EFI conversion question

[nicholas.galligan]

I've been logging countless hours researching upgrading my 79" thunderbird 302 that I have in my ranger to an EFI setup. I've got almost everything I need to do this conversion, I'm going with a EFI setup with mass air, the wiring harness and ecm i'm using is out of a 89 mustang non-HO. I'm going with a 65mm throttle body and 70mm MAF(calibrated to the stock 19lb injectors). My question is the cam I have in the motor right now is a very mild cam with a power band from 800-4,500RPM'S to be exact the summit racing cam SUM-1799. When I convert over will I need to retune the computer for the cam. I know according to oldfuelinjection.com it says to keep the lobe seperation at or above 114, this cam has a seperation of 110, will that cause issues? If needed I can swap the cam, but that will be my last resort, if I need to do that will this comps cam work without a retune? Part Number-31-255-5 1,000-5,200RPM range, valve lift 0.462 int./0.474 exh and a 114 degree lobe seperation. thank you

 

[nicholas.galligan]

I forgot to mention, if it matters, the intake is a mustang intake off of a 89" HO with a 3/4 inch spacer. Don't know if that will matter, just thought I would add it, along with i'm adding 2.5inch dual exhaust with high flow cats into glass packs with 37" tires and 4.88 gears in the rear

 

[Teddyzee]

The cam will need to have the H.O./351 firing order. Mustang fuel injection from '86+ is sequential, and will not perform correctly with the "old" 302 firing order.

 

[shane96ranger]

There was no "non-ho" Mustang in 89. What is the 3 digit code on the computer? (i.e. A9L or A9P)

Sent while I should be doing something else

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

If you stay flat tappet you will need to change the gear on your distributor to match. IIRC the flat tappet cams need a cast iron gear while the rollers need a steel gear, the Mustang cam would have been roller.

Out of curiosity what heads are you running?

 

[nicholas.galligan]

my mistake the ECM I have is out of a california emissions 88 mustang, 3-digit code of 8LF. Everything else is from an 89' stang . I guess I was totally wrong, I thought there were some non-HO 80's mustangs. I found a 93' mustang gt roller camshaft on ebay with low miles on it firing order 13726548. This will work as long as I use the correct roller lifters and steel distributer gear right?

 

[nicholas.galligan]

and I'm just running the stock heads that came with the 302, I cannot check the numbers on the heads right now, i'm currently deployed to Afghanistan, i'm just trying to get everything I need ordered and all the information I need before I get back because i'll have very limited time to put all this together once I return to the states. thank you for all your assistance

 

[shane96ranger]

As far as what you need to put the cam in, I'm not positive. But you will need keepers for the roller lifters. There are a few different kits available that I've seen.

EDIT: It will look like this:

Sent while I should be doing something else

 

[Snoranger]

Your '79 block isnt a roller block. All 5.0ls changed over to roller ready blocks (not all had roller lifters, but they were designed to accept them.) sometime in '85. Stock Ford roller lifters wont work in that block.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

and I'm just running the stock heads that came with the 302, I cannot check the numbers on the heads right now, i'm currently deployed to Afghanistan, i'm just trying to get everything I need ordered and all the information I need before I get back because i'll have very limited time to put all this together once I return to the states. thank you for all your assistance

For all the work you are putting into it, I would find different heads to get the compression up to a semi-respectable level.

Your '79 block isnt a roller block. All 5.0ls changed over to roller ready blocks (not all had roller lifters, but they were designed to accept them.) sometime in '85. Stock Ford roller lifters wont work in that block.

The rest of the apperatus won't fit either, if you want to go to a roller cam it is going to take an aftermarket kit or a different block.

I am sure somebody else on here will pipe up otherwise, but IMO I would check into finding a 351W cam with a profile that matches the 302 cam of your choice to get the right firing order and performance that you want.

 

[shane96ranger]

For all the work you are putting into it, I would find different heads to get the compression up to a semi-respectable level

I agree. Or better yet, instead of soaking a bunch of money into an under-performing motor, just get a motor out of a Mustang or Explorer/Mounty. I could have had the entire 98 Mountaineer motor I got my heads off of for 400 or 450 (can't remember which he said). Been kicking myself since.......


Sent while I should be doing something else

 

[RICO9]

Why not do this instead and save your self a headache? I'm in the middle of it right now.

http://www.4wdandsportutility.com/tech/03064wd_bronco_tbi_fuel_injection/index.html

 

[nicholas.galligan]

Hmm... decisions.... Well I think i'm going to keep moving in the same direction i'm currently going, although I have been looking at a pair of gt40 heads, so i think i'll get more serious with those now, and I found a roller conversion kit for it, wouldn't that be the only thing I would need to make the roller cam work, aside from a steel distributer gear and a roller cam?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I agree. Or better yet, instead of soaking a bunch of money into an under-performing motor, just get a motor out of a Mustang or Explorer/Mounty. I could have had the entire 98 Mountaineer motor I got my heads off of for 400 or 450 (can't remember which he said). Been kicking myself since.......

Well, it is about 6 of one and half a dozen of another.

The only major difference between the '78 and an Ex longblock is the heads and cam setup aside from wear (which at this point could be considerable for either engine)

Since he is going to need a different cam either way, has the EFI stuff, and really only needs the heads if the current engine is in good shape I wouldn't be afraid to just stick the heads and cam in it and go.

The easy way would to just buy a roller engine and be done with it though, mine wasn't an HO or explorer but was $200 fully dressed with the EFI junk and ran great. It now has $110 worth of HO cam and E7 heads that I haven't got to the point of firing back up. The Explorer front beltdrive (which I also upgraded to) also fits very nice in the Ranger engine bay and doesn't require major teardown to replace common things like the alternator. Before with my old setup I would have had to remove everything between the grilleguard (grille, tranny coolers, efan and radiator) and the water pump to change the alternator.

 

[shane96ranger]

Since he is going to need a different cam either way, has the EFI stuff, and really only needs the heads if the current engine is in good shape I wouldn't be afraid to just stick the heads and cam in it and go.

Can he do this though? He says he has a 93 cam. I couldn't remember if the non-roller blocks would accept a newer roller cam. Snoranger confirms my suspicion in his post. However, I thought you could still use the keepers on the regular or roller block.