302 Heads?

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302 Heads?

July 07, 2005, 11:44:14 AM

I've been making plans for buying a 351 to rebuild for some time now for transplanting into my 83 Thunderbird in place of the 302. But given the relative annoyance of finding and pulling a junkyard 351, making the modifications to fit it, and the other little expenses associated with that, not to mention the fact that my upcoming move will make the car much less necessary for my travels I'm starting to consider just pulling the existing engine and rebuilding it as grand as I can. Does anyone know some desirable junkyard heads that will fit my 302?

Re: 302 Heads?

Reply #1 – July 07, 2005, 12:10:36 PM

Try to find an Explorer with the 5.0 in it.The earlier the better (1996/97).The early heads were GT40 cast iron heads,and will accept the Mustang headers.The later heads were GT40P ,and they need a special set of headers which can become costly.The E7 heads are also good,from the 89 and up Mustang GT.You may be able to locate a Mustang H.O. engine,which would give you a good start.They can be had pretty reasonable.I've seen them around here for $600,which is complete and with the tranny.Good luck.

Re: 302 Heads?

Reply #2 – July 07, 2005, 12:41:32 PM

Sounds good. Any other good mods I can do while the engine is out? I'm shooting for horsepower in the 200 range and all the torque I can get without losing too many mpg. I'm already thinking I'll be getting a performance camshaft and pistons that can handle a little extra lift. The carburetor/TBI system is probably a bottleneck, unforunately I know next to nothing about the TBI system. For that matter where exactly would a computer control chip be?

Re: 302 Heads?

Reply #3 – July 07, 2005, 12:47:24 PM

hp is the 200 range shouldnt be that hard since the 5.0 HOs have 225 stock lol. Good luck with the project, Im currently saving for a dss 351 roller block.

Re: 302 Heads?

Reply #4 – July 07, 2005, 01:34:46 PM

You know I remember hearing somewhere that the HO engines actually used truck heads. Anyone know what particular truck that would be? To me it stands to reason that an F150 with a 302 would have good heads, if that's not true let me know.

Re: 302 Heads?

Reply #5 – July 07, 2005, 01:41:04 PM

I just checked car-part.com and many early 90's F150's do indeed show up as compatible for the 89 Mustang mentioned. There's even a 93 Thunderbird in the mix. Any reason to think 80's F150's won't work? If there are any compatibility issues I'd like to know the details.

Re: 302 Heads?

Reply #6 – July 07, 2005, 04:17:20 PM

you will want e7 heads. They came on the 90's f150's. Some of the 80's trucks had the same e6 heads that you do now. . Also check the explorers for gt-40 heads. Also the 91 to 93 heads on a tbird/cougar will work fine. I have a set in my trunk to make sure that my v-6 has traction.

Re: 302 Heads?

Reply #7 – July 07, 2005, 04:21:03 PM

the E6 came on the 86 Mustang GT....those are the truck head

Re: 302 Heads?

Reply #8 – July 07, 2005, 04:32:35 PM

87 got the e7 heads and they put those on the later trucks too. You should have either e6 or e5's now.e6's go on SO engines.

Re: 302 Heads?

Reply #9 – July 07, 2005, 05:04:55 PM

Good stuff. Thanks that'll come in handy when I go looking.

Re: 302 Heads?

Reply #10 – July 07, 2005, 07:13:47 PM

pretty much any car wiht a 5.0 that has HO stamped on it will work. I think that the e7 heads are pretty much the same as ported e6's minus the swirl exhaust thingy everyone is always talking about. You should be able to hit close to 200 with you stock heads.

Re: 302 Heads?

Reply #11 – July 07, 2005, 08:27:10 PM

Quote from: Haystack

87 got the e7 heads and they put those on the later trucks too. You should have either e6 or e5's now.e6's go on SO engines.

The first digit in the part or casting number is the decade(E=80s), the second is the year. Now he has a '83, so how will it have E6s('86) or E5s('85)?? My guess it has the D8('78) castings that were used from the late 70s to approx '83-'84. Those heads are similar to the later versions. but have larger combustion chambers to cut the compression to 8.4.

Re: 302 Heads?

Reply #12 – July 07, 2005, 09:18:41 PM

Another quick question, are 351 heads compatible should I come across them?

Re: 302 Heads?

Reply #13 – July 07, 2005, 10:14:18 PM

I do think that 351 and 302 heads switch. I am not 100%, more like 75% or so. Some one will come along and tell you for sure.

Re: 302 Heads?

Reply #14 – July 08, 2005, 11:54:51 AM

Long as I'm thinking about it does anyone know of an intake manifold worth finding? My future plans may include a 4 barrel carb application or even dual carbs :D but for now I'd settle for something that flows well and will compliment the heads I'll be getting.