What would you do or expect............

[tie_one_on]

About a month ago I ordered a rebuilt long block for my twin engine boat.<br />1988 Ford 302 Std Rotation firing order 1-3-7 etc.<br />I ordered it from a marine rebuilder is FLA that claimed to ship about 100 engine per month.<br />I've spend the last 3 weekends and several evenings driving 1 hour drive each way to work on this. This engine just didn't seem to run right. I timed it and rebuilt the carb, ran a compression check (150 lbs on 1-2-3-5-6-7-8, 115 on 4).<br />Finally discovered yesterday that 4 cylinders weren't firing. They were 3-4-5-7. I remembered Ford had 2 firing orders for small block Fords. So I looked in my factory service manual and saw the other firing order was 1-5-4 etc. Changed my distributor wiring to match this order, fired it up, runs perfect. Now since this isn't the correct engine I'm not sure what to do. The HP will be lower than the orginal (190 vs. 220). I think having the wrong engine reduces the resale value (not sure how much).<br />What should I do:<br />1. Leave it alone.<br />2. Replace with correct one.<br />3. Put correct camshaft in.<br /><br />If I do 2 or 3 what would you expect the rebuilder to do? Pay for engine replacement? Pay to have correct cam installed?<br />Thanks.

 

[JasonB]

Re: What would you do or expect............

The firing order doesn't really affect HP in and of itself. The grind of the cam will though. That 3-4-5-7 order doesn't seem match either 302 or 351 order? technically you have the correct camshaft for a 302, but an older 302, but most marine 302's I've seen have 351 cams, and after 198?, I think Ford switched 302's to the 351 order.<br /><br />I've heard the 351 order is easier on the bearings, but I don't know why that would be. I do know that there is a better selection of marine cams for the 351's though.<br /><br />Have you contacted the rebuilder to ask about it? Did you specify the firing order when you ordered the engine?

 

[cobra 3.0]

Re: What would you do or expect............

How did you deterine the horsepower difference? ...just the firing order? <br /><br />I don't think it would effect your resale value one bit. Who would look into this in such great detail and determine the horsepower wasn't the same? It sounds far fetched to me.<br /><br />So, I vote leave it alone if it runs well, but you could certainly inquire with your rebuilder about the differences and your issues and see what they have to say.

 

[tie_one_on]

Re: What would you do or expect............

I've looked at the sevice manual again. It appears the major difference in HP comes from 2 barrel vs. 4 barrel. So, maybe the HP won't be an issue.<br />I'm going to contact the rebuilder today and see waht he has to say.

 

[DJ]

Re: What would you do or expect............

HP is a function of intake/carb combo.<br /><br />The firing order changed in 1993 with the introduction of the PI (Power Improved) small blocks. The internals were different-crank, cam, etc.<br /><br />Use 1993 as the benchmark to determine which family of engine you are trying to duplicate.<br /><br />I don't like that 115 psi. compression though.

 

[bamadave]

Re: What would you do or expect............

Tie, I find it interesting that when you ordered the engine that you specified the firing order. You were sure it was a bad rebuild before you found the firing order was different. BUT, you may be correct with the low compression on the one cylinder. I would recheck the compression 1 more time, squirt some oil in the cylinder to see if compression come up. If not, pull the valve cover and see if theres something going on with the valve train. I would exhaust ALL possibilities before pulling the engine again.

 

[tie_one_on]

Re: What would you do or expect............

bama, I knew there were two firing orders for 302's that's why I specified the 1-3-7. My intake has a factory tag with this order, that's why I wanted to keep it the same as factory.<br />I'm with you I'd really rather not pull this engine (unless someone else does & someone else pays for it). <br />But if someone here knows of a good reason to pull & switch, that's what I'm looking for.<br />Thanks again guys!!

 

[tommays]

Re: What would you do or expect............

As said the 114 is a RED FLAG<br /><br /><br />tommays

 

[tie_one_on]

Re: What would you do or expect............

The engine hasn't been run for a break in yet, so I'm waiting to see what happens to cylinder #4 with the 115 compression.<br />I'm really wondering what the consequences of having the different timing cam shaft will be.

 

[calwldlif]

Re: What would you do or expect............

"The firing order changed in 1993 with the introduction of the PI (Power Improved) small blocks. The internals were different-crank, cam, etc."<br />DJ<br />Only one Correctly pointing out the CRANK Shaft Diff.