Roller cam lets the engine breath if the pipes are big enough. Start with headers (~300, plus the rest of the exhaust) and junk that y-pipe, or you wont see the hp you bought with the cam. If it's only roller ready, you also need roller lifters, new pushrods, and the spyder (a couple hundred in parts if you do the work yourself). I believe Ford/Motocraft still has the kit available. If its a roller block, you just need to swap the cam. Or you can just get a flat tappet cam, if your on a budget. Power isn't free on these engines.
And your intended use/budget will help us help you.
-Mike

 

You can find the roller accessories on any 302 HO , or the 94+ truck 302 , they were rollers to....

 

Start with an overall budget of 500$ - Daily driver, better gas mileage(trying to get as much as possible). What can I get with that? I work in a body shop and can do the parts on a discount and the exhaust manually.

 

Well, if you're after mileage and driveability, EFI is the way to go.

MAF-based EFI offers higher resolution inside the computer as well as metering airflow into the engine, making it more precise and thus, you can get get better mileage and better driveability.

Speed Density, which is what you have now, is better than a carb for both because the computer manages the cold starts for you and also manages the timing on the fly.

Carb engines, whether they have mechanical or electronic ignition, have pre-set timing curves and it's far more limited as to the reasons why adjustments to timing can be made.

The cheapest option is to repair what you have and possibly bump the mechanical timing of the distributor a hair. When I adjusted my distributer a hair off the factory setting of ten degrees I got better mileage and performance based on how I drive my truck (5.8L, 93 crewcab, 5sp). Depending how you drive your truck, that may not do much if anything at all.

 

You can advance the base timing from 10 BTDC to 12-14 , this will help some , if you get any pinging then you went to far and will need to back it down some , most will be ok at 14....

 

I have read about adjusting the timing, but everything I read to just DO it, rather than giving me a how to, have any directions or pictures? Does it cost anything performance wise?

 

Also, what sound does "pinging" make? Is it a ping or a hard knock? Sorry to double post, can't edit I'm on a phone.

 

Its not hard and its free , you need a timing light , unplug the spout losen the dist hold down and turn the distributor untill its at 14 deg before TDC then tighten it down and replace the spout , pinging is a spark knock , you will hear it if you go to far advanced , you should get a good manual or just google it ...it helps performance and fuel mileage ...it also helps to clean off the balencer and highlight the timing mark so its easy to see....

 

Spout? Timing light? Please explain, this is all kind of "new" to me - the terminology is not very easy to understand. I can blow your mind with computer stuff though.

 

Thats why you need a good manual , it will take you though the stages of setting the timing , the spout is just a jumper plug , when you remove it , it will disable the computer advance so you can set the base timing , it should be by the drivers side fender well depending on the year of truck , the timing light hooks to the #1 plug wire , it will flash a light when the plug fires , point it at the timing marker and you will see where its at , the motor needs to be running when you do it .....

 

I have the Chilton manual. I'll look over it again to see if its in there.

 

For a daily driver I'm gonna suggest the Comp Cams 31-255-5 cam and lifter set and paceseter longtube headers, these two things are easily the most cost effective upgrades you can make. That cam at about $150 plus gaskets is by far the best bang-for-your-buck upgrade, it will produce substantial power increases across the board and is 100% compatable with your SD EFI system, which means it will idle like stock. A cam change is a big job since you have to literally strip the motor down to the bare longblock, but if you have decent wrenching skills it's not a technically difficult task. Everything else is just a massage of the existing powerband in comparison, for example adding 1.7 rockers with the stock cam may produce just barely noticable power gains but the motor will still have the same lame 0-3500rpm powerband. The cam I suggested isn't exactly a high rpm cam either but it will extend power to 4500rpm or so and give you lots more from idle up.. especially when paired with longtubes. This will also boost fuel milage(when you're not rodding on it) because the motor will make more TQ so you won't have to lean into it as much to maintain speed. Swapping in a roller cam from a Mustang is a good idea but the reality is you won't know if your block is 100% ready until you strip the intake off, and if it's not it will need to be stripped down to drill and tap for the spider since the bosses for this are located right over the cam bearings and they have to be removed to drill and tap the holes.

You are also wasting our $$ on a "cold air" intake too, the stock setup already is a real cold air system and is plenty big enough for a stock or lightly modified motor, if you do anything to it simply go to a scrapyard and get the intake tube from a 300 or 460 truck, that's the part that runs from the grill to the bottom of the air filter box, when you see it you'll know why it's preferred over the 5.0/5.8 truck version.
Other must do's are a timing advance and a 6-liter tunup which is replacing the stock ignition system(plugs, wires, coil) with higher output pieces.

 

Well the injectors would be gone, and all the computer would do is run the fuel pumps.

Also later if you want to go back to EFI, you just plug everything back up.

I just did a 5.0 to 5.8 swap and if it keeps giving me a fit I plan to slap a carb on it. I got the intake and carb, just need the lokar kickdown cable and pressure regulator.

 

Sounds like a plan. I may end up going this route. Next paycheck, parts should be getting ordered. I am just kind of scared of ripping the engine apart. Will it need to be taken out of the truck for me to do this?

How would the dual gas tanks function as well? any issues?

 

Shouldn't need to pull the engine, you might want to pull the hood for easier access to the top.
The tank selector system has nothing to do with the computer, it only sees the tank that is selected. And really all the tanks need s the pump command at the power solenoid.
-Mike