I hope no one ever thinks I am putting you down... I'm quite impressed with your willingness to get at it!
If I tell someone to "dumb it down" for ya, its just cause I remember what it was like learning this kinda stuff. Helped that I started about 11 or 12. I'm assuming your in the 16 - 21 range?
Based on the picture of the plugs, they are not really worn. Check a couple of the gaps, and run that! Prolly 0.035" (35 thousandths)
I saw on Yourself's chart, 17 points - 35 plugs for some years, and 21 points and 30 plugs for others. anywhere form 30 - 35 on the plugs, you prolly wont even notice the difference ( same on 17 - 21 for points) your not trying the squeeze every last drop out of this one! And its a fairly forgiving engine, as far as that goes.
The casting numbers tell you when ford started that casting the decode said, i thing 71; That means its 71 or newer, up till the next casting number change. I don
t know what that would be fr the 302, but its available.
A 460 I have, the block was built from 79 till end of production. the heads were build till 86. Without looking at both numbers, I wouldn't know, but assuming my heads are original, I know its not later than 86. Ford did some funny stuff with their casting numbers.
I'd wager that your 302 is prolly a 71 to 73, based on what we've seen. If any spec. is different from those years, or car or truck, prolly wont matter enough to care!
03Panther said:
I hope no one ever thinks I am putting you down... I'm quite impressed with your willingness to get at it!
If I tell someone to "dumb it down" for ya, its just cause I remember what it was like learning this kinda stuff. Helped that I started about 11 or 12. I'm assuming your in the 16 - 21 range?
Based on the picture of the plugs, they are not really worn. Check a couple of the gaps, and run that! Prolly 0.035" (35 thousandths)
I saw on Yourself's chart, 17 points - 35 plugs for some years, and 21 points and 30 plugs for others. anywhere form 30 - 35 on the plugs, you prolly wont even notice the difference ( same on 17 - 21 for points) your not trying the squeeze every last drop out of this one! And its a fairly forgiving engine, as far as that goes.
The casting numbers tell you when ford started that casting the decode said, i thing 71; That means its 71 or newer, up till the next casting number change. I don
t know what that would be fr the 302, but its available.
A 460 I have, the block was built from 79 till end of production. the heads were build till 86. Without looking at both numbers, I wouldn't know, but assuming my heads are original, I know its not later than 86. Ford did some funny stuff with their casting numbers.
I'd wager that your 302 is prolly a 71 to 73, based on what we've seen. If any spec. is different from those years, or car or truck, prolly wont matter enough to care!
I don't think you're putting me down, and that's the important thing, right? The level of information you're providing is perfect. As for my age, I'm just a bit older - 51. 
The issue is, while I've loeved cars since I was a kid, no one in my family has ever been mechanical. I've always wanted to learn and finally decided that now is the time. I figured this Bronco was cheap to buy and a super simple set up, so I took the plunge!
As for this motor, based on the engine code and date code I found on the bottom of the block, above the starter, it is a 302 produced on 11/23/70. So it appears to be a 1970, or a 1971 if they consider late year production the following year as they do with cars in general.
So far your options are "leave it as it is" or "replace the inner workings of the distributor". Might I suggest a third option? A complete drop in two wire setup hand crafted by a gifted 9 year old in a quaint village on the eastern side of the world?
Southwest Performance Parts R2R6702R-1
QuasiMofo (John Brown) Forum Supporter said:
So far your options are "leave it as it is" or "replace the inner workings of the distributor". Might I suggest a third option? A complete drop in two wire setup hand crafted by a gifted 9 year old in a quaint village on the eastern side of the world?
Southwest Performance Parts R2R6702R-1
I'm definitely willing to upgrade what's there. Would this be a better option than the Pertronix route previously discussed?
Mr_Asa
UltraDork
1/1/21 11:29 a.m.
That's a decent price for a full distributor. What is their reliability like, though?
SUCCESS! I changed the plugs, plug wires, cap and rotor, after which the truck fired up on the first crank! Thanks for all of the help (so far)!
