A little background first. The bronco has 302, E40d trans, and borg warner transfer case. It has 3.55 gears, with a limited slip in the rear and 33 inch tires on it.

Donor vehicle: 85 F-150 no engine, m5r2 5 spd trans, new process 208 transfer case. It also has 3.55 gears with open diffs in the front and rear.

My plan for this build is as follows: I will put a crate engine in the bronco, a new wiring harness from ron francis, the 5 spd and 208 transfer case from the donor vehicle as well as the pedal set and some random interior pieces. Later on down the line I will go with a 6 inch lift, re gear the diffs to 4.56, with limited slips in the front and rear and 35 inch tires.

I have already installed a rebuild kit in the 208 transfer case, all new bearings, seals, and chain because it was left exposed to the elements with the speed sensor missing and it had a lot of dust and a bit of water in side it, so it was a good chance to see the internals and what kind of shape they are in. the transfer case is squared away now. I have started doing the same with the m5r2 trans as well, there is some surface rust on some of the gears on the main shaft, but after a rebuild, and some cleaning, the last little bits of surface rust will polish back off after it gets driving around again. I will clean what I can up, before going back together. after it's done and I have put say 300 miles on it, I can change the fluids out again and it should be fine.

I have two options for a crate engine:
OPTION 1 A basic auto zone, o rielly's engine approx 1200$, which will be a 302 flat tappet with camshaft options for a comp cams extreme energy off road cam with a usable rpm range of 600-4800 RPMS.
OPTION 2 A crate engine from JEGS which will be a 302 HO roller cam engine, approx 1900$, but the options for cams seem to be more limited to mid range and top end.

I like the idea of the roller cam engine for the power gains, and I am curious if it will be a direct bolt in, using my 302 intake and injectors and what not. I have read a few conflicting things about the swap, some say the firing order is different, some say the injectors are 24lb on the HO and 19lb on the non HO, and I am not sure what is fact and what is fiction.

On the other hand I could go with the cheaper non HO engine and have better cam options for what I will be using it for.

My uses for the bronco:
I have access to 2 rivers within 20 minute drive, I will be using this bronco as a daily driver to work and back which is 2.5 miles on way, and then going to the river on days off. there are some sandy hills, some deep crossings between 2.5 and 4 feet deep depending on the river, and some rocky areas. off roading it never sees RPMS above 1900. I try to make the vehicle do the least amount of work to get through the obstacles. rather than just kamikaze into every obstacle.

It does not need to have loads of power, or loads of wheel travel, the idea behind the build is for a well rounded off roader.

My question to you is: will the HO 302 be a direct swap using my stock intake and injectors?
Would it be worth the extra horse power of the HO and a stock cam for roughly 2000$ or would the 1200$ engine and 300$ cam set get me about the same power?
Could I use the roller cam engine, and put the off road flat tappet cam in?
How would you proceed with this build?

Sorry such a large post but the more info you have the better decisions can be made. Thanks for the help.

 

A little more background. I have removed the top on the bronco, and have pulled all the carpet and seats out of it. Last summer I sunk it and it literally filled the glove box up with water. the water was past the passenger side headlight.

I have 4 jeep seats, and the bench seat out of my donor vehicle, the plan is to swap the bench seat in the front of the bronco, take to stock back seat out of the the bronco and mount all 4 jeep seats on pedestals and using bearing plates commonly found on boats(you can get at walmart for 20$ each) mount the seats to those, so all four seats will be able to swivel (just need to figure out a way to lock them in place i.e a pin of some sort so it will only swivel when you want it to.) and effectively turn it into a seven seater bronco. once I go with my lift kit of 6 inches, I will need to add another 1.5 to 2 inches to the back, so when it is loaded down with 7 people it will sit level instead of sagging down in the back.
I also want to build bumpers front and rear out of 6 inch channel with some hitch receiver stock welded in the middle of the front and rear bumpers, and a winch on a hitch mount so I can use it at either the front or rear. My family size is 4 but it will be nice to have room a few buddies when we go off roading or fishing or camping or whatever.

Also my donor truck came stock with a 300 6 cylinder and a 4 speed manual with granny gear (I wish I had that trans) but when I got it that trans was gone and the 5 speed mazda was there instead. It would have been nice if the donor already had 4.56 gears, but I would not be so lucky LOL.

I have not purchased any engine or harness yet, so I am still open to ideas, maybe a crate 300, stay with the 302, or maybe even a crate 351. But keep in mind I will be using it for low end torque, low rpm cruising i.e low range and first gear, for 90% of off roading, only hitting second gear when I have to get a run at a hill and even then I only hit it at around 10-15 mph. Even on the way to work the speed limit is only 45 for about a 1 mile stretch and then it is slows back down.
I hear the 300 6 cylinder is a good engine because it makes torque so low in the rpms, but I would be disappointed if I used it for towing. Also I could use the stock ECM out of the donor truck to go that route.

I am trying to build it on a budget, but anything I need like a harness It will be easier to work some overtime and buy new rather that splice things together and then every weekend it something new fix. I am figuring I will be in around 6K but when it is done everything will be squared away, that's the engine, harness, material for the cage and bumpers, lift, tires, and lockers, and re gearing. After that that should be no reason I can't get 150,000 miles out of it with routine maintenance.

Thanks in advance for all the help, and feel free to post with more options maybe something I haven't thought of.

 

Welcome to FTE! Sounds like a cool project, some pictures of it would be nice.

 

I will get some photos as the build progresses, I already rebuilt the transfer case, and I didn't take any pics of that. I will get some of the trans during tear down and re build, and the same of the bronco.

 

Honestly for what you describe you want, the 300 might be your best option. And it will tow anything you are gonna want to tow with a Bronco anyhow.