I'm starting to build a 302 to go into my 92 F150 2wd. I'm wanting to do a mild build maybe just upgrade the cam and heads. I bought a used motor that was in good shape I tore it completely down so I can start fresh. I'm not looking to get to crazy and spend every penny I have on this motor I just want to add a little extra power and have a motor with zero miles. I was just looking for some opinions on what type of small cam I could add that would not be just a waste of money.

 

Is it a roller block?

Gt40 or gt40p heads out of the jy are cheapest bang for the buck as far as heads, but they're still not very good.

Afr 165s with cam and long tubes will make a night and day difference.

 

I'm with the Turd the GT heads are a good bang for the buck. If you are wanting to spend some cash then the AFR's are the way to go on a SBF. Might be a little overkill for what you want to do but they will flow, and as the Turd said is it a roller or flat tappet cam?

 

By the way what's part of Arkansas you in, I'm in SE Missouri

 

I think 302 went roller long before 351, sometime in the mid-late 80's (1985 is what I saw in a quick Google search).

 

Use the Comp Cams 35-5121-8, that is a healthy upgrade from the stock cam and will give the motor the HO firing order. No changes necessary to use it besides rewiring the plug wires.

 

Thanks a lot it is the roller and I had thought about doing the gt40 heads but I think I came to the conclusion that the head are not worth the price for the performance I would notice and headers are hard to come by. I'm trying not to cut the exhaust I have because it's in really good shape. I thought I could have my factory heads ported and polished and I could buy shorty headers that would adapt to what I already have.

 

That is incorrect, GT40s flow 25% better as they come.

No.. there are lots of options.

If the stock Y pipe and cats remain you're completely wasting your time and money replacing anything on the motor, next to the stock cam the stock exhaust is the next biggest restriction. You won't have porting done and larger valves installed cheaper than what GT40s will cost.

 

Ok thanks I guess I'll look into some other heads and thanks for the cam input

 

If you are going to pay someone to do porting you will spend way more money than just getting some GT heads and still not have as good of a head. Also I'm with conanski on the exhaust, no sense in having better flowing heads if you're not going to have a good enough exhaust to get the air out.

 

A friend of mine found me some gt40 heads for $150 the headers that I found after doing some research on which kind would fit were from Ford racing and they were just shy of $200 for the pair. I talked to a couple people that had played with gt40 heads and they told me that closer toward top end is where you notice more of a difference from the heads. With this truck I doubt I'll ever see the top end I'm not trying to race anything I only want a little extra power at the low end so I can notice a difference without any risk of hurting anything other than rubber. The reason I didn't want to mess with my exhaust is the man that installed the exhaust 10 years ago did such a great job I would hate to ruin it with some jack leg welder from arkansas. I'm not trying to say I know everything I was asking for opinions and I'm happily taking them and if others have given me wrong information with gt40 heads I would not be surprised. And I may not even touch the heads I have if I do it could be just to change the springs and guides so I don't have to worry about anything breaking. This truck will never be fast I just hope it will last another 320,000 miles like the original motor has with small upgrades.

 

my experience with the 5.0 Is slap some OE crane/ford 1.7 roller rockers and be done.

Upgraded exhaust is a must to reap all the benefits.

If you cam it it's recommended to upgrade springs. U need to take heads off to cut seats for dual springs. Since you're there valve job is recommended. U will need head gaskets and new head bolts. Basically the top end gaskets. Intake manifold,valve cover. If you do cam good luck taking timing cover off without breaking the 4 bolts that go through water pump/timing cover/block. Replace timing chain set. New dizzy gasket,water pump,timing cover re time. New coolant. Replace t-stat. Oil pan gasket.

I would do all that work on some gt40 heads vs e7te.

I would goto jy and get the exhaust flanges and keep the couplers any exhaust shop can make the socket for the ball on the shortys.

Start fresh if u don't want to cut up your prized exhaust system.

I successfully used flotech 93 mustang shorties on 3 bar gt40 heads. No plug issues.





In short if you dead set into getting into her don't cut any corners. Do it right the first time. It's cheaper.

My setup was f4te block with e7te heads
Comp 35-349-8
Cobra 1.7 roller rockers
Dual.valve springs(comp cam recommended spring a for cam)
Valve job
New gaskets as mentioned above
Head bolts

All that on a 250xxx mile engine went boom 3 months later.(I abused the crap out of her)



Now I have a 76xxx mile gt40 block from an explorer 97'. With only 1.7 rr. When I get the scratch upgrading springs and buying another xe264hr and going for another rodeo. Also buying new lifters.

 

If you're getting into needing valve springs, be aware that there are a few options that don't require machining of the seats. Trick Flow has a spring upgrade kit and Alex's Parts has a variety of springs depending on what lift you're looking for.

But yea, digging into an engine leads to a lot of, "might as well replace ____ while I'm in here" justified as "cheap insurance" and suddenly you're into it $2k with a ways to go. Lol.

 

Misewell syndrome adds up quick.

Misewell get gt40s, misewell port them, whoops, nicked a seat...Need a valve job, misewell do them all, misewell upgrade valve size, misewell get a cam to take advantage of extra flow, misewell get rockers, misewell do timing chain, misewell replace lifters while in there.....Misewell spend 3000.

If you have the dough, always start best and be done with it. Afr's and cam/springs/lifters will run you just north of 2k but will be a great, easy, bolt together setup. If you're on a budget, misewell get 80% of the power you'd have doing it the "best way" while spending 50% of the cost. Hand port some stock junkyard castings being very careful of the valve seats, then put it all back together. If you gave me a choice between stock cam with 1.7s and aftermarket grind, while on a budget, I'd still get the aftermarket cam and 1.6 rockers.

 

Are they truck headers or Mustang headers. Get truck specific headers and if you have already replaced the stock Y pipe and cats with something else that is well built that is fine, it's not optimal but it's better than the stock setup as long as it's not too big. For your goals you don't want anything bigger than a 2.5" single or 2.25" duals. If your "nice" exhaust system is just from the stock cats and back then you can still use it but everything in front of it must go.

That is a characteristic of the 5.0 and you get the same type of results if you just put a cam in an otherwise stock motor, without upping compression there really isn't much to be gained at low rpms. But it depends on the overall combination, for maximum grunt from 0-4500rpm keep the cam relatively small like the one I suggested above or if the motor is '94 or newer stay with the stock cam and add 1.7 rockers, install longtube headers not shorties and follow that with a 2.5" single exhaust system.