@DFort posted:
I found the numbers between the starter and oil pan.D2AECA 14d2
so maybe not an Australian block after all. Maybe just a regular 1972 Cleveland?
The “GF” was on the back of the block above the bell housing…that’s why I thought it was Australian.
Don, it is an Australian block, the GF is clearly visible on the back of the block.
The "14d2" date code is being misinterpreted. D means April, not 1970. The casting date is 14 April, 1982.
You see, Ford of Australia didn't begin casting blocks at the Geelong Foundry until mid-1975. Before that engines assembled in Australia employed blocks cast in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Those blocks had a big C swallowing a little F on the back of the block for the Cleveland Foundry.
The engine should be equipped with a "Bosch" distributor. Bosch distributors have smaller shafts, Motorcraft distributors won't fit unless the distributor shaft guide hole is enlarged. And it won't have a brass bypass orifice plate below the thermostat either ... with Australian blocks the orifice is cast into the block. That's the two ways Australian blocks differ from US blocks.
By the way, all Cleveland blocks, on both continents, cast since about July 1971 (model year 1972), were D2AE-CA castings.
-G