Yes... Regrets, regrets and more regrets. About eight years ago, I had a couple of healthy 302 Cleveland engines and a disassembled 351C parked under a couple of benches in my garage. The 302 engines were fully dressed with correct air cleaners and still had all ancilliaries attached. I decided to have a garage clean up, so sold the three engines to create room and obtain a little pocket money. If I recall correctly, the 302 engines sold for $400.00 each and the 351 yielded $350... which I didn't mind, because it's block was maxed out at .060 with water damage in one cylinder. Fast forward a few years and I now have a few Fords, so spare healthy engines with their ancilliaries are great to have around... trouble is, they're now far more expensive as many people are asking three times and more what I did for a good 302 engine.
A couple of weeks ago, I was trawling an online auction site and saw the above picture. The price was $300.00 and it had one bid. I ended up winning the auction and secured this lovely little addition for $305.00. After arriving home, I surveyed this old Ford engine and video recorded the findings, which are posted below. It was sold as a rebuilder, but I'd like to get it running as a test mule... I just hope it isn't completely redundant...
In this video, we get hold of cheap and dirty old car engine. Using tools already in the garage and the odd used part, we need to see if it's worthwhile without spending much money and without any dis-assembly...
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In this chapter, we fabricate a tool to assist in replacing the old and hard valve stem seals in our junkyard V8 engine. With the new tool ready to go, we replace the seals quickly and cheaply. Hope you enjoy!
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The third video on the Junkyard V8 where we finally hear its voice... hope you enjoy!
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We disassemble and examine our engine in this chapter and also take a look at some other Junkyard V8's.
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10th September 2016: So our little junkyard 302 is now in every conceivable part and the block has been chemically cleaned and crack tested. All dressed up with nowhere to go. I was set to use this engine as the new stroked (5.8l) engine for our XD Falcon, but some faults have shown up... There are a few small cracks on one of the decks between the water jackets and head bolt holes. They are on the side where the head was unusually easy to remove, so were likely known about when the engine was last disassembled. Cracks in these areas are not really unusual for these engines and can be re-used and give a long life in most cases. After all, the cracks have gone as far as they can... thing is, I don't want to use it and bought another crack-free block for the XD, so I'm not sure what to do with this one...