Mild Power From 302.......

[STX1992]

Well im finally doin my V8 Swap. I got a 302,ZF 5 spd, NP 208, in a trade. IM lookin to put it in my 92 Ranger, it has a 2.9L in it that I cant seem to kill but when it does im guna drop the 302 an runnin gear in. It already has a SAS with 38.5s on it, Used for some trails an to run around town on weekends. What would be the best set up for the 302 ( its out of a 76 f100 ) Not lookin to spend a crazy amount of money just something reasonable with good Low-End Torque that has a good Rumble to it. I was thinkin maybe a decent cam an intake and maybe a decent set of heads later own. Any ideas? If you have any Crazy set ups like 325+ HP throw them out there tooo TIA

 

[bcost882]

you could run the 2.9 without oil and coolant......that might kill, it. you never know though....... it might be a freak of nature haha keep on truckin

 

[EERNGER]

For heads, try and track down a set off of an explorer, they are a nice upgrade to your engine. if it didnt come out of an explorer. from what i take they are similar or the same as a GT40 head which my brothers mustang had, and they worked awesome.

For a good low end torque i would take a look at a B303 cam. there are other cams that do a similar job for less though.

Pick up a performer intake and a 550-650 cfm carb and you should have a little beast!

 

[red85]

If you have access to a set of E7TE's, with some porting they can make some serious power. They're not as good as the GT40's from an Explorer in stock form, but a little time with a die grinder and a polishing stone and they'll outflow anything Ford ever made. Some guys even use oversize Chevy valves to get more flow.

 

[fordmike1]

Sell that old dinosour 302 and find a Explorer 5.0 put in a F-cam, rpm airgap intake, 600 Holley, and a set of Tri-Y's and you will be very happy with it. This combo will give you about 325hp at the crank. If you choose to stay with the old school 302 save yourself a headache and just get some GT40 heads, rpm airgap intake, 600 Holley and talk to comp cams and tell them what you got and your goal and they can guide you in the right direction with a good cam. E7 heads have a good use as door stops or wheel chocks.

 

[STX1992]

Sell that old dinosour 302 and find a Explorer 5.0 put in a F-cam, rpm airgap intake, 600 Holley, and a set of Tri-Y's and you will be very happy with it. This combo will give you about 325hp at the crank. If you choose to stay with the old school 302 save yourself a headache and just get some GT40 heads, rpm airgap intake, 600 Holley and talk to comp cams and tell them what you got and your goal and they can guide you in the right direction with a good cam. E7 heads have a good use as door stops or wheel chocks.

Will any of the GT4O heads fit my old engine or any certain years? I found some but they say 87 - 93......

 

[Teddyzee]

Gt40 heads went from '93 (Cobra) to mid '97 (Explorer).
They'll all work, and I believe they all have "F3" part number, my 96's do.

 

[EERNGER]

Will any of the GT4O heads fit my old engine or any certain years? I found some but they say 87 - 93......

Yep, they should work, and free up some horsepower in the old girl!

-just got off some mustang forum, and they have put them on some engines as far back as 1968. so id say your 76 would be fine.

 

[fordmike1]

Will any of the GT4O heads fit my old engine or any certain years? I found some but they say 87 - 93......

Yes they will work on any 289 or 302 and most of the Expolorer GT40 heads are drilled to fit 1/2" heads bolts so they will fit 351w's too.

 

[Mac]

Little slow on the pick-up here that you have the '76' 302. One thing bad about them is that with the stock pistons, they only had 8:1 compression. They had a higher deck height and deeper dished pistons that accounted for that. In addition, believe the crank timing is retarded a couple of degrees.
Dave

 

[STX1992]

Little slow on the pick-up here that you have the '76' 302. One thing bad about them is that with the stock pistons, they only had 8:1 compression. They had a higher deck height and deeper dished pistons that accounted for that. In addition, believe the crank timing is retarded a couple of degrees.
Dave

thats what I read somewhere else...but it was a engine I got in a trade, I would Love to put a 351W in it but everything I read says you cant find headers/manifolds to fit a 4x4 Ranger what makes it so much harder to fit? what hits?

 

[baddad457]

Will any of the GT4O heads fit my old engine or any certain years? I found some but they say 87 - 93......

Before doing anything, first find out what pistons are in that 76 motor. The O.E. pistons had huge, 1/4" deep, Grand Canyon sized dishes in the top. A head swap isn't going to do anything for these, you'll still have a 7.9 to 1 comp ratio (or lower)

 

[NastyZ06]

For a good 302 with lots of torque run the GT40X heads. If you can't find a good deal on the X heads then go with the GT40P heads off an explorer or 93 cobra. Then run a trickflow stage 1 cam with a GT40 intake and you really only need 24lb injectors.. Best setup for tons of torque and descent power without breaking the bank. Whatever you do do not run the F cam. First of all it is designed for a supercharger or turbo and bigger cubes. I hated that cam and I had it on a built 347 with AFR heads and RPM II intake. Only reason why I got it was because I was going turbo.

 

[Teddyzee]

For a good 302 with lots of torque run the GT40X heads. If you can't find a good deal on the X heads then go with the GT40P heads off an explorer or 93 cobra. Then run a trickflow stage 1 cam with a GT40 intake and you really only need 24lb injectors.. Best setup for tons of torque and descent power without breaking the bank. Whatever you do do not run the F cam. First of all it is designed for a supercharger or turbo and bigger cubes. I hated that cam and I had it on a built 347 with AFR heads and RPM II intake. Only reason why I got it was because I was going turbo.

To clarify this for some of you, "X" heads are Ford Motorsport aluminum.
'93-'95 Cobras came with GT40, non-"P" heads, same as '96 and early '97 Explorer.

 

[baddad457]

He also left off mentioning the GT40 Y heads. These are better than the P heads and the precursers to the X heads. I picked up a set of Y's for $600 a couple years ago that were nearly new.