The time came. The sun was finally shining, the ground was drying up, and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the day than to tear apart the 302 that has been sitting patiently in my shop, waiting for an empty engine bay to call home. There have been two engines in my shop for a while now…one, the 1998 GT-40P headed 302 from a Ford Explorer, is still earmarked for Haley’s 1980 Mustang. The 1987 E7TE roller 5.0L unit that was salvaged from the SN-95 Mustang that we raided for a whole host of bits, is the engine that is slated to be dropped into our 1989 Mustang LX. When this engine was pulled out, it was a runner…we had it drinking from a gas can, idling nicely in the backyard. The throttle response sounded great, the engine didn’t give any warning bells that we picked up on. I just figured that I’d change the oil and spark plugs, re-do the oil pan and valve cover gaskets, and flush the coolant system out real well before dumping it into the Fox body. Then I actually started to wrench on it. Follow along on this adventure, will you?
First thing’s first, time to drain the …wait a minute, that wasn’t just oil. Nope, I was greeted with layered blend: first old gasoline, then old oil. Fantastic, it’s certainly time to open up the engine for a look-see.
This is as far as I’ve had the E7TE block opened before. Nothing about this is scaring me. There’s a minor bit of sludge that I expected to find, but nothing is really surprising me. A little bit of careful cleaning around the distributor port and the removal of the power steering pump and bracketry and it is time to move on.
A PSA from your friends at BangShift.com: you do not need a f***ing impact wrench to install your new oil filter. It’s still on the engine right now…at least, the part I need removed is still there.
In thirty-six years, I have to say that this is a first: the oil pan gasket was zip-tied on at four locations, with no sealant on it at all. Just gasket, zip-ties and most of the bolts. Two bolts were missing in action. And just for good measure, it’s right about now that we noticed the threaded-in freeze plugs. We’ll keep that in mind as we keep on going.
Dropping the oil pan turned what had been a positive experience into a quagmire in half a second. The oil pump pickup was coated in a mixture of sludge that reeked of old gas and dripped like melting ice cream. The sludge wasn’t on top of the engine and wasn’t all over the place below the piston skirts, but all the same, this wasn’t great news. Not bad…I can clean this, but not what I was hoping to see.
The pan wasn’t much better. The front sump (bottom) wasn’t bad, but the rear sump (top) was thick with sludge. I cheated with the cleaning and poured some gasoline in to break up the sludge. And that’s when I was rewarded with Christmas gifts I didn’t ask for.
Roller bearings, a guide pin, two bits of…something, and what might be a valve retainer or something along those lines in two pieces. What isn’t pictured is a bit of magnetic sludge and slivers that I couldn’t get off of the magnet for the picture. Had I not seen these, I would’ve just gone through a few cans of Gunk to clear up the bottom end, considered replacing the pickup tube, and slammed it back together. Now, I’ve got a problem on my hands.
…and the Salt In The Wound trophy goes to the cracked motor mount.
I’m not completely down and out over the E7TE’s fate just yet. Without a doubt, it’s not going to be a drop-in like I was expecting it to be. I suspect that there is more shrapnel somewhere in the engine and after talking it over with Chad, he suspects that the camshaft is done, probably a lifter too. I don’t speak Ford well yet, but I do know that this engine isn’t going in without a once-over, something I wasn’t planning on doing. The next stage of attack will be to pull a couple of rod caps and a main cap to check the bearings. If I’m lucky, I’ll get away with a set of lifters, a new cam, and I’ll be on my way. If not, there are options on the table. And no, using the GT-40P motor isn’t one of them. That one has been promised to my wife and her car, and that isn’t going to change. That being said, if I do have to invoke a nuclear option, her engine might get the manifold, distributor and headers so that the Great Pumpkin can come back to life sooner than planned. Nothing has been decided yet, but there are plenty of ways we can move around this little hiccup.
Previous Rough Start budget left: $4,074.45
ARP Header bolts: $29
SVE Clutch Quadrant: $35
Remaining Rough Start budget: $4,010.45
It’s hard to get a sense of scale in the pic, but it looks like someone grenade a roller rocker at one time in that engine and the parts made their way to the pan…
I’ve seen the zip tie trick before. Helps to hold the gasket when putting the pan on with the engine in the car. As for the freeze plug, knock them all out and replace with brass. If one has been replaced the others aren’t far behind usually.
I agree with 4 nomor. From the pic all the rockers and pushrods are intact. If it had a busted a rocker or follower it would be obvious just looking at the rocker arms and pushrods. Looks kinda like it lost a cam follower and the previous owner just replaced it and cleaned up the top end with a little gas and let it go.