How much do ya think you could build a decent 302 for?

Topic: How much do ya think you could build a decent 302 for? (Read 1101 times) previous topic - next topic

How much do ya think you could build a decent 302 for?

August 30, 2005, 07:13:59 PM

Here's the story- My youngest brother has a fairly beat up '84 F-150 he's been driving for the last year or so, but just last week he bought a '94 Thunderbird LX (yay! heh) because he needed something that got better gas mileage. My other brother wants to buy this truck from him, rebuild the engine, tweak the suspension a bit and use it to "haul firewood out of the woods" as he said.

Anyway, this truck has an old tired 2-barrel 302 with an auto tranny (which transmission would that be, BTW? AOD?), it has long tube headers on it and dual exhaust. My brother says he'd like to rebuild the engine with a mild cam, intake & four barrel carb, but not spend too much. I've been looking through some catalogs and it looks like he could get a master rebuild kit from Northern auto parts for this engine for $200 (would anybody know the CR on an '84 truck 302?). Then, he could get a Summit cam kit for $90, and I found intakes in the $150 range, and then I dunno about the carb because I don't know that much about them

I guess 600 cfm would probably work?

Also I realize the heads on this engine probably suck - I know '87-93 5.0L Mustang heads are good ones to get, were the truck 302 heads of the same year range the same?

And finally- do you think a mild combo like this could make 300 hp? It looks like this could all be done, including the machine work, for $800-ish which is not too bad at all.

Re: How much do ya think you could build a decent 302 for?

Reply #1 – August 30, 2005, 11:05:30 PM

why would you want 300 horse to haul firewood?

Re: How much do ya think you could build a decent 302 for?

Reply #2 – August 31, 2005, 01:17:21 AM

Gotta get it to the house quick

Well like I said it would also be a bit of a "toy"...

Re: How much do ya think you could build a decent 302 for?

Reply #3 – August 31, 2005, 01:19:50 AM

300? Doubtful, but with a fresh engine plus cam & heads, I'm sure he won't be disappointed.

Re: How much do ya think you could build a decent 302 for?

Reply #4 – August 31, 2005, 10:41:41 AM

it would be better than the 170 or so it is making now.
but i guess it depends on the heads and intake combos.

Re: How much do ya think you could build a decent 302 for?

Reply #5 – August 31, 2005, 11:27:57 AM

Well I was thinking Mustang heads and a dual plane intake. Maybe a Weiand. Would be nice to raise the compression a bit but I don't know what the stock CR is. Summit has a piston kit with 9:1 pistons for $260

Re: How much do ya think you could build a decent 302 for?

Reply #6 – August 31, 2005, 11:45:43 AM

Quote from: 88turbo

why would you want 300 horse to haul firewood?

why wouldnt you want 300? my 120hp 3.8L didnt like lugging 3 other people in the car, i wouldnt imagine 170 having much fun with a bed full of firewood

Re: How much do ya think you could build a decent 302 for?

Reply #7 – September 04, 2005, 12:30:19 PM

Why not have more power? Towing and hauling require solid amounts of hp and torque.

Re: How much do ya think you could build a decent 302 for?

Reply #8 – September 04, 2005, 03:45:49 PM

why dont you stick with a rv style camshaft. Basically the same as the one that you have now. gives lots of low end.

Re: How much do ya think you could build a decent 302 for?

Reply #9 – September 04, 2005, 08:06:55 PM

Well, I wouldn't be surprised if thats what my brother ended up using, I believe that's what he put in his 460 that he built for his '77 F-150.

I don't even know if this will actually happen or not...I don't have the money to invest in this sort of thing right now so it's up to him, but I would definitely help out with it