Hi, could any of you guys tell me what this engine is all about? Im trying to figure out what to do with it, stroke it or leave it or..... To me it looks : Serial R9353 BMR 611. I was told by seller that it was taken from truck and probably from the 80's. Cant find anything at google.... -Finn
That’s an identification tag from a rebuilder. Find out who C.E.E. is and see if they have info on the build. I would guess it’s a stock rebuild.
Likely rebuilt in the general area car was from. Problem is, if it was built prior to I-net days and builder is out of business, may not be records available.
Check on top of block just behind intake, a partial VIN will be stamped. If it matches, the original engine was rebuilt. This is 302 from my Comet. But note rebuilders often removed the factory stamping.
My mav was originally 6 cyl so it cant be rebuild original motor. In generally, are 80's truck 302 a really bad choice or is it ok? Someone said that they will do ok when the camshaft is changed. .?
Last thing you want is a 1980-85 302. Thin blocks, weak cranks. The blocks cast after 1985 had 6 more lbs of iron added to the decks and bore bottoms, plus they're roller blocks. Not all were drilled and tapped for the lifter spyder though, but most can be done. I've run across one though out of a pickup that the bosses for this weren't fully formed. Next drawback is pistons, there were a lot sold with 1.585 pin heights, these will sit .040 down the hole at TDC and the comp ratio will be in the 8's. Then there's the amount over bored, lots of those rebuilders punched them all the way to 60 over with no thought to core shift. If you're lucky, it'll be 40 over or less. But even 40 over can be dicey. I had one that I beat on for a year and a half without problems until I put a set of Canfield heads on it and spun it to 7500 a dozen or more times and it cracked a cylinder wall. This was a late 80's casting that was remanned by City Motor Supply in Dallas Tx. I replaced the rod bolts right off the bat with ARP's then topped it with a set of home ported E7 heads, cammed with a B303 and 1.7 rockers. Get the casting numbers off the block and heads and we can give you better advice here. The late 80's heads can be Id'd while on the motor, the E6SE's have an "S" cast in the front corner of the passenger side head next to the valve cover. E7TE's have a "T" here. GT40's have a "GT" there and GT40P's have "GTP" GT40's also have three vertical bars on the ends, the P heads have four bars there. All the earlier heads have to be pulled from the block to Id them, unless you pull the intake and use a mirror to find the casting numbers on the bottom side of one intake port. The early 351W heads had 8 intake bolt holes, the extra ones being in the middle of the coolant ports.
Block casting numbers are above the starter up to around the mid 80's. Later ones it's cast on one side forward of the bellhousing. The date code on these is on one flat at the bottom of the block at the rear, the earlier ones, the date code is next to the casting code above the starter. Date is a number/letter/number(s) combo on what looks like a cast in tag.
Thanks baddad! I'll have to look in to it when I have time to crawl under the hood. Since its my luck thats talking, I could bet a hundred dollars that it is the 1980-85 engine...
The block casting is is at rear of engine near starter. Again my Comet engine, cast May 11 1972. D2 ID's as '70s IF it was E2 would be '82. I'll bet your engine is a '70s block with two piece rear main seal. In the '80s/'90s one piece seal blocks were a premium.