Hello all. I just joined the forum to sponge information for the sympathetic restoration of my girlfriend’s 1977 Maverick. The body is solid but the interior is nasty. I hope to sort of buff the paint and get it running as a driving project. I bought her some new wheels for her birthday. I know thats probably the last thing it needs but I find its good for motivation. I keep telling her that nice wheels and the right stance make everything look good. For reference, the wheels are Scott Drake charcoal magnums in 15x7 with 215/60 tires. In hindsight, i could have gone with bigger tires but this will do for now. I’ve been eyeballing the wheels for a while and eventually found them online for $98 each w/free shipping. Combined with some $200 tires , i think its a reasonable deal. The wheels do take a special lug nut. I was also given a 5.0L long block with rebuilt heads but worn bottom end. I dropped the block off today for evaluation. Will any of the 250 accessories fit the 302? What will it take to get pulleys that bolt to a newer balancer and line up? Right now, my plan is to run A 1977(ish) timing cover, distributor and accessories. I believe i can run 5.0 timing gears, with an aftermarket eccentric, correct? Alternately, could I run an earlier timing set with the roller block and cam? The engine is pretty much bare, so i’m in the planning and parts gathering stage.
Welcome aboard Trailwing. Sounds like you've got a lot of questions about this build. Definitely not impossible but there's some research involved with what your tentative plans are. Not sure where to find all the pulley and balancer items you're looking for but then again with a little searching things will start turning up. I think the research aspect of car building is as much fun as the build itself. A fella can sure learn a lot through projects like this. Looking forward to seeing what you do with this.
If you have the casting numbers from the crank and water pump pulleys those may be enough to determine if they are usable on a 5.0. Don't get your hopes up. You need to decide if you are going to run v-belt or not before acquiring pulleys. I may be mistaken but most balancers are 4 bolt, I have only seen 3 bolt on 289 and late 60's 302. The balancer and flexplate/flywheel must be matched to the 5.0 as there are 2 different weights, 28 and 50 oz. There are basically 2 different timing gear sets and eccentrics. You can use either, but they must be matched together and to the cam. The cam has either a long dowel pin or a short one, and those are interchangeable if you can remove and reinstall them without damaging them. The gears and eccentric must match the cam dowel. The long pins extend through the gears and through the eccentric, those are typically one-piece eccentrics. The short pins do not protrude through the gears and the eccentric has a tab that fits into the dowel pin hole of the gear, these are usually two-piece eccentrics. The front covers are all physically interchangeable, but not all applicable to the same application. Some front covers do not have provisions for manual fuel pump or a dipstick boss, and I think there are even some for reverse rotation water pumps. A roller cam may require a steel distributor gear, or it may not, depending upon the cam.
Except for the Crown Vic/Grand Marquis & I belive Town Car, ALL serpentine belt 5.0 used reverse rotation water pumps. Those have a wider bolt pattern for spacer, fan etc, std rotation accessories will not bolt to pump snout. Also the "big car" setup uses two belts vs one for reverse rotation. If cam is steel, it's going to require a steel gear.
