I have an 87 302 truck engine. When I looked for a engine kit for it at northern Auto parts.com (cheapest place I could find) the kit is like 60 bucks more for the 87-88 truck engine kit compared to others...why? Sure the engine is going into a truck but not an 87, but a 51. Is there another cheaper engine kit that I could substitue for the 87-88 truck engine kit on northernautoparts.com like one of there car versions? Not trying to be picky but don't want to spend what I don't have to ya know.

 

What is included in the kit? Are there any extra pieces in the '87 kit compared to the others?
Also.. if the motor has the OEM ford oil pan and rocker cover gaskets(1 piece rubber with metal core) then you'll want to use these over any cork gaskets that may come in the kit. If these are not on the motor I'd recommend buying them seperately from Ford, unless you can find a kit with these included.

 

Ford 302 Truck 87-88 - Master Kit

Price:
$291.53


Components INCLUDES:

Hasting Rings

Federal Mogul recessed head Pistons

Federal Mogul Seal Power Rod Brgs

Federal Mogul Seal Power Main Brgs

Federal Mogul Seal Power Cam Brgs

Melling Oil Pump

Federal Mogul Camshaft

Federal Mogul Lifters

Melling Timing Components

Pioneer Frost Plugs

Victor Gaskets

Make:
Ford


Model:
all Truck


Year:
87-88


Category:
Ford


Manufacturer:
Engine Kits

 

thats the kit from the website, but the one for 77-85 car is only 219.99....would this kit work you think

 

The 89-91 Truck kit is $274 and includes a double roller timing set, but no valve stem seals. The biggest difference between the truck and car kits will be the cam, and while a car cam will work in a truck, it won't produce as much low rpm torque. And you will want something better than the stock replacement cam.. they were sad to put it mildly.

 

A guy I know that used to work at a ford dealership as a mechanic claims that in around 87 the trucks started using roller lifters, this could explain the difference, and you would need the proper kit....

 

This kit is for a carb'd motor, so it won't have the gaskets for the EFI intake and EGR, and possibly a few other parts. The cam will not be compatible with the EFI system either.

 

No.. the trucks didn't get roller lifters till '93 or '94. The Mustang had a roller cam starting in '87 I believe, and all post '87 5.0 blocks are roller ready. This means you can drop in a roller cam and lifters with the addition of a spider retainer, available as a kit or from a donor motor.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FORD-...spagenameZWDVW

 

Sorry I didn't say this before...I got the engine (long block) from a junk yard...it had no intake manifold or anything just the crank,rods, cam, and pistons....and of course the heads. I just read the numbers and found out it was a 87 truck engine. I have a 4bb intake from a different engine I was going to use so I am not going to be going the fuel injected route. Since I am just going carb would the 77-85 car kit work?

 

Would the one piece rear seal be the only thing I would need to get from my nearest parts store?

 

[QUOTE=Conanski]No.. the trucks didn't get roller lifters till '93 or '94. The Mustang had a roller cam starting in '87 I believe, and all post '87 5.0 blocks are roller ready. This means you can drop in a roller cam and lifters with the addition of a spider retainer, available as a kit or from a donor motor.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FORD-MUSTANG-GT-ROLLER-LIFTER-CONVERSION-289-302-351W_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33614QQihZ018QQite mZ280045467715QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW[/QUOTE]
Ahhh.. I argued with this "Ford" guy about the roller lifters but I went to work for the army before I got to tear apart any 302's that new, and I have never come acrossed them to date.....thaks for the info......

 

When you get a new one piece seal, check the crank for scoring as there should be a speedi sleeve available for those years, and if you go with the cheaper kit, make sure you are getting a double roller timing set and not just standard....

 

In that case yes, the car kit or an earlier truck kit will work.

 

I see pistons in the kit, right? And this is going into a '51, right?

So you're not going to pull 16,000 lbs of gooseneck or something, right?

So dispense with the crapola truck cam and low compression.
Get something about 9.5:1 and a cam that will run to 6000 rpm.

While you're at it, get better than stock valve seals (Perfect Circle or other fine brand, might require machining of the heads) screw in studs and 7000rpm valve springs. This stuff isn't free, but it is cheap compared to other parts. Also, rework your rods, consider shot peening or glass beading and ARP fasteners all around down there.

Once you have the reciprocating assemblies worthy of real power, then you can fritter money away on headers, manifolds and carbs without fear of blowing it all into the oilpan.......

 

sounds good guys, thanks for the help