If this is a Cleveland especially from an XA a 302 should have orange rocker covers... 351s are blue. They could have been changed, but measure the stroke 3"for 302 and 3.1/2"for 351. A 51 would bring a bit these days ease the pain of acquiring the 354.
Hello Bluebell 1-8 and All,
Earlier on I posted about the removal of the Ford V8 302. This event took place earlier than I had originally planned. The removal of the engine was due to an incorrectly fitted oil pump shaft. I had found TDC on Number 1 cylinder and noticed that the rotor button was not pointing at Number 1 spark plug lead on the distributor. So I loosened the distributor and lifted it up. The next second this steel rod fell out of the distributor and proceeded to disappear into the bowels of the motor. Torchlight and magnetic lances failed to retrieve the shaft. This meant that there was no point keeping a now non-functioning motor in the vehicle that was going to come out anyway.
Today, after having a yarn with an older mechanic at one of the autoparts stores he suggested that the shaft had been installed incorrectly by a previous owner. The shaft must have been fed down from the distributor into the oil pump and this it is the incorrect way to do so. This means the circlip is on the distributor side of the casing.
I checked on at least three YouTube clips and they each supported the mechanic's description. Each clip shows the oil pump being taken off. The shaft being placed into the keyway and then the oil pump and shaft is raised upwards into the casing. This means the circlip is captured and cannot be lifted out by the distributor.
The only way I could get the oil pump shaft out of where it had fallen into a totally invisible and inaccessible spot was to take off the sump and turn motor upside down on the engine stand.
I will be re-installing the oil pump shaft the correct way to prevent future fiascos for the next poor sod who works on the 302.
With the sump off I was able to check the main cap - it has "302" written large upon it. I also checked out the engine code. A Ford motor made in 1972. - so that makes it an XA.
My intention is to get the motor and carburettor sorted out. This will allow people to see and hear the engine running when they check it out to buy it.
Kind regards
Lionel