Let it soak in a good non harsh cleaner over night then hit it with a pressure washer. What ever is left take off with a wire brush by hand. Don’t worry about the paint, just get a good aluminum primer (otherwise paint will peal) and a can of ford blue.
A '70s Ford small block with front sump oil pan are all the same... Plus there isn't any difference that would prevent the complete front dress from fitting any year small block... Except for balancer, I have all my original '72 parts on a '91 5.0... Trying to intermix front accessory parts, early vs mid years, vs late 5.0 gives issues... A aluminum '86-'91 Crown Vic water pump fits any other std rotation application all the way back to 1970...
I got the cleaning taken care of. That was quite a lot of scrubbing. Time had transformed the gasket paper into something like some hard plastic resin. The harmonic balancer is totally hosed. The rubber had tons of cracks and pieces missing, so I ordered a new one. The timing chain has a half of a inch of play. I checked the mileage and this one has 61000 miles on it. I imagine it must be close. I totally didn't prepare for taking on the timing chain. It's good that all these parts are so standardized. The current engine was dropped in 10 years ago by my dad. He had an engine builder put together some sort of high torque towing 302, and since then all information on it has been lost.
welcome to the old car world... check your belts and hoses. what did the fluid you drained from the radiator look like? that motor appears to have a lot more miles than that, at least 100K more.
With the front cover off, if you think the timing chain is questionable, now is the time to do it. Just a word of caution, if you do replace it and decide upon a double roller type of chain, there are two types. One is for the one piece fuel pump eccentric and the other is for a two piece fuel pump eccentric. Make sure you get the correct one the first time.
How do you gauge amount of mileage by dirt & crud build up?? Similar to checking for tire wear?? Due to leak at dipstick tube, my 65K mi Comet engine was at least as dirty if not more so... Timing chain sloppy as well...
You might want to put a new seal on the timing chain cover while you are at it, make sure the marks on timing chain are lined up correctly
then your Comet engine looked like it had...165K miles....on it... just wondering...why would you let a dipstick tube leak slop up your engine like that?
I didn't allow it, was like that when I bought car... Including the trip home and a couple juant's around the neighborhood, I didn't put three miles on it before I yanked orig 302 to detail engine compartment and install the fresh 306...
So, I turned the crank around and the timing chain the marks look like they line up correctly. Right now I'm debating weather I should take this on. This is my only car right now and I need to get back to work at some point. I've basically been walking everywhere. I watched a few videos, and it looks super forward. From what I see the gears just slide right off, but is it always this easy? Is there a chance I may need a tool? The messiness of the engine is sort of a long story. I didn't have the car for awhile and it just sat unattended for two years because a wiring harness in the dash board had blown up with fire and everything. In that time the coolant had turned super rusty, and I've been trying to flush it out and get it clean for awhile. I replaced the radiator, all the hoses, and I've been trying to clean it up with RMI-25. The rust really seems to have no end. The engine reached this point within this last year where all the gaskets have started failing. I've been trying to patch the leaks up as I go, but the list keeps on expanding. Right now there's the intake manifold, valve covers, oil pan, speedometer cable, master cylinder, and the power steering ram. Not too long before this I didn't have to worry about any leaks.
The harmonic balancer I got doesn't look like it's going to work. It's way thicker. The front disk is around 2" vs 1.2" for the older one. The party number is C9TE-6316-A1. Depending on where you look, this one is identified as being for a 69-70 302/351W. I spent many hours digging around for a replacement. I'm not really sure how to figure out which after market part is suitable. I did find a recommendation for this part being a good replacement: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fms-m-6316-k351 However, it's been discontinued. This one looks very close, but the page doesn't give all that much info: https://www.cjponyparts.com/crankshaft-damper-351w-1970/p/CSD16/ I'm thinking of just putting the old one on for now, and keeping my eye on ebay. Swapping it in the future won't take the same level of tear down as this.
In your situation I would forget about the replacement of the timing chain and balancer. Replace the needed gaskets and button-it-up!
where you're at with the chain is the easiest as it gets. you have the balancer , waterpump, fan, hoses and cover off. you are within one bolt of having it changed...the hard stuff is done clean the block cover mounting surface and you are ready to go back together. there are a few steps to do to reinstall the cover and pump and you'll be riding again. prepping the gaskets is the main one. we're just about there, don't bail on us now...LOL
Any C9 small block damper is 28oz balance, as long as diameter is same I've never seen where thickness makes a difference... If pulley lines up correctly you should be fine...
I have an 84 ford pick up that needs gaskets and the whole engine looks like that tube. But guess what? It is a 190K 4.9 mule and the hood stays shut. It doesnt get cleaned for the same reasons it doesnt get new gacskets.....I dont care! lol....that thing doesnt even know how to pronounce powder coat.
