So we have a 94 f150 that we inherited with a blown 302. We swapped in a 302 from a inherited 87 crown vic. It has never ran just quite right. The car engine didn't have a place for the knock sensor. Should we not plug it in our plug it in just hanging around??

 

I've had to drill and tap a 5.0 block for the knock sensor. No big deal before you put the engine in.
I've had one with the knock sensor plugged in but with the sensor just sort of hanging around. It never set a code unless you ran the KOEO or KOER tests. Unfortunately the computer won't know to retard the ignition if you run into detonation issues if it isn't mounted properly. So that's sort of a gamble.