302 Question. Need help deciding if its worth buying.

Dcrymes99ranger · #1 08-11-2010, 10:13 PM

I have a question? I want to swap a 302 into my truck. I found this 302 motor. I was wondering it says it's out of a 86 Lincoln mark 7. I need to know if this is worth buying to rebuild and drop in my truck. I have a buddy who is a Ford Certified mechanic, who is gonna help me on this build. I just wanna make sure I am getting into something worth while. Also would I have to cut the fire wall and do any custom work?

JEFraze · #2 08-12-2010, 02:55 PM

You need to call and see if the negine was running or not. You should also go and check it out in person. Take some tools with you like a socket set and a breaker bar so you can see if the engine will turn over or not. Ask if you can remove the valve covers and inspect the heads take the plugs out and see what they look like. That can tell you how the engine was running last time it ran. Look for signs of cracks around the freezout plugs or if it looks like water has been seeping out ofrom around them you should also look the entire engine over for cracks or breaks.
You shoud try and get your friend the mechanic to come with you to look at the engine hell be able to help a lot. Just rember the seller will tell you anything to get you to buy his piece of junk so only belive what you see for your self!!!!

More_Cowbell · #3 08-12-2010, 04:32 PM

you shouldnt have to cut or modify the fire wall unless you use a Modular motor or a big block
and i think that tranny is an AOD which is good because you should be able to use the cross member for an explorer to mount it

Psychopete · #4 08-13-2010, 07:49 AM

To be honest, I wouldn't do it if I were in your shoes - I think the cheapest route would be to do the late model 5.0L swap from a later explorer. It's a good engine, better auto trans, shorter front end dress, better heads, etc. No rebuilding required.. You can justify a little more cost instead of a $1000+ rebuild.. That 5.0L/AOD is a cheap start, but you can easily blow out your budget on machine work and getting all of the stuff that's missing.

Seen a totalled X around here, engine was still in, PO said they still run and drive fine - whole thing was $400.. Keep looking.. IMO, that is not a very good deal (the engine you posted). That would be good for someone planning to run a carburetor, but I wouldn't give him 500 for something I didn't know was in good mechanical order; and something from '86 can't be in that great of shape.

Dcrymes99ranger · #5 08-14-2010, 08:38 PM

Thanks guys, I'm gonna keep looking.