Hello All,

Buckle up for a story: I've been fiddling with my 302 in my truck for some time now and am I tired of getting thrown a curve ball at every turn. The previous owners tossed in a rotating assembly but they didn't build the motor right, so I have my rear main going out every 200 feet and I think the crank maybe damaged. They converted the motor from a 300-I6 and reused the 300 flywheel which is obviously not externally balanced. After trying to find appropriate fitting parts my colleagues and us think the current 302 block in it is from a 74 Bronco II... that being said it's been a challenge to get this thing operating normally. That is, not coating the road and cars behind us with oil mist.

When replacing the rear main, I found that the rear main cap bolt on the passenger side of the block was overtorqued and does not retain full torque. At this point it was considered to take the whole block down and have a machinist bore and time-sert it, but I didn't have time for that so we just left it as it was kinda fed up with the amount of work we did to the motor only for it to continue it's poor behavior. I do have the carb tuned perfectly, I can start it up with no choke at all temperatures and humidity levels with 1 key bump and it idles really smoothly. You could put a glass of water on the motor and it barely moves.

Well since I got the stupid thing put back together I've been contemplating and searching for new blocks so I can do a stand build and make something I'd be happy with. My own motor, done right the first time. A buddy and I already found some GT40P heads at the LKQ in some 'sploders. Found 3 sets, but walked out with 2 (one for his 302 project and one for a tentative project on mine). I've been considering having the block taken out and completely rebuilt.... but I decided that I might be happier with a 351 if at all possible. I've been looking for a 351 block but either I was paying the Mustang tax for a clean block or paying a steep (at least to me) price for a questionable motor. (one of my buddies suggested I just get a pulled 351 and call it done... after dealing with this motor, I distinctly told him No, that I'm not dealing with chasing mice out of that field again.) So I found a decent block, appears to have been hydrolocked on a cylinder (bent rod) but no apparent other damage with accessory drive and heads. I'm getting the block hot tanked and having the crank cleaned up and Magnafluxed just to be doubly sure. For those playing the home game, it's out of a 90 F-150, engine code E9AE. If I remember correctly, that's a 1989 Full Size 351. I know it's a non-roller cam block, but I'm not looking to make massive horsepowers or get particularly stupid with the thing, I just want to build a reliable truck that meets the following criteria:

• Daily Drivable
• Good low end torque
• Can tow a car trailer with a max weight of 8000 LBS effortlessly
• Make good around power for Off-road use. Although not primarily it's function I do plan on taking it out with friends every once in a while.
• Reliable, reliable, RELIABLE.
• Decent sound, I don't mind a slight lope, but I don't want my truck to sound like a drag car. I want my drag car to sound like my drag car.

So here's my question. I'm building this puppy from the ground up and need some parts suggestions, particularly with the Cam. I was considering the Comp X4250H. If I think correctly, I'll need to put 1.7 rockers in but this will make the low end torque I desire.

Truck will have:

• ZF5 S5-420 5 Speed Trans
• Gotta figure out my transfer case... but not a priority at this time
• Stock Gearing
• 33" Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs
• Mild Suspension lift (haven't decided on the height yet, but I'm not going High Society with the thing.)

Any input gentlemen? Much appreciated!

 

Sounds like the people who put your old engine together were a bunch of hack jobs.


You should be much happier with the 351W than the 302 in a truck, especially for towing.

You'll need special headers for the GT40P heads to clear the sparkplugs different angle than the standard GT40 heads.


As for the cam, I have the standard XE250H and am VERY happy with it. Very strong torque and I'm running D8 heads...

The XE250H and the X4250H are almost the same. Cam events are only 1 degree apart for all aspects except for exhaust closing, that's a 2* difference. Probably never tell a difference either way. However the intake lift is lower on the 4x4 cam but the exhaust is slightly more than the XE250H. Personally, I'd run the XE250H with the 1.7 rockers you want as it is rated for lower RPM torque start up. When they say it starts at 600 RPM they aren't joking.

 

Subscribed.

Mediarocker, sounds like your plans for the 351 is exactly what I want to do.

Matt, I like the sound of your cam.

 

Here's a sound clip of the XE250H with 1.6 RR's. You did say you wanted a healthy sounding idle but not like a race car.

 

Don't fall into the sound trap. I like a lopey idle as much as anyone else, but that directly goes against low end power and torque. It's a direct relationship, more lope means less low end.

You said "stock gearing". What is that? There were several gear ratios available and they will affect your final design goals more than anything else(along with tire size). 33 is a fairly large diameter tire, that's going to hurt your 8000 effortless towing ability unless you have 4.10's.

 

Definitely. I was already aware of the headers. I'm debating on what I want to do with them. Thanks for the tips on the cam. It's actually pretty close to what my buddy has on his 4.0L Jeep.

That video sounds great, pretty much exactly what I'm looking for.

Well noted Franklin, I'm aware of that also. I'm not too much into the heavy loping sound for a truck. Stock gearing is I completely forgot and the tag got ripped off the diff

So I may need to regear. It's running 35's on it (not my doing) with a stupid 3-4" body lift (also not my doing) that I plan on removing. It cruises nicely with the 35's as is. I just know I got the Ford 9" in the rear. I'll have to dig up what the gearing is to be sure.

Thanks for the input guys.

I've got a running bet going with some colleagues (they drug me into the bet, I wanted nothing to do with it) that I have to build this motor for less than $1,500... I think I may have my work cut out for me.

I figure I'll post up some progress pics.

Here's the block as it is:




Haven't done much with it yet. I do plan on taking it down to the local speedshop and having them tank the block, clean and magnaflux the crank, tank the heads and magnaflux them also. Should be getting that done in the coming weeks.

So a good friend of mine is doing a 302 build into a project of his, got an HO 'sploder block and apparently it used different pistons so he gave me the ring kit he had originally purchased for it. GOOD 'OL MADE IN THE USA



Next we got my GT40P heads that I pulled a while back to throw on my 302. Yes they're inside the house... I will be building them on the comfort of my bench. Once they've been tanked they will be much cleaner. I'll be cleaning the valves and whatnot as well.



So that's all for now. Appreciate the advice and looking forward to more suggestions.

Anyone know where I might be able to source some decent rods for under 250 bucks? Summit has a steep cost on them. Speedway motors has em for like 150 bucks... but they're out of stock.

Thanks again!

 

If those rings are standard you may not be able to use them. Unless this engine block has very low miles on it, it probably will need to be bored. Get the machine shop to mic it for you. If you want the max amount of power and no oil usage, your cylinder bores need to be straight with no wear. .006 is considered the max that is worth messing with a re-ring job and have the engine last at least 50,000 miles. Less wear means a longer lasting engine.

 

You know, you're right. Just looked on the box and it says std 4.000 bore. Shoot.

We'll see.

Thanks for the feedback gentlemen

 

Just figured I'd release an update for those following along...

The project is still in the planning stages and coming along, but I picked up another short term project that has taken my attention.... I got back into Jeeps... Just empty every pocket gentlemen.

Maybe I'll post up here what I'm doing... Idk, we'll see, tomorrow is half off day at LKQ....heh.

These heads are sitting right by my desk and motivating me to go get some valve spring compressors and just go to town...