Hi there guys, I searched like hell on this forum and I couldn't find the info I need. I have a 1965 F100 that someone installed a '71 302 into. The 302 now has a spun bearing (how I got it) and I'm looking to just replace the motor.

I WAS looking for a '86-up 302 HO for the forged parts and higher compression ratio, but I haven't found one yet. However, I DID find a '96 302 out of an F150 that was freshly remanufactured. However, someone stole the roller cam gear out of the motor. However, I can't complain about the price....$150!

So my question is this...what is the HP/TQ/compression ratio of a 1996 302 from a F150? My choices are to either find a good used roller cam/lifter/dogbone/spider setup, or get a new hydraulic flat-tappet cam and lifters. The comp. ratio will be needed to figure the cam selection out if I go FT.

Thanks in advance for any help or info!

-Drew

 

I don't know the specs for certain, but I'm pretty sure compression will be around 9.0:1.

Roller cams typically don't wear as bad as flat tappets, so you can do pretty good with used equipment sometimes. I'm guessing that the engine will be carbureted. I found more vacuum at idle and low rpm with a flat tappet cam as compared to a similarly ground hyd roller that I was running in my high rpm mustang 302. This is because the roller cam ramps up and down much quicker than a flat tappet, meaning that you're spending significantly more time at or near max lift. I went with a solid flat cam, but I'm sure you want hydraulic. Since the 302 has a relatively short stroke, and our full size trucks are fairly heavy, the more you can do to improve your low rpm range the happier you'll be with it....depending on what you want to do with it. This may not be apples for apples since the grinds I run in that car (236/.528) are probably different than the grinds you're looking at for your truck, but that's what I found going between the two types.

I was pretty happy with the Edelbrock Performer cam on an '88 F150 I used to have. Yeah, I converted to a Holley 600 carb. Also, you can save a few bucks getting the Summit cam with the same specs. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

Static CR is the same on all 5.0 truck and Mustang motors.. 9:1. Stock the truck motor made 200hp/270tq but the only reason for that is the stock cam which is smaller than the Mustang bumpstick and the cork-like single exhaust system, otherwise the truck motor has the exact same HP potential.

 

Excellent, guys, thank you very much for the info.

Yes, I was considering a hydraulic flat tappet cam....actually i was looking at the Comp High Energy 268 which has specs that are very close to the stock Mustang HO roller cam, but with 4* more duration, (218 opposed to 212, .456" lift opposed to .444") but a 110 lobe separation as opposed to 115...I figured it would probably play nice with a carbureted engine. I'll be running a Weiand Stealth intake with a Holley vac. secondary 600 carb, and shorty headers with 2" dual exhaust with Cherry Bomb glasspacks, so the exhaust should be considerably more free flowing than a stock truck's.
As for vacuum, I'll be running non-power brakes, and practically no accessories except for a vacuum advance, so how much vacuum the motor pulls isn't a huge issue.

I'll probably just look for a used HO roller cam, dogbones, and a spider, and just run that. That way I'll not have to worry about wiping out cam lobes with substandard oil and such.