Anything special about a 69 302
- Thread starter gt-351
- Start date
Slightly beefier block, worth picking up if you can get it for cheap....basically an older mexican block.
A little background on 302 blocks just to make sense of it... From '68-74 Ford made the typical 302 block. After 74, they started looking for ways to shave weight and cost in producing 302's because of the gas crisis....a lighter engine equals a lighter car and greated economy....It's widely believed that '68-74 blocks IN GENERAL, meaning 351/302 blocks are superior over the later year production blocks. A "Mexican" block, is obviously from Mexico, but the difference is that they didnt follow with the block weight shaving like we did in the states, so the newer Mexican blocks (74+) are the same beefiness as pre-74 blocks are up here. A Mexican block can be identified by "Echo En Mexico" cast into the lifter valley. Also just to clear up another common block question, the "X" castings in your typical 302 block is nothing special. It has to do with the initial production of the Windsor V8 family, which was code named "the Canadian X Project" by Ford. You may or may not know, but the 302 "Windsor" is produced in Windsor Canada.
The only drawback to the older 302s (if you wanna call it a drawback) is that they're flat tappet cam engines, so if you wanna run a roller cam, you'll have to get a roller cam conversion kit. The conversion is really simple but you're a little limited in cam selection and you have to have cams for this specific application, because the conversion causes the lifters to sit further down into the block than your typical production roller block, so the lobe diameter/size is smaller to accomidate the loss in space.
As for the C4, i don't know nearly as much about tranys as i do blocks, sorry. Plus i'm a 5 speed man
A little background on 302 blocks just to make sense of it... From '68-74 Ford made the typical 302 block. After 74, they started looking for ways to shave weight and cost in producing 302's because of the gas crisis....a lighter engine equals a lighter car and greated economy....It's widely believed that '68-74 blocks IN GENERAL, meaning 351/302 blocks are superior over the later year production blocks. A "Mexican" block, is obviously from Mexico, but the difference is that they didnt follow with the block weight shaving like we did in the states, so the newer Mexican blocks (74+) are the same beefiness as pre-74 blocks are up here. A Mexican block can be identified by "Echo En Mexico" cast into the lifter valley. Also just to clear up another common block question, the "X" castings in your typical 302 block is nothing special. It has to do with the initial production of the Windsor V8 family, which was code named "the Canadian X Project" by Ford. You may or may not know, but the 302 "Windsor" is produced in Windsor Canada.
The only drawback to the older 302s (if you wanna call it a drawback) is that they're flat tappet cam engines, so if you wanna run a roller cam, you'll have to get a roller cam conversion kit. The conversion is really simple but you're a little limited in cam selection and you have to have cams for this specific application, because the conversion causes the lifters to sit further down into the block than your typical production roller block, so the lobe diameter/size is smaller to accomidate the loss in space.
As for the C4, i don't know nearly as much about tranys as i do blocks, sorry. Plus i'm a 5 speed man
ExplodingGopher
New Member
ExplodingGopher said:
Oh really? You ever see a Mexican block? I didnt translate it, that's just what it says on the block.
Actually I think I remember seing a pic of the block and im pretty sure it said echo lol but who knows or cares...if you see spanish written on the block then you will know
ExplodingGopher
New Member
85_SS_302_Coupe said:
echo means, "i throw" , so i guess your mexican block says, " i throw in mexico"
iskwezm
10 Year Member
ExplodingGopher
New Member
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