Ford 302 questions

[BOOOGHAR]

Im going to be putting a 302 and AOD in the 56 and I have never messed with a 302 other than the gran torino i had in high school

The engine im getting is a roller engine from i believe a cougar or t-bird - i may be wrong on that but i do know its a roller engine long block

Im not going to build any kind of race engine but a nice mild build, nothing spectacular but for you guys that have, what kind of recommendations do you suggest, what to look for, what have you used in the past. I would like to have something in the 250-300hp range, im sure cam,valve train, and head work are items that need the main focus but im doing this on the CHEAP

[Buckeye]

What is cheap ? are we talking a cam swap and port matching or better factory iron heads or entry level aluminum heads?
What I call a cheap setup would be a used set of Gt40 or Gt40p heads new valve springs, and a trick flow stage 1 or 2 cam (must be under like 550 lift or so I forget for sure (been a bit), a port matched gt40p intake (used from explorer). I would also do a mild stall in the aod and for sure buy the PA performance valve body (loved mine and made a BIG difference)

[fast Ed]

GT-40 heads off a mid to late 90s Explorer (there are 2 different versions, regular and "P", both have their advantages), plus a decent Ford Racing, Crane, or Comp Cam, will get you in the ballpark for not much money.


cheers
Ed N.

[Beagle]

Mr Wickham, you can get 300 with E7's (they pay you to take them away heads) ported and a small cam. When do you need this?

Every 302 I've seen opened since '88 was a roller block. Mustang blocks from '87-92 have forged pistons and a decent cam. The 87 til 92 or sometime in 93 forged pistons have eyebrows already that are way deep enough for most truck size cams.

I'd be curious if the Mustang / car pans will fit or if you need an older pan. That will be a sticking point.

I may be down there some time between X-mas and New Years if you wanna go somewhere besides the Kemah / Seabrook Hooters and chat? I have some stuff that I think would work in your price range. Well maybe there is good too if they mopped it and got some un-snotty girls. lol.

[BOOOGHAR]

guys this is the kinda stuff i need, i want to keep this as low buck as possible, and Beagle kemah is 5 minutes from my house and seabrook is on the other side of the bridge from kemah, im down to hang out where ever and shoot the breeze, i got all kinds of watering holes round my place good for that kinda thing

[nesabo]

Let me look, I may have an crane roller emission cam, 2040 which I believe is the same as the ford e302 cam, you can have for shipping cost.

[Russell]

around here you can get a complete explorer motor for not much more than you can buy the heads, intake and TB. Are you going to keep it FI or go carb? The explorer pistons are not forged but they are flat tops with 4 eyebrows, where the HO pistons have a dish. The P heads have a diffrent spark plug angle so some headers don't fit. I have MAC mustang Long tubes and they fit OK with a few 90* boots. I have P motors in my 79 and 89.

[milner351]

Shop around these engines are very very common and some guys give them away while others think they are made of gold.

While thrashing trying to get the ranger going with the 302 I ended up getting two roller 302s, one complete, the other torn down, one for $300 complete including alternator water pump performer intake etc... (turned out to be non HO), the other for $75 with the TRW forged pistons.

High mileage E7 heads will need guide work, I had probably 5 pairs at one point - most of them are now melted down for scrap - by the time you pay for the machine work to replace guides and get a good valve job - you might as well buy heads done or step up to aftermarket heads.

If you go to buy heads you intend to use as is - being sold "ready to run"
- bring a valve spring compressor and take at least a few valves apart to make sure the guides aren't junk.

It's a shame you're not closer - I have a set of E7s ported, milled, new seals, and bolt down non adjustable roller rockers with only the run time the Ranger has seen (you know that aint much) since they were fresh. Shipping would be around $40 per head I'm afraid. I have about $375 into them including the rockers. Let me know if you're interested - but surely you can find something that won't require shipping.

If you want to stick low buck on the ignition - buy a duraspark distributor for an 85 mustang GT with the manual trans - this gives you the steel gear for the roller cam, electronic ignition, for about $60 over the counter rebuilt - look at my ranger thread to see how the advance mechanism comes apart and how you can use jb weld to "tune your advance curve" or - look around - you can probably find an msd ready to run on craigslist - I got one for $100 - but they have the cast iron distributor gear.

Neal's got you covered on the camshaft - I have a mystery roller that could be sent to delta for a regrind.

I have lots of other used parts - I may have some stuff you need I can send in flat rate boxes - keep a list and let us know what you're looking for.

Which oil pan will fit in that chassis? Dual sump (5.0 mustang) front sump (60's 70's) or a truck specific pan?

[nesabo]

OH, I have a dual sump if you can use it. Nice coat of cheap black paint on it.

[stangbanger]

A nice set of roller rockers would be added to the list if this were mine. rockers, cam, intake and you will be pleased with the performance for very little dough. Or find yourself a 302 with these goodies already stuffed in for cheap. Around here you can get a decent cammed 302 for dirt cheap.

[milner351]

I may need to find a front sump pan, or two, Aaron is going to need one for his truck - between the two of us we have several dual sumps.

[Russell]

The best part about roller cams is you can get used ones off the Corral normally between $100 and 150 so unless you want something special I think its cheaper to by used than to have one reground. The stock HO cam is not that bad thats what I put in the P motor in my 89 and it ran 140 at Maxton. I can not remember if the TBird was a HO motor for some reason I think it was not.

[milner351]

The cam I have is a roller - but the only markings on it are on the back face of the cam - "EA" stamped in.

I think all the FMS "303" cams are marked, not sure about the aftermarket stuff.

HO engines prior to 94/95 (last years in the mustang using the low profile tbird/cougar intakes) had hypereutectic pistons.... I believe 87-93 HO engines all had the TRW forged pistons with the 4 "eyebrow" valve reliefs

[squirrel]

that's a little engine for a big pickup....

[milner351]

says the guy with 454 in EVERYTHING.