Help needed, weird wear marks SBF

[MGM]

Take a look at the photos of this timing cover off a ford 302. Just bought the car and tore down the engine. Super low mileage 88 5L.
Cracks are probably from it being overtightened at some point, but in the Center looks like wear marks. Or possible a super ****ty cast job?
Any thoughts??
Cheers
Michael

[incoming]

Looks like a really nasty casting and possibly incorrect antifreeze?

[MGM]

I was thinking that too, but the other side - that holds the coolant(my bad-I didn’t post a picture of that side) looks fine. Just the chain side seems to be eaten away. My first thought was poor casting. But the grouping of the damage marks worried me a bit. The rest of the engine looks good though.
Thank you for the response.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Looks like a bolt came loose and rattled around in there at an earlier time, actually cracked the cover in several spots. Find a new one.
Perry

[twobjshelbys]

The rough surface inside the irregularities says it's coming from inside to outside. Those are casting globs. The interior was "finished off" because it was "good enough". The rest of the cracks are due to casting failures in the rest. It's a bad part that should never have been used.

[MGM]

Looking at it more I think I agree with Tony. I was worried that something came loose or was rattling around, but if that was the case you’ll see more circular patterns from either the timing chain or the retaining bolts hitting the case. These are randomly spaced but more to the center. Just a crap cast job that should never have been used. And now cracked- possibly from overtightening but also weakened from the holes and imperfections from casting.
Got a new one on order.
Anyway, thank you guys for the input. I’m grateful for everyone’s thoughts and responses
Hopefully I’ll have this cobra on the road by next summer. I’ve never even driven one before! So excited. I can only imagine how fun it’ll be to drive.

[spdbrake]

That appears to be Intergranular corrosion. Once started its going to continue.
Grinding the corrosion out and then grinding 1.5X deeper to ensure you got it all is a common rule of thumb. Most parts never survive the repair and are too weak.
https://image.slidesharecdn.com/corr...?cb=1485583631

https://image.slidesharecdn.com/corr...?cb=1379290236

A new timing cover is the real fix.

[6TNCRZY]

Looks like a bad of casting, could be coolant seeping through from the water pump side.

[MGM]

That’s a possibility as well! Everything else in the engine looked good thankfully. It has about 40-50,000 total miles. But is from 1988.
I’m quite pleased with all of the responses from you guys. And quick too. I think this might be my first time posting on a forum. I don’t know why I’ve waited so long - everyone is so helpful with their input.
The cover is getting replaced for sure, but my OCD mind makes me inquire as to why this happened.
Also replacing the water pump, oil pump, harmonic balancer, heads, cam, lifters, rockers, pushrods, pistons, rings, bearings, bolts, gaskets, clutch, bearings and a ton of other things. Probably would have been cheaper to order a long block but not as fun.
Cheers
Michael

Oh! Has anyone tried the gear set for the T-5’s that apparently strengthens them good to ~600FP
Or I should say, anyone running a stock T5 WC that’s blown out the gears? Maybe I should start a different tread to ask that.
Anyway- hope you’re all enjoying the weekend. Beautiful weather here

[_Chris_]

Coronavirus!

[CobraResurrect]

Originally Posted by MGM

That’s a possibility as well! Everything else in the engine looked good thankfully. It has about 40-50,000 total miles. But is from 1988.
I’m quite pleased with all of the responses from you guys. And quick too. I think this might be my first time posting on a forum. I don’t know why I’ve waited so long - everyone is so helpful with their input.
The cover is getting replaced for sure, but my OCD mind makes me inquire as to why this happened.
Also replacing the water pump, oil pump, harmonic balancer, heads, cam, lifters, rockers, pushrods, pistons, rings, bearings, bolts, gaskets, clutch, bearings and a ton of other things. Probably would have been cheaper to order a long block but not as fun.
Cheers
Michael

Oh! Has anyone tried the gear set for the T-5’s that apparently strengthens them good to ~600FP
Or I should say, anyone running a stock T5 WC that’s blown out the gears? Maybe I should start a different tread to ask that.
Anyway- hope you’re all enjoying the weekend. Beautiful weather here

I'd suggest to start a new thread in the transmission section regarding the gears. I would like to see any responses.