My friend's got some GT40 heads on his 302 that he had in his e32 BMW, but that car got T-boned so everything's coming out and he's throwing on new heads and other parts before transplanting them into another car.

H'okay, back to the point.

GT40 heads. Crane 1.7:1 pedestal mount roller rockers, Crane dual springs, new valves and seals, and resurfaced gasket faces.

I've personally been in this car and I can attest that they function quite well.

He wants to sell them to me; I want to buy them. The problem is that he wants an offer and won't give me a price. I don't know what to offer.

Thanks for the help.

 

How many miles are on them? The heads themselves are a dime a dozen... Unused after reconditioned $300. Freshened up with only a few thousand miles... $200. Over 10,000 miles they are junkyard priced at $100. Pretty much double which ever it is for the extras. If he doesn't bite suggest ebay.

 

500km on them since reconditioning. You say that's $200, but when I look on eBay they're anywhere from $300 to $700 for non-upgraded ones. I'm a bit lost.

 

Thats like 300 miles... They are brand spanking new. This puts you in the $600 range if you were strangers.

If you go to a junkyard and get a set of those heads used, you can should be able to get them for about $100; Ford mass produced these by the tens of thousands. Pick N Pull for instance sells cylinder heads for $50 a pop. Ebay prices are high because well people are too dumb to know where they can get them from. Pretty much any pre 96-1/2 5.0 explorer has them; I personally like the gt-40p which were installed on explorer 5.0s starting at 96-1/2; they flow a little better but there are a few fitment issues due to the angle of the spark plug.

What are you looking at putting them on? (as in vehicle and engine block) This can help determine whether its worth it for you or not.

 

We're pretty good friends and we help each other a lot with engine stuff.

I bought a 1978 302 from another friend for $50, more or less complete but in pieces. Cylinders still have cross hatching on them, but that's irrelevant as I will 30 over it. Anyway, I want to build a 400hp stroker engine with a forged 4340 steel rotating assembly and a roller top end. I'm leaning towards 331 cubes. I know something like aftermarket aluminum heads would give more power, but they're expensive and I'll be slowly building this on the side out of money I feel I can spare, so money saved is money saved. I'll buy aftermarket heads eventually, but for now the GT40s seem like an affordable power adder.

The engine will go in my '69 F100, the green one in my signature. The transmission is already built up for more power. Since it's my daily, I'll probably pull it out for fuel efficiency reasons, but I'd still like it in there for at least a few months to enjoy it.

 

I understand working with what you have but since it sounds like that short block hasn't made it to far, why not find a good roller short-block to bolt those heads to? If you get one from a 97-01 explorer it wil have a real nice cam with it. Lots of guys on here though will advise not to mess with anything less than a 351w. The heads will bolt onto that just the same although I think the bolt holes may need drilled out. Trucks weigh a lot so even a well set up 302 will only go so far. the 351w will give you a lot more torque. They can be found just as easy.

The point is it cheaper to spend a few extra bucks now to get something you will be really happy than it will be to find your not as happy as you hoped with the 302. Dont get me wrong it will move it around even at highways speeds but it will really be working on hills and with a load or in tow.

Just food for thought.

 

A small block is what I want and what I already have so I'd like to stick to it. Once it's out of my truck it'll be going into an older European car, most likely a Volvo Amazon, as a quirky little swap so I like the size of the small block.

My truck weighs about 3,300lb give or take and doesn't even have a hitch receiver to do any towing. I don't need a torque monster, I just want a peppy engine for some street ripping and every built 302 I've had pull me around has always put a smile on my face. I don't want a medium block and definitely don't need a big block. The long strokes on Ford big blocks sure do give a lot of torque but I don't need or want a tow rig with a boat anchor up front.

The reason that not a whole lot has been done so far on the engine is because I'm saving for a forged rotating assembly. I don't want a cheap build. I'll be putting money into it, and like I said I'll buy aluminum heads at some point, but those are a big expense and having usable heads (and roller rockers and springs) like my buddy's GT40 heads will mean I can use the engine sooner rather than later.

My F250 has a 429 which serves its purpose as a torquer and my '73 F100 has a 360 which does have potential but an FE isn't what I want. I want a small block.

 

Good advice there to look for a late model roller motor, have you priced out what it's gonna cost to put a roller cam in that early block? Expen$ive!! The lifters alone may cost you $500 and you still need pushrods and maybe guideplates depending upon what heads are used, while you get all the necessary stuff with a roller motor so you just need the cam. These roller motors are common as dirt too pretty much every truck 5.0 built after 1992 has a roller cam from the factory and most cars from '87 on also got one.

Also if you're building a stroker go all the way to 347 cubes, with a 400hp goal more displacement will help keep the powerband streetable and there is no downside to the 347 kits these days.. oiling problems are a thing of the past.

 

Sounds like you have done your homework and know what you want. Good luck with the project.

 

You bought a 50$ 302.... You want to build something streetable and 400hp, you're looking at a higher rpm engine even at 331cid. I'm sure you can find a 351 bare block for 50$. That's all you need. You're replacing everything else. The stroker kit for the 351 will be the same price as a 331 or only a few hundred more. A 392/408 stroker will easily get you a streetable 400hp with low compression for regular pump gas. Then when you get bigger heads, the potential is still there. A 331 will still be a high rpm engine.
I've built my share of these things, and I ended up putting a supercharger on my 347 because I was disappointed with it. It only makes 340whp with a supercharger and a similar combo you're thinking of.
You won't be disappointed with a 351 stroker, and for the money, just get a 351 and not buy a stroker kit... It looks like you're trying to plan this build so you only do it once, and for me, I suggest a 351 to start with. And if you didn't know, the 351w is a smallblock. The trans behind your 360 won't bolt to a smallblock, and my 4cyl ranger weighs 3100... I'm surprised your f100 is only 3300lb with a bigblock.

 

I have thought of this but thank you for pointing it out in case I hadn't! My decision into whether or not I want a roller cam is not final yet but if that is the route I go I'll sell my block and buy a late model block.

My truck's actually got the 300 six with a C4, which is another reason I want a small block. (A 351W came with a C4 too, right?) It's my '73 that has the 360. The green one in the picture is a '69.

I pulled that weight figure off some specification sources from the internet so take it with a grain of salt.

When I say 400hp, I mean at the crank, so let's establish that first.

What was the build on your 347?

 

I overlooked the 69 statement. I looked in sig and the two trucks there I thought were the ones in your pic, even when you said 69 was the green one.

My 347 is in a foxbody mustang. Been a while and I've done a lot since then so I can't remember the cam. It's an off the shelf crane or comp cam though.
302 bored .060 with an eagle hbeam stroker kit. Ported GT40 heads with 194 valves and milled for 3/8 studs and guide plates. 1.7 roller rockers (after the 1.6s didn't get me the power I wanted) Edelbrock intake, 65mm tb, 42lb injectors, bbk headers, off-road mac pro chamber, flow master exhaust. I believe it's 8.9 compression with a thick head gasket. Back when I built it there wasn't many compression options. I had to go thick gasket to bring down compression some so I could boost it.
I'm forgetting something. It's not a monster build. It is in my convertible and wanted a powerful street motor for the heavy car. I wasn't impressed.

 

Ignore... Duplicate post

 

Your truck is over 4000 lbs. unless its been stripped of parts down to nothing.

 

From the many builds I've seen online, I don't know why you needed to use forced induction to get 400bhp.

That sounds more believable but according to this spread sheet it's 3,500lb. Add fluids and you have your curb weight. Keep in mind that I'm no radio, manual steering, manual brakes, and have one of the lighter engines.