Mid '80s 302 with 351W firing order?

[LouisT]

So I've looked behind the starter and found casting ID of ETZ which looks to mean the engine is an '86 truck motor. My Bronco is a '70 and the PO says he changed out the engine using on of the more famous Bronco shops here in Texas. I've quizzed them and they were very helpful but there are gaps left unanswered. The PO (he sold the truck to the Bronco shop before all the final work was completed) remembers the engine being an '80s engine. Long story short, I was changing out the distributor and found the firing order is that of 351W or a 302HO. It's known now that the engine is most certainly a 302 and looks to be an '86 from a truck. SO maybe it has a 351W cam installed or did Ford begin using the 351W firing order on all mid '80s 302s? In George Reid's books on Ford Small Block Interchange, he says ALL 302s went to the 351W firing order in the "80s. But, if you look on the inner web, there seems there were two 302s then. One an HO and one regular and they had different firing orders. Any ideas?

 

[Timmy390]

First, the cam determines the firing order not the year of the engine.

1982 the HO was born and the 351W firing order was taken in to the 302 platform in HO's

1985 the 302 roller HO was born. It too had the 351W order.

I've read where some Lincoln HO's had the old 3092 order but I've never had anyone I know tell me that from seeing it first hand,

So it's really about the cam you have installed. 351W or HO cam = 351W firing order.

Tim

 

[pcf_mark]

You can verify your firing order by taking off the valve covers and slowly turning the engine over. Follow the intake valve opening points starting with 1 and you have your order.

I had a 302 with an aftermarket cam had the later firing order. Very aggravating because it will actually run - just like poop.

 

[LouisT]

Men, I appreciate the insight but I have the firing order down cold and it is definitely the same a 351W or a 302HO. What I was thinking about was the issue of it being said in a well regarded book on Ford Small Blocks that ALL mid '80s 302 went to the 351W firing order. But, I've also seen where there were actually two 302s available at the same time period; a normal 302 and a 302 HO. This sort of makes things rather confusing. The HO undoubtedly has the 351W firing order but I don't see where the other "normal" 302 did. This leaves me with a perfectly swell running, mid-80s 302 with 351W firing order. OR maybe it is a "normal' 302 with a 351W cam OR possibly, it came from the factory this way. I really don't have a problem with it having the other firing order, just trying to solve a mystery. I think Mr. Reid is wrong in his book(s) by saying ALL mid-80's 302 went to the 351W firing order. I think there were two; HO and normal. I'm pretty sure I don't have an HO because it's a truck engine. It probably has had a 351W cam installed but I'm still wondering if there is a chance Mr. Reid is correct and all 302s in the mid'80s DID go to the 351W firing order. I was hoping some might know a little more on this.

 

[Quick & Dirty]

So I've looked behind the starter and found casting ID of ETZ which looks to mean the engine is an '86 truck motor.

I'm pretty sure I don't have an HO because it's a truck engine.

Are you sure it's a truck engine? Just because it has the E7TE "truck" casting # does not mean it came from truck. All the H.O. engines '87-up used the truck revision block and head castings. Mustangs, Lincolns, and whatever else came with one.

Don't read too much into casting numbers. They change when the part is revised and have nothing to do with what model the part is eventually installed in.

 

[LouisT]

Man! I almost forgot how hard it was to be a Ford fan. There's been a lot written about this cast number and that one. I was sort of thinking this would be a case of identification and not yet another dubious rabbit trail. So let's go this way. George Reid says in "High Performance Ford Engine Parts Interchange" (page 10 right side) "Beginning in 1982, the 302 assumed the 351W firing order." if that's true, the old inner web is replete with contradiction so I was hoping someone here might have more definition.