What timing cover to go with my water pump?

[LONN17]

I did a search and didnt find a clear answer other than the fact that my car has the early style timing cover.

I am in the process of putting in an al. rad. which has a driver side lower hose. I went to autozone and picked up a '70 302 Mustang W.P. with the driverside outlet. When I tried to put the pump on, it was hitting the timing pointer which is cast into the driverside. To work w/ my accessories, etc. it looks like I will need a late '65-? timing cover? '68 or so? Anyone have one of these laying around they would sell cheap?

Thanks,
Trevor

 

[dennis112]

I did a search and didnt find a clear answer other than the fact that my car has the early style timing cover.

I am in the process of putting in an al. rad. which has a driver side lower hose. I went to autozone and picked up a '70 302 Mustang W.P. with the driverside outlet. When I tried to put the pump on, it was hitting the timing pointer which is cast into the driverside. To work w/ my accessories, etc. it looks like I will need a late '65-? timing cover? '68 or so? Anyone have one of these laying around they would sell cheap?

Thanks,
Trevor

You already have a 69' or earlier timing cover. What you need is a 70' or later cover. That is the year that Ford converted to driver's side outlets on SSF.

A timing cover with a driver's side pointer is an early cover---used from 69' and earlier. It requires a passenger side pump outlet in order to see the timing mark.

A 70'+ model cover will have the timing marks on the passenger side and the water pump outlet on the driver's side.

Should be an easy find.

There is another issue you should think about--where the timing marks are on you balancer. If you are running factory stuff, the 3 bolt attached balancer pulley is the early style with the timing marks set up for the driver's side. The 4 bolt attached balancer pulley is for passenger side timing.

If you have the wrong one for your desired setup, you can use either timing tape on the balancer you have or purchase the correct balancer. Some balancer's are available through the aftermarket that have both bolt patterns and 2 sets of timing marks to cover both bases.

Good Luck.

 

[LONN17]

Thanks for the info Dennis. I have timing tape in the garage to put on during re-assembly. I'll look for a '70 or later cover w/ mechanical fuel pump provision. Now that I am in this deep I am going to do a cam, head, and intake swap. I have had the parts for 6 months and need a good excuse to get started.

*be ready for some roller rocker set-up and cam install questions since I have never done either.

Trevor

 

[BarnStang]

Dennis, this is great info. Alittle OT but do you also know what year the imbalance changed from 28 ox to 50 oz? And I should know this but want to make sure I have this right, the imbalance correlates to the crank right? THe harmonic balancer doesn't matter except as described above?

Got the Fairlane up and running. Trans works great! ALso, it's exactly the same length as the 3 spd so the drive shaft fit perfect! Thanks again for the help. Let me know if you got the disk I sent. Sorry took so long...

 

[BarnStang]

I think I found it after a lengthy search-'81 and up are 50oz. And the balancer has to match-Flywheel, crank, balancer-all 28 or all 50. Refering only to the 289/302 motors. Does that sound right?

 

[dennis112]

I think I found it after a lengthy search-'81 and up are 50oz. And the balancer has to match-Flywheel, crank, balancer-all 28 or all 50. Refering only to the 289/302 motors. Does that sound right?

Not sure of the exact year, but you are certainly close on the change of balance to 50oz. You are also right in that the balancer and flywheel must be made for the crank's balance--you can not mix and match 28oz with 50oz stuff without some time in the machine shop to rebalance it. Only 302's have the balance change. 289's and all 351w's were built on the 28oz standard.

Great to hear you got the fairlaine running.

I just finished installing a detroit truetrac. 3.70 gears, and 31 spline axles in the stang. I now have 500 miles on the new engine and have been out flogging it a little.

I am still be interested in coming to Htown some weekend, but currently have some other things on the table. Kid's weddings, recent graduations, and such. I'll let you know if when I can make it down.

Yes, I did receive the disk--thank you!!!!

 

[SoCalCruising]

LONN17: you may also purchase a Ford Racing timing cover, which is universal, with fuel pump boss. It will have provision for crank trigger, which you can remove with grinding wheel. It also has provision for 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock (both pass. side) and 2 o'clock (driver's side) timing pointers. You must supply the pointer.

 

[rbohm]

1981 was the change over year to the 50oz balance factor crank on the 302/5.0 engines. an interesting fact though, the balancer is actually a 34oz balance factor, while the flywheel/flexplate is a 50oz balance factor. ford decided to call it a 50oz balance factor for both to avoid confusion. but you are right you have to have the correct balancer, crank, flywheel combo for proper balance. if you are having the rotating assembly balanced, you can use any combination you choose, as long as you note it for future reference if you should need to replace parts(if you need to replace a broken crank though you will need the rotating assembly rebalanced).