So my question is pretty straight forward... Can I pull a fuel injected 302 long block out of say a mustang, explorer or even a crown vic to use as a replacement for an older long block that is carburated? What sort of changes need to be made (i.e. cam shaft) to make this work right?

I have a situation where I overheated an engine and suspect head gaskets blew as there is water in the cylinders... Considering the time and expense of replacing these and having the heads checked for cracks, It seems it might be just as easy and comparable in price to simply replace the whole damn motor with something 20 years newer if there arent a whole lot of changes to be made internally.

All the peripherals on the outside of the old engine are in great shape and it ran strong until it overheated. My thinking is that I can gain newer parts and perhaps a bit of extra power by doing this.

As an alternative would it be viable to stick a pair of late model (gt40 exploder) heads onto the current block? I located a couple pairs for a decent price.

My overall goal is to fix this with it having more power than I started with for about the same price as fixing what I have. I figure if I have to spend the money anyway, why not get a little more out of it...

Thanks!

 

The newer engine uses a 50 ounce imbalance on the crank, so will need its own harmonic damper and flywheel. The early engine is 28 ounce imbalance. The newer engine will also use a serpentine belt, so you will have to swap the pulleys, front cover, and water pump (reverse rotation on the newer engine). If the firing orders are different, you can accommodate that by changing the spark plug wires.

It is also pretty easy to install the GT40 heads onto your old engine. You may have to get new pushrods if your old heads have stud mounted rockers, as the new heads use sled type rockers.

 

Would I simply use push rods spec'd for the engine the gt40 head came off of?

Sounds like a head swap would be the best approach; dont feel like monkeying with a balancing issue.

Can I expect any power gain fron this? I figure a mild cam will complement this nicely.

 

Fuel injected engines won't have the eccentric bolted to the cam to drive a mechanical fuel pump and may not have the boss machined to mount the pump.

 

Forgot about the fuel pump eccentric. But keeping the old front cover will retain the fuel pump mount.

If the GT40 heads came off of a roller block, its pushrods would be too short for your engine with the flat tappet lifters. These heads should flow better than stock 302 heads, so you should expect to see some power gains. Most places advertise about 25 hp. A more aggressive cam should bump that gain as well. But to get significant power boost, the heads should be ported. There the costs start rising fast, so you will have to decide what you want to do.

 

Sounds like upgrading to the gt40 heads would provide for a modest gain at a reasonable price; probably less than getting the existing heads inspected and machined. I think this with the cam is the way to go.

So if I call summit or goto my local speed shop, they should be able to help me figure out which pushrods to get?

 

just make sure you use distributor steel gear on a roller lifter cam /electric pump

 

You can shim the rocker fulcrums so there's a little variance in how long they need to be but the only way to know for sure is to assemble the engine and check the length with a measuring tool. Ideally with checker springs on the valve, then rotate the crank a few times to check the rocker's travel pattern on the valve tip.

 

You're making general assumptions here. Carbed 302's existed up until 1985, which is a few years past the change to the 50 oz crank. Crown Vic's had std rotation waterpumps and timing covers until the end of the 302/5.0 in 1991, these lo-po motors also used the earlier firing order until then as well. The answer to the question he asked that you're attempting to answer here depends on which 302 he's talking about replacing his engine with

 

To be fair I was thinking along the lines of a late 90's version to get the newest equipment possible; I am not sure I articulated this point all that well. In regards to the early 90's 5.0 in the Vic... Are those heads better than the ones from a mid seventies engine. I was to juice this thing up a little but I want to keep it cheap and simple; having custom pushrods cut is more trouble than its worth. I am pretty sure my block is in good shape so I really dont need to change the entire motor.

 

Any heads with an E7 part number will for sure have bolt-down rockers vs. the old stud mounted rockers, so anything from the 90's would be bolt down.

 

The Vic's got the crappy E6SE heads. Best to steer clear of those heads, they also had pistons without valve reliefs, so swapping heads onto these short blocks gets dicey in terms of piston to valve clearance, unless you replace the pistons (the roller block, crank, rods are the same for all) If you're looking to build up a stock shortblock (if you get one that doesn't need boring or new pistons) then the following are what to look for: 87-95 Mustang, 87-93 T-Bird/Cougar, 87-97 Pickup or van, 96-2001 Explorer/Mountaineer. All of the above have E7TE heads, with the exception of the Explorer/Mountaineer which had GT40 (96-mid 97) or GT40P heads. The 94-97 pickup/van motor has the same cam as the Explorer/Mountaineer motor. The 93 T-Bird has the same cam as the 93-95 Cobra motor. The Mustang 5.0 has the HO cam, which is slightly more lift/duration on the intake side vs the Explorer cam. You will also need a steel geared distributor to use with a roller cam. The E7 heads are better than the mid 70's heads if only because they have pedestal rockers vs your pressed in rocker studs. The porting is slightly more advanced as well, especially so if you take the time to do some port work in removing the Thermactor bumps from the exhaust sides, this takes all of thirty minute's time with a drill and a good carbide porting bit. No change in pushrods should be needed as the valve stems lengths are the same

 

One more thing in swapping heads: what you do should take into consideration as to what pistons you now have in your short block (piston top type and compression height), not all flat topped 302 pistons have the same compression height, this varies from 1.585 to 1.620, that translates to a 9-10 cc change in compression volume

 

So I think the conclusion is I will call Summit or Jegs to get **** for this thing. Surprised at how different things are for an engine that supposedly didnt change much over 40 years.

 

Who gave you that impression ? Other than the bolt patterns of the block, everything was revised at some point over that time span.