1999 Mounty 5.0 aka My Great Bad Idea

[Fredness]

Almost done with cylinder 3 valve seals and it's already purring like a kitten. Oh wait...

Kitteh!

 

[Josh P]

Is the condom in the kit? I didn't see one, but also didn't know to look.

I had to quote this. I know it adds nothing to the thread.

 

[97Sandbox]

I had to quote this. I know it adds nothing to the thread.

I was going to say something along the lines of "if I'd thought to stop and look for a condom, I wouldn't be having another kid next month" but figured that might be in poor taste.

Chickens, cats, babies...this thread has it all!

 

[Josh P]

Chickens, cats, babies...this thread has it all!

The open heart surgery on the 302 has my attention. You are doing a great job. Not sure of how many busted knuckles or cuss words it's taken to get to this point.

 

[97Sandbox]

The open heart surgery on the 302 has my attention. You are doing a great job. Not sure of how many busted knuckles or cuss words it's taken to get to this point.

I've got one purple fingernail, but I'm pretty good about safety gloves so busted knuckles have been kept to a minimum. There may have been a couple unsavory words along the way though...I don't recall hahaha

 

[97Sandbox]

Made my way through 3-7-2-6-5-4 valves last night -- just #8 to go!

 

[410Fortune]

And 1

 

[97Sandbox]

I started with cylinder 1 -- it took me the whole of Monday night to figure out. As Don said though, once you get one, the rest go easier (hence how I did six, well twelve valves last night).

For me, the intake valve keepers have been much stickier than the exhaust. I've got my seafoam/compressor/hammer technique dialed in now though!

 

[97Sandbox]

Valve stem seals are done. Everything slides smooth, no bent valves or galled pushrods.

Tomorrow I'll sandblast the bad spots my valve covers and hopefully get them touched up. I'm going to the salvage yard Saturday to see if I can find the lower intake bolts/studs I need to replace the ones I broke. If not, I'll buy some high strength threaded rod like 410 suggested.

I'm inching ever closer to the cleanup and reassembly phase. On that note, what do y'all recommend for cleaning the gasket surfaces on the heads? I'm nervous to use a wire wheel and fling a bunch of stainless wire bits into the engine. For the aluminum surfaces, I'm just removing the gasket CAREFULLY with a razor then wet sanding with 600 grit on a block.

 

[410Fortune]

You can get lower intake bolts at hardware store

I use threaded rod for upper intake studs

For the lower intake bolts in 3 places where we need double studs (mounting the coolant heater manifold pipes and the two double studs for the coil pack tripod) I simply weld a small bolt on top of the longer lower intake bolt

Otherwise, like you, I have to yank the bolts from another 5.0

Scrape the head gaskets off with razor/ scraper and the. Use the little plastic 3m gasket roloc wheels to clean the head and block

3M 048011-18730 3M-18730 Roloc Bristle Disc Grade-50, Size-2, Green https://a.co/d/8NCNZrE

Most auto parts places carry these it’s about $40 for the set with a green and yellow disc plus true drill adapter. They are good for doing several engines before needing replaced, worth every penny! These little buggers have saved me soooooo much time

No wire wheels!!

 

[97Sandbox]

Sounds good! I will order a set of those bristle wheels.

While I'm thinking ahead, is there any benefit to porting the lower intake manifold for a 302 with stock GT40P heads, stock cam, and stock 65mm TB/intake elbow/upper intake inlet? Seems like now would be the best time to do a little gasket matching, but that's also a lot of work if it's not something that'll make much difference. I'm going to be running headers regardless.

 

[410Fortune]

Gasket matching is always a good idea
The gt40 intakes respond very well to mild porting there is lots of info on where to port and why

 

[CDW6212R]

There aren't many well known intake porters that do the GT40 intakes well, and kind of feasible. T Moss and his son are the best known, they do good work and the costs are fair. You may find a ported lower intake ready to go with some hunting, he has done a ton of them. I'd like the suggest the other Facebook guy, Big Dog's, but he seems to do lots of full hogging out port work, I'm not sure how much mild porting he does. For a mild combo, you don't need a full effort job on the intake alone, and it can get very expensive if you do more and more, plus max effort etc.

 

[97Sandbox]

I'm planning to do it myself and keep it very mild. Just cleaning up some casting mismatch and smoothing out the transition to the head. It won't be a full gasket match, just a touch in the right direction.

Side note: I noticed my Chilton manual does not list torque specs for the water pump or thermostat housing. Based on which material is tapped and the bolt thread size, I'm assuming water pump spec is same as timing cover (front bolts, not the oil pan ones) and thermostat housing spec is same as upper intake -- can someone confirm?

 

[410Fortune]

Solved - Torque Specifications for the 5.0

I've been around the forum and haven't seen it anywhere. Does anybody know where I can find all of the torque specifications for the explorer 5.0? I need... Lower intake bolts Upper intake bolts Elbow to upper intake bolts Throttle body to elbow bolts Coolant elbow to lower intake bolts...

www.explorerforum.com

 

[97Sandbox]

Thanks a bunch!

Looks like water pump goes on a little tighter than the timing cover...interesting. I guess the bolts have more room to stretch through the timing cover, so that probably makes sense, I just didn't think of it that way before. Glad I asked!

 

[CDW6212R]

Rely on the anti-seize the most, worry about stopping bolts from seizing or breaking. Coat them all end to end with some anti-seize, and be slow about making it super clean and assembling it all without touching anything with greasy fingers etc.

 

[allmyEXes]

Looking purrrrfect. Following along to get my 5.0 fill.

 

[97Sandbox]

Threw the new water pump on tonight with my re-plated hardware

Still seems odd to me that you can't get these pulleys anymore, but there's not much of a groove in this one, so I'm running it as-is.

Hopefully tomorrow's salvage yard run is fruitful (lower intake hardware) and I can find all the resurfacing and porting supplies I need.

Got my exhaust bolts blasted and plated today too

I'm eager to get going on headers, but putting the engine back together is top priority.

 

[Josh P]

Looking purrrrfect. Following along to get my 5.0 fill.

That 87 Aerostar NEEDS a 302.