Hey, some of yall might of read my other post on this sight but me and my dad fixin to start gettin to work on that engine for the ranger here soon and was wonderin, what would be some good heads that aint to pricey? Saw some that would love to have but they were 1300 each! Also, what would be a good cam for this motor? Dont need it to be real high performance, just have low powerband cause the motor aint going to be reving extremely high.And also, would it be better to go with a dual sump oil pan or do i need to go with just an oversized front sump? The motor is gonna be going into a 82 ranger so what do yall think would be best?
well, first off i've got to tell you I really dont have that much experience in performance engine building, but if you're wanting to keep the powerband low, and are looking at mild cams, I would recommend that you have the stock heads ported by a good auto-machine shop. This would probably be the best cost to performance option for your application. The $1300ea. heads would make you lose a lot of low end torque.
As far as the oil pan goes I'm not sure what would fit the truck your putting the motor in, but yes, try to go with something about 8 quarts....
If you want good low down plower, don't blow the cash on a set of heads. Have your heads port and polished, and get a 3 angle valve job on them. Get all of your ports and gaskets port matched. Alot of people forget or neglect to do that, but when you're going for torque, it's all about velocity, and that will really help keep it up.
For the cam, just about any good torquer cam will suit your needs, along with some 1.7:1 rockers, possibly roller if you can afford to go that route.
Just some info: If you get an aftermarket intake, make sure that you get a low rise, or torquer model. You want all the parts to work best in the low power band, so make them match.
Just to clarify on the former advice- Getting a motor to perform better is all about making power when you want it. This is called the powerband, and you want parts that are designed for low to midrange power. So all your parts should be geared to make the pwer at low RPM's. Most parts are sold with a suggested RPM range, (idle to 4500, 1500-5,500, or 3,000 -6,500,ect...). You want the lowest RPM range for your cam, intake and heads. The intake you are looking for is called a dual plane manifold. Low rise and high rise terms aren't used as much as they used to be. There are cheaper heads out there, BTW, a LOT cheaper. Keep looking on E-bay.
On my 78 F150 Ranger, I had a 400M in it... I still might build it up depending on what happend when it popped... Anyways I picked up at a swap meet a Edelbrock Performer 400 intake w/650 cfm performer carb... It helped alot with low end considering i needed it with 2.55 gears! Go look around at swap meets for a set of heads, u might find some for cheap, if not get them ported, a good mild cam would fit, and headers w/ 2.5 duals, thats a nice set up that should work...
These motors didnt breathe good, make them breathe and it will wake up alot!
Mill the heads a tad. More compression IS more POWER, and you will get better MILAGE too!!! WOW! Power & milage! Who could ask for more? (don't get carried away with this though because if you shave too much, you'll have to buy Premium or raceing fuel.) Always add a HIGH volume oil pump. So as posted prior to my post; port, polish, MILL heads and get a good valve job. Next in line is a set of headers.
Looking back, I see you are putting this in a Ranger. It is MUCH easier to install a 302 or even a 351W, which can both match the 400M for power, the engines are lighter than the 400M, and you will get better milage with either of them over the 400.... Unless you will be rock climbing with the Ranger, don't focus too much on low end, you'll have plenty. Go for Mid ranger rpm power. Personally, I'd get a 302 from a mid 90's Mustang, with the sensors, computer and all, and drop it in stock as you pulled it out. The ranger will have plenty of bottem end, and it will have leathal acceleration that will cream you and your passenger back into your seats! Be sure your brakes are good!
Looking back, I see you are putting this in a Ranger. It is MUCH easier to install a 302 or even a 351W, which can both match the 400M for power, the engines are lighter than the 400M, and you will get better milage with either of them over the 400.... Unless you will be rock climbing with the Ranger, don't focus too much on low end, you'll have plenty. Go for Mid ranger rpm power. Personally, I'd get a 302 from a mid 90's Mustang, with the sensors, computer and all, and drop it in stock as you pulled it out. The ranger will have plenty of bottem end, and it will have leathal acceleration that will cream you and your passenger back into your seats! Be sure your brakes are good!
He'll have to get a different tranny for the 302 or 351w at the least.
if hes got a c6, the tranny with work with the 302/351W. he will just need the bell housing. id go with the 302 swap from a stang as long as its a roller cam, makes life way easier and the build cheaper. In my 95 F150, my 302 had a rolelr cam already from factory and i swaped out the stock heads/intake and used parts for a 93 5.0L (look at my sig for mods or gallery), the total cost for all my stuff includeing machining and everything was around $3000 Cdn. the plus to running a mustang 302 in such a small truck is that the weight difference from a stang isnt too far off from a reg cab short box ranger, and the choice for part combinations is unlimited cause u can run all stang parts!
I'll take your word on the bellhousing thing, I don't know much about swaps anyway. If I was gonna swap though, it wouldn't be a 302. They are great motors, but I think the 351w is a better one. Stroke it out, (which I'm a big fan of) and the passenger may take out the back window with his head. I also think 400's are just slightly better than 351M's and make better boat anchors than motors, but they can be built up, just not as cheaply or easily as the 302 or 351w as you have already stated. I have an '80 f-150 w/ a 302 and am going to replace it with a 351w stroker and the core motor's cost was nothing compared to what I have in it now, and like you said, is way cheaper than 400 parts. Who knows- sometimes dancing with the one that didn't bring you works out better, but the swap always brings unforseen consequences, and sometimes it's not worth it. Maybe the 400 to 302 is, IDK. BTW, the 351w or 302 are almost interchangable, so the mods for either would be about the same.
yeah the swap from carberated to EFI will be a bit of a challenge but if you got the time/money/skill you can do it. about the interchangebale parts between the 302/351W thats true... my original plan for my 4x4 was to go with a 351 block, throw my ported H.O. heads on it with the GT40 intakes but with a 75mm thorttle body, but i was takin fuel consumption into consideration thats why i stuck with the 302, plus its funnier when i beat 350 chevs hahaha a 331 stroker is even good if you are using a 302... if its a strickly race truck or toy, then go with a 351 stroked or even just bored 30 over and a good set of heads and run the same intake set up as mine if your stickn with EFI, one thing i must mention is run bigger injectors, your fuel pump with thank you...
Hey sorry for the long overdue post back. Naw changed idea on the truck, gonna leave it in the 78 f100 its in, just do some severe customization to the truck. Here a qucik summary of what planning on doin to it:
new cam (comps cam of course, found one very veyr nice for this motor)
roller lifters
new crank
high volume oil pump
motor hot tanked and pinged
motor bored 40 over
new aluminum forged pistons
custom made intake
8 stack fuel injection with 58 mm throttle bodies
fiberglass hood
fiberglass fenders
cut bed and shorten up by 1 1/2 feet (making into shortbed and weight issues)
fiberglass bed with cedar bottom
fuel cell
custom interior
all seams welded shut to help with support
custom paint( be a ruby red with a blue that can go with it but having problems finding color for it and also ghost flames)
limited slip rear end
custom exhaust(2.5 inch mains running into 4 or 4 1/2 inch coupler then into a 8 inch then into a 10 inch big rig stacks out of the bed behind the cab and run 5 inches above the cab with slant cuts with propane flame throwers)
undercarriage light kits(red or blue to match the paint)
thats a quick rundown probably forgot some stuff but all the workin on the truck me and my bud are doing it all ourself, not gonna pay someone cause for 2 reasons, to expensive and 2, have more pride in it by doing it ourselves and be able to tell everything bout truck from top to bottom. I know it sounds like a lot but by us doing it all ourselves, it wont be so bad. Just have to wait till this summer and hopefully get fired up on it cause allready got e truck tore down and doing welding till my mom made me stop cause said was interferring with my college, which it wasnt. Let me know what yall think this sounds like
the flame throwers sound SICK! haha that set up should haul pretty good and besure to post pics of it when its done... id like to see it after its all done.... sounds pretty sweet, i hope it turns out good for ya.
It all sounds pretty good to me - except the fiberglass and cedar bed idea. I'd do everything else first, and see if you can keep the rear tires planted before you start REMOVING weight from the rear end of a truck. You may want to ADD some weight back there and spend that money on a 4-link suspension so you have a truck that moves instead of making a flame-throwing, wheel spinning smoke show in one spot.
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