I've got an 82 f150 short bed with a worn out 302/2bbl with a c6 and 3.25 gears. I've got a 302 out of an early 1997 (09/96) explorer that would be a nice upgrade over the wheezy early 80's smogger 302. The plan for the truck is to be a fun cruiser with a fairly healthy punch so I'm wondering if the explorer would do the job with the factory cam and maybe some 1.7 rockers and a mild stall converter?
I DO have a 351w out of an 86 f150 but I don't want to go with a flat tappet cam and I'm not sure on the long term durability of link bar rollers. What do you guys think?