I have a 1973 Gran torino that has a 302. I want to put the 302 in 1974 Maverick. What can I do to get extra Hp without spending a lot of money.
Getting air in and out are the top 2 objectives that stock engines don't do well. If you want to spend the least money possible, stay out of the long block and just improve breathing. Get a good aluminum 4v intake and simple 4v carb with free flowing air filter. That will improve getting air in. Then a set of long tube headers with dual exhaust is all it takes to open up the 'getting air out' objective. Other little things you can do: Convert to an electronic ignition. Can be done cheaply by getting a Duraspark system off a mid-70s 302 at the boneyard. That system is actually excellent, and the basis for the top dollar aftermarket systems. Make sure you keep things cool. Lower temp stat, block heat riser in the intake manifold, keep fuel lines from heat sources, try not to use chrome too much (sounds funny, but chrome retains heat in the engine), find a way to get cooler air to the air cleaner, etc... On a side note, you can always lighten things up to 'gain power'. Every pound of weight you carry around saps HP. In racing, a formula suggests that 100 lbs of weight equals 10 rwhp, or .10 second in the quarter mile. So, by doing nothing more than emptying your car of 100 lbs of dead weight, you effectively gain 10 rwhp! I know that I could easily lose 100 lbs by just cleaning my car out of all the junk I carry! If you aren't a pack rat like me, then you would need to get more creative. Losing unnessesary stuff is first, then replacing heavy iron and steel with aluminum and fiber is next. Good luck Dave
give us the specs on teh engine in question.. what cam what heads what intake any work done to it does it have headers dual exhaust what do you want from the engine and car? street/strip? full race? etc but start with headers intake carb head work cam etc
Buy you`r intake headers and carb used then get a dual roller timing chain to do away with the plastic cam gear port the exhaust side of the heads to get rid of the egr bumps and then if you want you could get one of them 65 doller cam kits from summit racing and a pertronix to top it all off . You should be able to build a strong running motor like that for around 500 bux .
i changed from a single points dizzy to an MSD ignition system.. MSD pro billet dizzy, MSD 6a box, Blaster SS coil, and 8.8 superconductor wires.. i gained .5 second in the 1/4 the whole setup runs about 800 bucks
That's not cheap partner. lol A huge difference would help just from points to a good duraspark ignition setup. Very cheap even if you have to buy a brand new box and dizzy from parts store and wire it up. I also agree with a good intake and headers and 4 barrel carb. Im not sure what a Edelbrock package costs... but you can get a carb, intake and a cam package that is "matched" pretty reasonable Im sure... throw in a good set of headers and dual exhaust and your good to go.
Well. I just bought some E7 heads for 40 bucks, and imma get them all polished and ported for $150 and i am taking an edlebrock intake off of an old 302 truck in a junk yard for like 30. All it takes is some looking around for parts and there are some great deals
I got an almost new Edelbrock 600cfm carb from our local junkyard for 45 bucks. I can get heads for around 50 bucks tops
umm.... yes they are. Better yet, for the money how are they not??? they have more advanced technology on them than the stock heads of a maverick I got the heads off of a guy at the drag strip, he was talking to me and asked me about my car, what was done and what i plan to do. I told him and he just so happend to havesome heads off an 89 5.0 heads that he sold me for 40 bucks, They arent the best but they can be used as a decent head if your not a strick racer.
yes and no. I have a 550cfm 4bbl. that need rebuilt but it is pretty messed up. It was free and if i cant get it fixed i will get a 600 Holly with the auto choke on it. I really need and intake tho
