Hey guys.

I recently acquired a 302 from a friend. It's an 83 302 out of a cougar with 120,000 kms on it.

I'm considering an EFI conversion for it so I can run it on cold days with a turn of the key. My 78/79 F150 will be a daily driver, so reliability without much down time is what I'm looking for.

Better fuel economy doesn't hurt either.

Any opinions on this? What year of EFI 302 should I be looking to get parts/computer/harness from?

Suggestions?

 

The easiest swap, is using a mustang mass air harness with any of the late model parts..
Stick to the same year with all of your parts, as tho makes sourcing them easier.
Another option if you are adventurous, use a mega squirt stand alone system .

 

Cold start ? get a 94-97 5.8, run it with your current Duraspark setup and a smallish 4 bbl carb. That 83 ? Junk it. It's not worth swapping. Thin block, weak crank, huge combustion chambers (actually same heads as your 78) Nothing in it is worth the time.

 

That's what I've been reading up on. The 92-93 HO 302's seem to be the best EFI systems for any mods that go on the engine as it apparently "compensates for modifications on its own".

The 87-93 EFI systems from mustangs was what the article was based on, but it suggested that the 92-93 BOSS Stangs be used in case of a heavily modified engine.

Do we have any stickies/writeups on the EFI conversion? Every time I search it up, FTE doesn't seem to have much on it.



Interesting opinion.

Duraspark + 4bbl + Headers was kind-of in my plans for the 302.

Not sure that the engine is complete junk, but more or less "workable" as a decent daily driver. I'm not looking for a torque monster, or a massive street machine that can't be beaten... Just something to get me from A to B that isn't as tune-heavy as the old distributor/carb setups.

And the engine in my truck is a 1972 351W out of a Galaxy with an FMX behind it. They were implanted to replace the burnt-out 351M and C6 by the PO.

Needless to say, the FMX is going... And either being replaced by the AOD from the 83 cougar or a 70's C6 that I plan on rebuilding.

I may have plans to take those ugly SMOG heads off my 83 and toss on the 72' 351 Heads instead.

 

There was no such thing g as a boss in that vintage, tho the cobra had some significant tuning upgrades , such as injector , cam and rockers (roller) and cry differences that included , timing and fuel trim.
The best years are 88-89 I believe , 91-93 all had weird things that involved light harnesses, and the main body connector at the shock tower.
I may have my years mixed up , been up since 2:30 a.m..
I personally like 91 as it is compact and easy to work with.
The mega squirt system is a lot of fun to work with, and will teach you a lot about how these systems.work.
There is a guy on here , stage name is "racinanddrummin" in the 7.3 forum that will tell you the same.
Good luck.

 

Is that 351w in rough shape or something? If not it's a far better starting point than a smog era 302, put the EFI system from a 5.8 on it and the AOD behind it with a few upgrades and you'll have a much better setup with a lot of room to grow.

 

Your truck has already got a Duraspark system. I'd put a hotter coil on it though and possibly a new spark box. Your 72 351W has far better heads than those 83's. THAT would be a huge step backwards. Not to mention the compression loss in that swap. There's nothing to tune with a Duraspark and a carb. Once you set it, it's set. Any changes you see occasionally are almost always caused by ignition changes. I'm not steering you to some ultra high performance engine setup, just practical ideas that work and improve the day to day driveability of what you've got now. But if you insist on taking backward steps, be my guest. You'll find out the hard way.

 

No there isn't anything majorly wrong with my 351... But it does have a SUPER hacked up harness attached to it that I have yet I deal with and bad compression in CYL 4. Some of the wires have bad grounds so the harness is burning up and I haven't gotten around to fixing that electrical issue.

Regarding CYL 4, it's got 40 psi worth of compression (more than bad rings?). Every other cylinder isn't working 10% of each other (varies from 95-115), but it's still in a lot better shape than CYL 4.

The only things I can think of that's wrong with it is that the carb needs to be tuned badly, and the Duraspark ignition needs to be replaced with a Duraspark II ignition so I don't have those stupid points anymore...


The FMX leaks like a sieve at the drive shaft, so it's gotta just straight up go...

The AOD would be nice for that overdrive once I give it an overhaul and some updates (shift kit, wider bands possibly, all new seals, etc...).


Sorry, I meant to say that I want a Duraspark 2. Tr points on the current one suck and I don't want to deal with them... I'd much rather have the Dura2 and walk away from that issue.

Another reason for the Dura2 is the fact that my Dura is t even hooked up properly. Plugs are missing from the truck's harness and it's all hacked up so badly that I can't tell what's what under the hood... Gotta start my 78 by jumping 12V directly to the Dizzy... Neutral Saftey Switch is tripped up somewhere along the wires.


Yes the heads on my 351 are MUCH MUCH better than the smog heads on my 302, but wouldn't the 351 heads work well on my 302?

A step backwards isn't what I'm trying for, so thanks for any advice.

 

Duraspark does not have points, period. As for the low compression in that cylinder, chances are the ring lands are broken too in addition to the rings. This is what happens when you hear pinging on accelleration. It's not "valve clatter", it's many small explosions happening at one time, colliding inside the cylinder, instead of the one explosion initiated by the spark plug pushing down on the piston.

 

The neutral safety switch can be easily bypassed to eliminate that problem. Take the two wires running to it and splice them together. Just remember that it will be able to be started in any shifter position.

 

If you're doing an EFI conversion the existing wiring harness doesn't matter because it's all got to go.
Low compression on 1 cyl could be a lot of things including a burnt or broken exhaust valve but you won't know until you dig into the motor.

 

My mistake. I should have said "points" and not "Duraspark".

Either way, whatever the heck it is, it's gotta go.

And I'm considering throwing in the 302 engine just so the truck is mobile while I work on the 351W.

That FMX and 351 need to come out if in going to work on them as the truck HAS to stay mobile.

 

Double post... Can't do much on a phone yet... They don't have the ability to quote more than one thing...


Yeah I'm curious as to what the internals of the 351 look like and how damaged the cylinders are if the rings are broken.

As for a bad valve, what would it take to rework the heads from the 351?

I've heard it's a rough job... So I'd consider letting someone else do that but I'd much rather prefer to do it myself and learn along the way.




Getting back to my OP... Could I use the EFI system from an 80's Ford truck? What would be the advantages of using one from a late 80's stang or early 90's stang...

There aren't a lot of write-ups on the EFI systems from a 302 out of say... An F150 in the 80's

 

The advantage of using the mustang harness is it is not part of the body harness , is compact as far as how it is laid out in the car, and is easy to get.
You can use that barness kn a 351 also , just lengthen anh wires as needed.
The dura spark system is easy to wire , extremely durable and reliable , and is very easy to set up and call it a day.
The only reason you would ever have to reset the distrutor timing , would be to adjust for elivation changes , or timing chain and gear, and frankly that is usually not the case.
I just bought a reman. Dura spark distributor for a roller motor ( 89 mustang ) for $64.00.
The box is about the same (get the one with the blue strain relief ).

 

Your truck should have a Duraspark ignition already. If it does not, then some moron removed it. My 77 Comet has a Duraspark ignition. This came out in about 1975 if I recall, for all Ford vehicles, trucks included.