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Hit 1,500 miles on my junkyard 302 swap this morning without a single leak | Driveway Car Tinkering - Chatter Central

Hit 1,500 miles on my junkyard 302 swap this morning without a single leak

Found a beat up '90s F-150 at Pick-n-Pull in Phoenix for $300 and finally got it running clean in my driveway after six months of wrenching, has anyone else had good luck with junkyard motors holding up long term?

3 comments

3 Comments

alice893mo ago

Hell yeah, 1,500 miles with no leaks on a junkyard 302 is a solid win. Those old 5.0s were tough as nails if they weren't totally cooked. I've had two buddies do the same thing with 302s from old vans and trucks, one lasted almost 80k miles before a rod knock showed up, the other's still going strong after like 4 years. The key really seems to be what you can't see upfront, like if the guy before you ran it low on oil or overheated it a bunch. Yours sounds like a good one though, keep feeding it decent oil and don't rev the snot out of it cold and it'll probably surprise you.

joelt703mo ago

Yeah that's awesome to hear man, 1,500 miles with zero leaks on a junkyard 302 is no joke. @alice89 hit it right about those old 5.0s being tough if they weren't abused too bad. I had a buddy do a similar swap with a junkyard 302 out of some old van and it ran like a clock for almost three years before the trans gave out first. Your luck with it so far sounds solid, so I'd say you got a good one. Just keep an eye on the oil level and maybe do a compression test down the road to see where it's at. That sort of thing can tell you a lot about how long it'll hang on. Seriously though, that's a good feeling when junk parts actually work out, congrats man.

kim.zara3mo ago

Props to you for sticking with it through six months of wrenching. That first 1,500 miles without a drip has to feel like a little victory every time you pop the hood.