katanaman wrote:offside rear just before the bellhousing. They are upside down.

9M23 date casting... that's Year ending in 9, M= 13th letter but Ford dropped the I, making it the 12th month, 23= the 23rd day.
So do you have a 23rd December 1969 block or a 23rd December 1979 block?
Mines an Aussie 302C with Block Type casting D2AE-CA and Date casting 3E2, or 2nd May 1973.ALL Aussie castings other than the XE racing ones and the '80's "Pillow" blocks were D2AE-CA
