picking up the 302 to rebuild on friday, first time ever rebuilding an engine. Any tips on the tear down and rebuild? Anyone have some pistons they'd recommend for 9:1 compression? comp cams 268H, hooker 6901 headers, holly 600 cfm carb, weiand stealth intake, anything else i should get for some fairly low budget power?
On a tear. Another guy that lists everything but the weak link in the 302. Follow STManser's threads. Get some exhaust flow, and I'm not talking about headers(although you do need them). Cheap acceleration? What rearend do you have? (I'm a little irritated right now, but then, I'm not that nice anyway)
If you are staying with the stock distributor, put in a pertronix electronic ignition. Do away with the points. Also go with a hotter coil (ie, MSD). I just used flat top pistons in mine, when I rebuilt it...bored .030...Are you doing anything with the tranny? I also put in a high volumn water pump & 3 core radiator. Then added a trans cooler. You can check mine out, I'm in Pacific, Wa. Not far from you....Mine is built for torque! Dual exhaust with performance mufflers.
im also going to do dual 2" or 2.5" exhaust with x-pipe and performance mufflers, im not sure if ill stick with stock distributor and whatnot i dont know if i can afford to replace it, I have stock rear end with 2.79s, going to rebuild a T5(first tranny rebuild) any specific brand name pistonss? I'm new to all of this so will be needing plenty of help along the way.
Being one who has to work at being nice myself (look for the new book I'm writing - How to Win Friends and Influence People Through Intimidation), I'd like to point out that not everyone, who wants to put a little more pep in the giddyup of their Mavs, needs to spend money on heads. Not everyone is comfortable with porting their own heads. I'm doing the exact same thing as loki911, except going with a 260 cam and I have bought a set of E7TE heads. I will do a little porting, but I know how and I am willing. Now, you can have this superior attitude and get a little miffed at what seems like a "half job" to you, but you weren't an "expert" when you first started either. Some people need to buy and use what they can afford now and add better later. Just my Epilogue - If I misread you through your writing, I'm sorry. If I didn't, ease up a little.
im sticking with stock heads probably cuz i cant afford new ones, but ill probably have them ported, im just hoping i can get through the build without running out of money haha.
Hey Hawkco, Loki. Yeah, like I said I was just irritated, and I'm definitely no expert. BUT, you are not doing what Loki is doing. You have bought some decent heads and you are porting them as every rebuild book will tell you you need to do. And buying them probably wasn't very expensive. Getting some decent heads for this motor falls into budget rebuild in my book and definitely something that should be at least explored. It's just that all the talk about headers, intakes, carbs, and cams, without talking about heads just seems so WRONG to me. Sorry Loki.
Getting those stock heads ported will make a difference. By golly I remember the day when that was about the only option a guy had. Course there are the Rockefellers of the world that can expose their view with their pocket book in tow. I think you have a good plan and Terry has given you sage advice. Coop also lends great wisdom. You might want to discuss your plans with the machine shop that handles the machining needs of your motor. Sometimes that can be a very very worthwhile conversation. Oh yeah, I still have stock heads on mine,, ported yeah. But the motor is 13 years old. Fast? no,, but I still have fun. Dan
id love to find a pair of affordable heads, all that ive seen are 1400 for the pair, if I can find cheaper heads i would replace mine in a snap
E7TE heads can be found in most junkyards. They were on the 5.0 HO engine prior to introduction of the GT40 heads. I paid $40 for my pair and will probably spend around $300 (or less) on them getting them in fine shape.
I'm not 100% sure but, 87 to 93 Mustang GT's, Mark VII, Mark VIII. Maybe others, but I don't which. You can look for these heads on e-Bay and the classifieds of a lot Mustang forums. Here's a set of ported 289 heads neaby. These will raise your compression to somewhere in the neighborhood of 9.5 to 10.3 to 1. That'll increase power. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7979206287&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT Here's a pair http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7979206287&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT And, yet another http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7978714915&fromMakeTrack=true
ok thanks, ill start looking at the local junkyards and such, ill keep you all posted on the rebuild, especially considering i dont know what im doing haha. What would probably be a better improvement those 289 heads or the other heads?
I wanted to rebuild cheaply too just to learn the first time around, but everyway I looked at it, it wasn't cheap. On these old engines you almost always need to have the block machined, like cleaned, magnafluxed, bored, honed, decked, etc. Then if you want to use the stock crank and rods you may need to resize the rod journals or have the crank turned. If your going to do that you may as well add new bolts to the rods and you'll need to have the pistons pressed onto the rods unless you get new rods too. So you end up getting rods and pistons and machining, which ends up being almost as much as a stroker kit. You also need all new rings and bearings and if you get new pistons, you'll need to rebalance the crank. Also may need a new balancer. I bought a nice set of E7 heads for $10 and was going to port them, but you need to have them cleaned, checked for cracks, usually need new valve seals and seats, new springs, new rocker arms, pushrods, etc., etc. Everyway I looked at it, the cost was not cheap and if you try to skimp on anything, the engine may not work or may break. Even a bare minimum ring and bearing rebuild will cost $300-$400 or more with all the gaskets. Another option is to find a newer, nice condition 5.0HO roller block at the junk yard and just do an engine swap. You can check the spark plugs, take off the intake and check out the general engine condition at the yard before buying and you'll be able to get 300 HP with relatively cheap bolt on stuff. I've decided to just get a 331 stroker kit, but damn it all ends up being expensive. That's cars I guess.
