1968 302 to Explorer 302.

busted bones · Feb 2, 2017

Hi everyone,

I tried searching and googling but haven't found everything I want so here goes nothing.

I have a truck with a 1968 flat tappet 302. It runs a mechanical fuel pump, has a remote oil filter system, very few accessories beyond power steering pump, water pump, and fan. It's carbed and I want to keep it that way. The reason I'm swapping the engine is I wanted to go hydraulic roller and the current block has an engine mount issue in the block. The female end of the engine mount has all the threads completely stripped out. Not sure how it happened but I don't want to drill out, retap and thread a new hole to have one engine mount bolt off sized from the rest.

If I pick up an Explorer 302 and strip it down to a long block, can I just transfer parts over? Is the oil filter mount in the same place, will it run a mechanical fuel pump, and is the power steering pump on the driver side? My truck is I beam and I'm trying to find the most painless block to swap to.

Sorry for the Noob question and thanks in advance.

84tony · Feb 2, 2017

Here is a picture of my NOS 2001 5.0 short block that I am building for my 84 Ranger. The only issues I see is that the 5.0's are 50 oz. imbalance and 302's are 28 oz. imbalance, I think as long as the flywheel and balancer are both the same 28 or 50 oz. it should work. The bigger timing gear on a 5.0 does not have a locating pin hole in it for the eccentric to run the mechanical fuel pump, you may have to drill one to make it work. Oil filters are in the same location. The is a hole in the drivers side of the 5.0 block for the dipstick that will need to be plugged if you are using the dipstick in the timing cover.

85_Ranger4x4 · Feb 2, 2017

If you want to run the Explorer accessories it will not run a mechanical fuel pump. 135A alt and a good PS pump and a tight fitting belt drive are nice to have.

The Ex has the most compact belt setup Ford put on the 302 and it is serpentine. And everything bolts on from above which is one of the reasons I went to it. With my crown vic belt setup I had a leaking valvecover, which I had to remove the alternator to get to which I had to remove the radiator to remove the alternator pivot bolt but then I had to remove the grille to remove the efan from the radiator.... now it is four bolts to remove the alternator and I am done.

Here is some info on my swap:

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133205

If you swap timing covers you won't have the eccentric/oil slinger on the cam to drive the fuel pump, it is easy to swap from your current engine to the other engine though (one bolt)

No idea what you are running for an oil pan but that will vary between the '68 and Ex. Most guys run a dual sump foxbody pan that the '68's timing cover dipstick won't reach but the side dipstick in the ex block will.

RonD · Feb 2, 2017

Yes, no mechanical fuel pump

What year is the Explorer chassis or is this going into a Ranger, if so what year ranger?

busted bones · Feb 2, 2017

It's a 91 Bronco set up for desert racing. I think the previous owner wanted the engine as low tech as possible. Id like to keep the mechanical fuel pump since I don't want to have to spend time figuring what size electrical pump is needed to work with my carb set up.

adsm08 · Feb 2, 2017

One other huge thing to keep in mind, those two engine will have different imbalances. The Explorer is going to be a 50 oz engine. The 68 is a 28 oz. And you can't just throw the Ex balancer and flywheel on and go, it will still be out of balance. The most painless thing you can do is deal with having a single odd-ball bolt on the engine mount.

busted bones · Feb 2, 2017

84tony said:
Here is a picture of my NOS 2001 5.0 short block that I am building for my 84 Ranger. The only issues I see is that the 5.0's are 50 oz. imbalance and 302's are 28 oz. imbalance, I think as long as the flywheel and balancer are both the same 28 or 50 oz. it should work. The bigger timing gear on a 5.0 does not have a locating pin hole in it for the eccentric to run the mechanical fuel pump, you may have to drill one to make it work. Oil filters are in the same location. The is a hole in the drivers side of the 5.0 block for the dipstick that will need to be plugged if you are using the dipstick in the timing cover.

adsm08 said:
One other huge thing to keep in mind, those two engine will have different imbalances. The Explorer is going to be a 50 oz engine. The 68 is a 28 oz. And you can't just throw the Ex balancer and flywheel on and go, it will still be out of balance. The most painless thing you can do is deal with having a single odd-ball bolt on the engine mount.

Interesting, I didn't know it would take more than the proper imbalance on the flywheel to get proper balance. I guess I'll just helicoil it.

alwaysFlOoReD · Feb 2, 2017

I was going to suggest helicoil or similar. You can buy the correct drill, tap, and coil in a kit for around $50.00, and that is going to be sooo much less work than changing motors. And it will still be the same size bolt. I bought an imperial and a metric kit with the 5 most common size threads in each kit for about C$120.00 each. Over the years that has saved my bacon more times than I can recall. Especially exhaust bolt holes.

1968 302 to Explorer 302.

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