up the good '87-up heads. I'll port and use them.

Pistons are almost flat with a slight dish and no valve reliefs. Better '87-up heads come with pistons with valve reliefs. When "87-up heads are installed on earlier 302s, "sometimes" there's no valve clearance. Valves in crappy heads sit about 1/8" higher than in good heads. Therefor, more valve clearance. Have to check the clearance with this combination while assembling the engine.

We ridge reamed and honed the cylinders, and stripped the '87 heads. Today we took a pile of parts to the machine shop that did WXO's 460. Great place. Honed cylinders miked as "marginal" for a no-bore re-ring. Sounded good to me. Avoids $200 for boring and cost of new pistions (assuming I get some valve clearance). Crank and cam were both good. WXO's expressoin dimmed a bit as the probablility of a stroker kit went down.

Machine shop will tank the block and heads, magnaflux the block, install brass freeze plugs, tap all the threads, check valve guides, check all the gasket surfaces, and install new cam bearings. Should be done this week.

While its not clear how this engine began life, it'll be an '88 HO+ when its done. I'm expecting about 240 HP. Should make some tiresmoke in the 2900# Maverick with open differential. Think I'll have to do something about that differential if I'm to stay close to the new WXO ride.

[Maverick]

Forgot to mention the (hydraulic, roller) lifters. The "head" guy in the machine shop showed us how to compress the lifters in a vice and squeeze the old oil out. Only problem: lifter would NOT compress. Tried another and it did but only with a lot of pressure in a BIG vise. Checked on the price of replacement lifters but they're $200-$250 for a set!! So, I'll try to free them up. WXO reminded me of the great test results using an ATF/acetone mixture as penetrating oil. Think I'll try it. Anyone got any good used 5.0 roller lifters?

[ttamrettus]

I would bet FAST87 has some 5.0 parts.

[GMJohnny]

Fast 87, I am sure has some parts broken, some parts good!!!

[ttamrettus]

Some parts LARGE, some parts small.

[Maverick]

I was looking for some used lifters 'cause I was seeing replacements listing for $200-$250. But, Summit has a set for $100. I have the old ones soaking in a 50:50 mix of ATF and acetone. If I can get these freed up I'll use them. Otherwise, I'll spring for the Summit lifters. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[Maverick]

Soaked the lifters for a day in 50:50 mix of ATF and acetone then tried to disassemble and clean them up. The first piston came out OK but the other piece with spring and check ball wouldn't budge. A lot of hard carbon deposits. So, bit the bullet and ordered new roller lifters from Summit. $100 minus $20 "gift certificate" from my headers that just arrived. (Next post.)

[Maverick]

The only headers that will allegedly fit with no mods on the Mav with PS, column shift, auto, oil filter in place, ... are the Doug Thorley shorties. They even list Maverick in the applicatons for this header!! I really like them. These are polished ceramic. Got them from Summit. Have to see if there are any break in procedures.

[Maverick]

Think I finally have the engine components that came with my "1988 Mustand HO" engine sorted out. Its equivalent to a 1986 HO.

1987-95 E7TE block. Used in both HO and non-HO assumblies.

1986 HO heads (E6SE), which are crap. Have 1987-1995 E7s to port and install.

Cam is HO. Confirmed that by establishing the firing order. Lobe sequencing is for 351W firing order and that makes it HO. Not sure what year.

1986 E6SE HO forged pistons. Nearly flat top, just a very small dish. Piston height puts them even with the deck. (Zero something, forget what its called.) No valve relief cuts. Valve clearance is marginal to non-existent with E7 heads. Have to check the clearance during assembly. If valves clear the pistons, it should give a very nice compression ration. If not, ????

Ford 302 pistons came with 3 or 4 different sets of ring widths (heights?). One in metric; others in inches. I had a HECK of a time figuring out which rings I needed till I discovered the metrics about mid-night last night. Rings are 1.5mm, 1.5mm, and 4.0 mm.

Since I'm not getting the cylinders bored, machine shop guy suggested cast iron rings. Said molys wouldn't seat well on the somewhat irregular bores. Couldn't find any cast iron rings in standard bore till I stumbled across Performance Automotive Warehouse (PAW). They have a "budget" re-ring kit (bearings and FelPro gaskets incl) for $177. That's aobut $75 less than I could get the stuff locally with a discount. Ordered the PAW kit today.

Got the news that the block Magnaflux result was good. Still have to pick up a couple of things like oil pump, timing chain, and maybe a one-piece rear seal if its not included in the rebuild gasket set.

Lots of fun and lots of puzzles.

[Maverick]

Block and heads are back home. Clean with brass freeze plugs, new cam bearings, and heads surfaced. Crank bearings inspected and miked -- all OK. Cam looks good. Valve springs checked out OK but, bought some .030 shims to stiffen them up a little. Machine shop checked spring travel and there is room for the shims. (Still have to be concerned about valve clearance with my '86 flot top pistons and '88 heads.)

Re-ring kit arrived today from PAW. STD bearings and STD cast iron rings. FelPro gaskets. All under $200 with shipping and handling.

Have a new set of roller lifters. New double-roller timing chain and sprockets. New oil pump and water pump.

The Mustang engine has a rear sump; Maverick has a front sump. So, the pans have to be swapped. Need the Mav front oil pickup and dip stick too. Also have to swap timing covers to get the Mav front dip stick tube and mechanical fuel pump mount. '88 Mustang had EFI and elec fuel pump. The Mav timing cover also mounts the standard-rotation water pump. '88 Mustang had a reverse-rotation pump with the serpentine belt.

Thought the fuel pump eccentric from the Mav would work but no deal. The pin in the end of the cam is too short to engage both the timing sprocket and eccentric. There are a few ways around that issue but the easiest solution is to use the "two-piece" eccentric that was used in the carbed '85 Mustang HO, and others. But, those little buggers are HARD to find!! Not sold by Summit, JEGS, RockAuto, Advance, CarQuest, AutoZone, Comp Cam, ... And, Ford no longer sells the complete eccentric. Inner piece has been discontinued. Found the complete 2-piece on eBay for $16 incl shipping. Should have looked there first.

Two bolts twisted off in the Mav front cover, and I haven't gotten them out yet. Bought a used cover from a guy on the Maverick Forum but don't know when he'll ship it. If he's too slow I'll go back to work on the twisted off bolts. Worst case I could install helicoils.

So, I'm ready to clean up the ring grooves and install the rotating assembly. Cam and lifters can go in. Won't put the pan on till I have a timing cover.

Heads are ready for porting. WXO will come over for that (if he can break free from HIS projects). Lots of care required to avoid hitting the water jacket and valve seats. I had planned on polishing the combustion chambers but the machine shop guys discouraged me. Too easy to get the die grinder into the valve seats.

Dug out my "How to Rebuild Your Small Block Ford" book that we used back in the early '80s when my son and I rebuilt my '66 Mustang 289 and his '69 Mach 1 351 Windsor 4BBL. Its very helpful with torque specs, etc.

Lots to do. Wonder if I'll ever get back to finish up the body work and prep for paint?