No, they are not. The old blocks and later blocks are different in the area of the #1 main and crank nose. The later blocks take a thicker crank sprocket.
That's a difference in the crank, not the block. And I'm pretty sure you're confusing this with the older 289's not the 302. The 289's did use a thinner cam sprocket, he doesn't have a 289.
I'm not confusing anything. The block is different dimensionally and so is the crank. Found this out when I cracked my old block and transferred the internals into a newer 5.0 block. My nice billet RollMaster timing set didn't fit. To make it fit I had to put a shim behind the crank sprocket and relieve the front of the block to clear the chain. Since then I know of others that ran into the same problem.
Thinking I might have to wait to do the timing chain until after New Years anyway; there is a frost potentially coming next week, so I have to do the water pump this weekend. So you guys argue that out, I'll watch and learn, and when you decide which way is right I can put it on my to buy list. Kind of looking at this one if it works. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/fms-m-6268-a302/overview/ It says this for fitment: iming Chain and Gear Fitment: Engine specific Make: FORD Beginning Year: 1973 Ending Year: 1995 Engine Type: V8 Liter: 5.0 CID: 302 Engine Size: 5.0L/302 Engine Family: Ford small block Windsor Block Align Bored: No Application Notes: Fits engines originally equipped with two-piece fuel pump eccentric or fuel injection.
Hmmm, "Notes: Requires a 1-piece fuel pump eccentric".... That would make sense that they come up with a set to cover all of the years. I'm betting they use thicker sprockets with the thinner 1-piece eccentric for clearance.
That may have been due to the cam retainer plate not the block itself. The retainer plate is what spaces the cam sprocket away from the block. I have both two earlier blocks, retainer plates and timing sets here, I'll check one tomorrow.
I think we should get about 20 people on here to each buy a different brand timing set and then will do a spreadsheet of all the different dimensions. LOL
Your engine should have a 2-piece eccentric, I believe, though I'm not really sure when they changed over. The cam sprockets are different for a 1-piece or 2-piece eccentric. The face of a 2-piece sprocket has a raised area that the 1-piece sprocket doesn't have. In my current engine I have a newer timing set intended for a 2-piece eccentric. To get my 1-piece eccentric (left over from my old 289) to fit I had to mill .100" off the cam sprocket face and make it flat. When I had a new crank sprocket and an old crank sprocket laying side-by-side the newer one measured something like .070" thicker, IIRC.
Hmm, well I'll cross that road if I get there then. Thanks for all the knowledge. My freaking wish list at Summit is getting long. Spring is so far away still.
The only trouble I've encountered was with a Ford Racing timing set with the solid face cam gear. I ran it in a mildly built 302 for a year or more then when I pulled the engine and tore it down, I found it had worn into the cam retainer plate. I never used that set again, but still have it. I replace it with an O.E. Cloyes double row, roller chain set bought at O'Reilly's for $25, it's been in there for the past 6-7 years now, spinning the Z303 without a hitch. I think that set had a steel cam gear causing it to wear into the iron retainer plate.
Here's a stock HO roller chain and cam sprocket mounted on a 69 302 block. It fits perfectly, nowhere does it come close to rubbing the block. I measured all the cam retainers I have and they're all .250" thick, this includes both early (pre 79) and later (roller block) retainers.
If you read my post, the interference occurred when using an early timing set on an HO block. That's when I found that the early crank sprocket was shorter by, IIRC, about .070" and wouldn't sit in the crank's fillet at the base of the crank nose. And the double roller chain touched the block. It's hard to tell from the photos, do the sprockets align perfectly with a straight edge? I wonder if a 2-piece eccentric would fit under the timing cover with this setup?
I don't have it set up with a crank. But I can tell you now that you apparently used the early timing set meant for the Hi-PO 289's, that was your problem, not the block or crank. The Hi-Po 289 timing set used different cam sprocket to accomodate an add on counterweight. Seems that I recall the earlier 289's also using a different timing set. As for the eccentric, that may also depend on the timing cover used.
