I was given a good running 87 302 to replace the tired 63 289 in my 59 Ranchero. I bought a six bolt bellhousing, is there anything else I need to swap, such as flexplate to make it work?
You might need a different flywheel with the correct balance factor. I would guess that @Crazy Steve could tell you for sure.
1983 onwards Ford changed the Flywheel from a 28 oz to a 50 oz external balance. They also went from the 157 tooth to 164 tooth on the Flexplate. so you will need a 157 tooth for your transmission and 50 oz external balance for your engine. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g110sfi/make/ford @327Eric don't give away the old 5 bolt bellhousing, it is reasonably desirable/worth $$$ Ford guys need this part when converting old Fordomatic's over to C4's behind 221/260/ early 289's You should seriously consider an AOD behind the 302 while you're at it ......it will transform your vehicle into a much better cruiser
It has an aod behind it, I don't know if it's any good, it didn't have a TV cable hooked up in it's previous configuration in a 59 F100. Will that flexolate work with the c4 torque converter?
AOD's have a 164 tooth flexplate which doesn't fit inside the C4 Bell. Seriously consider the AOD [even if you need to rebuild it later] With the 0.67 Overdrive you can drop the rearend gears [for off the line acceleration] Or cruise without beating your eardrums to death. What is the 302 [5.0] ? is it roller cammed? HO?
Check the firing order. All 351w and HO 5.0 [302] had the 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8 firing order. All 221 / 260 / 289 and non HO 302's had the 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 firing order.
There's numerous possible flys in the ointment, things that will have to be addressed. First, verify that you actually have a 5-bolt motor. The easiest way to check without crawling under the car is to check the bellhousing-to-block bolt size (the top two bellhousing bolts are accessible from the engine compartment). The 5-bolt uses a 3/8" bolt with a 9/16" head, the 6-bolt uses a 7/16" bolt with a 5/8" head. If it is a 5-bolt, yes, you'll need a different bell. But not all C4 bells are the same. Ford changed the front pump design on the C4 at some point, that brought a different-sized attaching flange, you should have the smaller one. You'll need a special aftermarket flex plate as Ford never offered the C4 behind the 50oz balance small blocks like your '87 302. These flexplates are commonly available. Refreshing the AOD may prove to be the easiest solution... You'll need to swap the rear-sump oil pan and oil pick-up for your front-sump parts. I'll ***ume you're not using the '87 speed-density EFI or serpentine belt system. If it's a non-roller-cam motor, your early distributor will fit as-is as long as it's in good shape. Otherwise you'll need a steel distributor gear, the roller cam will eat the OEM cast-iron one in short order. Or swap to a conventional flat-tappet cam. The front dress is where it can get complicated. The serpentine belt can be used, although reconfiguring it if you don't have power steering, AC and the AIR pump can be difficult and it may not have the mechanical fuel pump mount for a carb application. You'll also have to drill it for a front-sump dipstick. If you have the early '62-65 front dress on your existing motor, it can be swapped over but some mods will be needed. Ford used a three-bolt damper from '62 to '69, then switched to a four-bolt so your existing 289 lower pulley won't fit. You can't just swap dampers as the balance factor won't be right, but the aftermarket comes to the rescue again with a correct 50oz balance damper with both bolt patterns. The early front dress was a popular swap as it uses a lighter aluminum water pump (this was before the aftermarket offered them for the later motors), but had a flaw in that the timing cover formed the back wall of the pump chamber and they are known for corroding. If it corrodes though, it dumps coolant into the oil pan. While the pump is still available, this timing cover is not being reproduced. The '66-up timing cover is available as a repro, Ford added a steel back to the water pump to fix the issue. I recommend the later cover/pump ***embly, but finding the correct pulley set can be an issue sometimes. If you're using the '62-64 generator and mount, you'll need to drill the generator bracket mounting holes to the head out to 7/16" as Ford upsized these bolts in '65 when alternators came in. I'll also note that the '62-63 front dress is popular with guys doing valve cover swaps (early FE or Y-block) that don't have PVC or oil fill points. But Ford quickly found that design didn't adequately remove condensation leading to sludge build-up, so in '64 moved both to the valve covers.
Well ****, looks like its a one or another deal.No Big Deal Both options are open. Either Re ring the 289, or do the 302 AOD swap. The 302 was already set up in a 59 ford truck with a carburetor, and as a cool bonus, the carb is an FE Dual quad Holley Secondary. I get the weirdest stuff out of these deals I make.
A couple of pics of how the 302 is currently configured would be a big help... The AOD would be a nice upgrade for sure. The 5-bolt has been a red-headed stepchild for a long while. They're worth money to the early Mustang restorers, but have too much baggage as a swap candidate... I've owned a couple of 'em, they can be a PITA...
I'll throw out a tip. If you have any larger marine dealers nearby, see if they have any dead late 302s around. Ford did make a 3-bolt damper with the 50oz balance, but it's a marine-only part. Needs about 15 minutes of machine work (turning off a locating lip) and your early pulley will then fit. I picked up a FREE low hours 302 that somebody failed to winterize and cracked the block. I swapped the late crank/rods/damper/flywheel into a '64 block, had a real runner...
Its really not a big deal either way, the 302 AOD was going to go into my 59 F-100, but I may end up going with a chevy 383, which I have. I do need to verify a few things on the 302, distributor gear a**** them, it was running and yard driving in a another 59 f-100. I am suddenly in a position where I need to start cutting loose some projects, and homes for the numerous engines I have.
Ford didn’t use the C4 behind behind the 50 oz motors, but the later pan fill C4’s take the larger 164 tooth flex plate, and some of the AOD flex plates have the same bolt pattern for the torque converter. I had a 302 non roller cam engine that had a AOD on it that I used a pan fill C4 on and used the AOD flex plate, the C4 torque converter fit perfectly. I don’t think the C4 and AOD torque converters interchange, but I could be wrong. If you go with the AOD, you need 3.55 or higher numerical gears. I currently have 3.00 gears in my car and it won’t hit OD until about 65 mph. I have a 3.55 gear set I’m planning on swapping in soon.
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