I just removed the engine out of my 85. I assume it is a 302 however it is not stock. I am going to swap a roller motor into it's place. While removing the motor I noticed this bolt protruding from the Oil filter side of the engine. My 93 5.0 does not have a bolt hole casted into the block for this. I assume that it is a part for some type of clutch linkage however my truck is an auto. Anyone know when the last year they casted blocks with this in it is?? Is there a way to ID the year of the block?

PHOTO

Thanks!

 

It is the pivot point for the clutch "Z" bar. The other end pivots on a mount attached to the frame. This was used before cable/hydraulic linkages. Not sure when the change over was, but I have a 1977 block with it, and an 87 without it. I would assume the change over could be about 1982 when the 5.0 was introduced. Bill.

 

You can ID the year of the block from the casting number and date code, which are cast in just above where the starter sits. As your motor sits now, you'll have to look up from underneath to see it. The casting number will be something like D8AE-6015-XXXX, where the first digit represents the decade (C for the '60s, D for the '70s and E for the '80s etc.) and the second digit is the year of that decade. The digit is for the car line the block was originally designed for and the E is for the last letter of the first group will be an E for the Engine department of Ford Engineering. The next group will be 6015 as I demonstrated above, which is the code for an engine block. The rest of the casting number isn't really important to you right now.

The date code will show you the actual date the block was cast. It's another alpha-numeric code located right near the casting number and will be something like 8A7, where the first number is the year (it's assumed you already know the decade from the casting number) "A" would be for the month of January (B for Feb. etc) and the last digit or 2 are the actual day of that month.

There is also an engine assembly date code that is stamped in the block on the date the engine was assembled. It's deciphered the same way as the block casting date, and on a 302 is located on a small machined pad that protrudes forward from the base of the driver's side cylinder head, right above the upper bolt for the water pump. It's an extension of the deck surface for the cylinder head on that side, so if the block has ever been surfaced it would wipe out that code.

One of my books says the clutch pivot was deleted in 1974, but I have a '78 block which still has it so the jury's still out on that issue...

 

I recall looking at a Granada for sale some years ago. It was a 1977 I believe and still had the mechanical clutch linkage, which means the block almost certainly had that threaded boss for the equalizer bar.
It might also have been used for column shift automatic linkage on some vehicles (it was on 62-64 Fairlanes for instance).
Interestingly, the 351W has the casting provision for this right up to the bitter end, it just wasn't machined in the later years.
My E5AE and F4TE 351s both have the unmachined boss.

 

The 302 (later refered to as a 5.0L) engine was introduced in the spring of 1968 in passenger cars, 1969 in F100's, Bronco's and Econolines.

The hydraulic clutch system was re-introduced in 1983 on Rangers and F250/350's with 6.9 diesels, on everything else in 1984.

1957/60 F100/950's also had a hydraulic clutch system.

 

The Maverick's and Granadas used mechanical clutch actuation
until the last Mavericks in 77 and last old bodystyle Granada's
in 1980. So Ford kept the D4 casting around for those (the
great majority of which were sold with automatics). The boss
was actually deleted from the 75 and up blocks used on all
other applications, such as the Fairmonts and Mustangs that
used cable linkgage. As to the question of did Ford continue
to cast both D4 and D5 blocks together or simply used the stock
of D4 blocks until they ran out (at which time they would have
quit offering the standard trans with 302 applications) I don't
know. It was customary for a few years after a certain model
went out of production to continue to makeservice parts for them. Heck,
they made Model T engines until June of 1941.

 

The date code is also stamped on the front of the block near the corner of the cylinder head and intake manifold near the distributor, above the fuel pump.

The first number will be the least significant digit of the year, the letter will be the month and the number will be the day of the month. For instance, my 289 has 3M1 stamped there. It was cast in 1963, December (the letters skip I and I think L) on the one is the first of the month.

The front stamping is easier to use since you don't have to get underneath.

Now, even that won't for sure determine whether it is a 289 or a 302 since the blocks are the same. In the late 67 model year they changed the 289 block a little for the upcoming 302, but used the block for a 289. I would think that anything with a stamping of about 7D or 7E would have started being used for a 302. Anything before that would probably have been a 289.

If it turns out to be a 7 year casting, you will have to pull the pan to know. On the front counterweight a 289, 260 or 221 crank (all the same) are stamped 1M. A 302 crank is stamped 2M and a 351W crank is stamped 3M.

Hope this helps,

 

Guys, please check the date of the original posts on this thread before posting anymore in it...it's almost three years old, I think the OP has long since moved past this particular problem...

 

L was not skipped, only the letter I was skipped.

1 refers to the first week of the month, not the first day.

A = January / B = February / C = March / D = April / E = May / F = June / G = July / H = August / J = September / K = October / L = November / M = December.

3M1: 1 = First week of December (M) 1963 (3).