Anyone have a lead on a 302?

[FISHTAIL]

As some of you already know, I picked up a 92 LX 5.0 vert over the weekend. It's an 800 dollar car that, well, looks like an 800 dollar car. It's complete, it's almost 100% stock (CAI and pro 5.0 shifter being the only 2 mods) and it's absolutely rust free.

Thought it might make a fun project. However, the engine in this thing is hurt, and I'm not sure it's salvageable. I'll probably yank a valve cover tonight to have a peek at how bad the buildup is, but I know it's at least bad enough to starve the top end, or it's spun a bearing up there. In either case, I'm starting the hunt for a working 302 roller motor to replace this one with if I can't get it working..which is likely, since the P.O. decided to try and replace the rod bearings himself, so you can pretty much bet that wasn't done properly.

Anyway, if anyone here has a lead on a 302, short or long block, I'm interested, but the cheaper the better. At this point I just want to get the car reliable, I'm not interested in performance.

The only other part I'd like is the rear plastic panel on the passenger side for a vert. This one is cracked, so I'd like to replace it.

I'll post pics for interested parties once I've played around with some more paint correction..and I have some before/after pictures to post.

 

[Snakesvt04]

Craigslist, guys sell them complete for 300$ cant beat that

 

[gcassidy]

There's one in the car right next to it the owner might let you use.
This is for Marisa, right? Isn't she worth it? LOL

 

[04yellowcobra]

I have an 85 flat tappet 351w with about 60k on it. Trouble is it comes with an 85 F-250.

And good luck on that interior panel. They are few and far between. Might have close to the motor price in that interior panel!

 

[FISHTAIL]

Craigslist, guys sell them complete for 300$ cant beat that

I've been watching, best I have found so far is 250 for a short block with 150k on it. By the time I put that together, I could have rebuilt the existing engine.

There's one in the car right next to it the owner might let you use.
This is for Marisa, right? Isn't she worth it? LOL

LOL..yeah right. Although that green car will be providing a few take off parts over the coming months.

I have an 85 flat tappet 351w with about 60k on it. Trouble is it comes with an 85 F-250.

And good luck on that interior panel. They are few and far between. Might have close to the motor price in that interior panel!

LOL, pass. Seriously? How can they be that hard to find? I swear half the time I go to the junk yard there are a couple of verts in there...I don't care what color it is, I'm going to re-dye it all anyway.

Edit: Just checked...LRS makes repo's, 350 for the pair, and I already found a few on ebay in the 40 dollar range. I should be alright there.

 

[PSUCOBRA96]

what are you looking to spend. My father had at least one 302 motor and parts, not sure if he still has the motor or not.

 

[FISHTAIL]

what are you looking to spend. My father had at least one 302 motor and parts, not sure if he still has the motor or not.

Depends..on if it's stock, if its known to work, how many miles, etc. Let me know what he has and what he wants for it(if he wants to sell it) and I can let you know. My friend is supposed to drop of the mechanical gauge this week so I can see if i got lucky and picked something up with a bad oil pump, but I'm not counting on that.

 

[FISHTAIL]

Well, I got an engine last night. Supposedly it's a 44k mile engine out of a 90GT, but I'm skeptical. It turns free though, after some coercion, as it was stuck when I first tried to spin it (then again at around half a rotation..Dale managed to smack it past that spot). It did come complete though, including almost all the accessories mounted up front. I don't even have to swap that crap over..the only things missing are the alternator, injectors, and headers.

Hopefully I'll have it all swapped in and running before dinner on Saturday, but we'll see..depends on how much trouble it gives me.

Cross your fingers guys, if this one is busted, I'm outta funds for a while.

 

[NEMES1S]

Glad to see you found one. I hope it is a good one as well.

 

[FISHTAIL]

Me too man. The folks I got it from had probably 20 cars in the yard..most all of them under roof though. Some were falling apart, most were in various stages of being restored. Seemed like a pretty good group of guys, I didn't get the feeling that they were trying to pull one over on me at all. Especially since he asked me to call after I got it in and running, because he'd like to swing back buy and take the P/S pump off of the engine I yank. Plus he knows some of the folks down here I do..so the engine probably is as they say.

Or at least it was when they pulled it anyway.

 

[gcassidy]

Couldn't you just buy a running car, swap motors, and then sell the car with the bad motor for less?

 

[FISHTAIL]

Not for the amount of cash I had to spend...I got the engine for 400 bucks, a complete running car would run me at least 1500. That thought did occur to me though. I'm sure the engine WAS ok, I just hope I didn't damage the rings scraping that rust off. I guess I'll find out when we fire it up if it's smokin'. As long as the rest of the engine is quiet though, I"ll just toss new rings in it over the winter if it smokes.

 

[FISHTAIL]

New engine is in and running. Got lucky, new engine runs great, or seems to at any rate. No smoke, no noises. Thanks Ray for the help all day Saturday, and Jason for the use of the hoist.

Now I have a bunch of work to do...I have to get a bolt out of the speed sensor bracket on the trans (they snapped it off), a new speed sensor, O2 sensors, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, etc.

The guy who owned this thing before me shouldn't be allowed to work on a car. He installed the speed sensor bracket upside down, then tightened the bolt so much he snapped it off. He then proceeded to hold the sensor in with a couple of twisted coat hangers, and he pushed the sensor in so far that he broke it in half, and stripped the gear on it. Thankfully, the tailshaft gear is intact.

The driveshaft bolts were all finger tight, and two of them were half way out. Trans mount bolts were finger tight. Shifter bolts were stripped. If this guy touched it on the car, it was screwed up. I know everyone has to learn at some point...but if you are learning, do yourself a favor and buy the Chilton manual, then read it. *sigh*.