i am going to get a 87-91 f150 soon( maybe dad may not let me unless i get rid of my 73) it has a 302, what can i do to the engine to beef it up a tad bit more. can i do the same as you could to an old engine, bore it stroke it port it, or could i put a 347 stroker in it and use the trucks stock top end
would i need to look in to a bigger engine swap,

 

The 302 is a fine motor but not really designed well for truck applications. What are you hoping to get out of the truck? Fast, towing, daily driver?

 

Remember the closer to stock you keep it the more economical and reliable it will be.

 

There isn't too much you can do to these old motors without the EFI throwing a fit. The biggest upgrade you could do is throw the 302 away and put in a 351w. Headers, better EFI friendly cam, good exhaust, 4.10 gears. Lots of threads around here that go over this stuff.
Krooser is right though, a lot of times the more you modify it, the less dependable it becomes.

 

you can do a lot to the SD EFI without it causing any issues at all.


347 is not an optimal build, but if you wanted to build something fresh for the absolute cheapest....its be best way to get a little more cubic inches out of it. starting with a 351 block and building a 400+ cube engine is optimal for the small block, 460 stroked is king and ultimately costs less than a stroked 351.


long tubes, gt40 heads (ported) at a minimum, 347 kit, 1.7 rockers, and a cam will wake it up quite a bit...to the tune of 100 extra hp or more.


better (aftermarket) heads will get you max power but it departs the realm of a budget build at that point. gt40's and gt40p's are abundant and cheap as air.

 

I would not walk across the street for a free set of GT40s or GT40Ps on any stroker. Yes they are relatively abundant and cheap but the money involved to rebuild a set is questionable in light of very affordable and light years ahead in capability aftermarket heads. I agree you could save a little bit of wallet filler using them but it's false economics.

Just my personal opinion, don't throw away money on factory iron heads.

Can't wait to see some dyno results from your proposed testing of different intakes 89F2urd! I know you have a pretty good build on your small block but I am not a fan of GT40 technology.

 

I don't disagree at all. im not a fan of gt40's either, but at the time I did the 351 build I was deep into my pocket with the landcruiser, and couldn't spread myself any thinner than I already was. I literally built it with as little money as possible, while still avoiding reassembly with e7's...basically a junkyard build with flat tappet cam and miserable stock intake, just to give ya an idea of what I was doin. I'm an "all or nothin" kinda guy, my current 351 is a representation of my definition of "nothin". If I could do it over again with it being my priority, I would have stroked it with aftermarket heads no doubt.


while I have no illusions as to how good (or bad) the gt40's are, unfortunately they are the abundant alternative to e7's which are among the worst heads ever produced. I ported them, left the valves and seats alone, so the only money I spent on them was the mill job for compression. dollar for dollar, there really isn't a better alternative. more of a testament to how bad the factory SBF heads are vs how good gt40's are, no doubt.


I'm lookin forward to the dyno pulls also, been wanting to do it for a looooong time now, but been doing other stuff to the truck combined with all the other nonsense I have goin on.

 

Oh yeah...GT40s are way better than e7s. But if you do not already have a set it's tough to justify rebuilding some used GT40s IMHO.

I like your build given the situation. An excellent example of what you can do on a strict budget. But.....for a few dollars more. :-)

 

Yea I'd let you punch me in the face if I'd rebuilt them on a quest to save money when a few hundred more gets a set of aluminums.