I have an 85 f150 with a 302. I'm currently thinking of building the motor this coming year and would like some input and help on getting the right setup. Currently it is completely stock and carbureted. Eventually, I would like to switch to fuel injection.


I am not looking for anything over the top here. Just a mild 4 to 500 horsepower. I just did a quick search on summit to get some ideas, but those look like they are more for a car.

 

No mild build 302 is going to have 4-500 horsepower. It takes good flowing heads and cam to get to 350 horsepower.

 

I'm looking at getting a cam, heads, headers, intake and carb

 

I would love to get close to those numbers while maintaining good street manners. Eventually adding a supercharger long term.

 

Trying to get 4-500 hp out of a 302 is way "over the top". A more common upgrade would be something like this matched kit:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/t...SABEgJny_D_BwE

That gets you to about 360 hp. You will need to add forced induction or nitrous oxide to push it to 500hp.

 

You're way better off building a stroked 351 roller , much better truck motor .

A hot 302 in a truck is silly , a 302 and 500 hp with street manners does not exist.

 

Ok so lets dial this back some. Lets shoot for a goal of 350hp than. That should be fairly easy to achieve right, without the use of a supercharger?


The reason I want to use the 302 is that's what I already have to work with. It has always been reliable for me. I just want to get some more oomph out of it.

 

If you are building a truck motor and your goals are horsepower not torque you need to think more about what you are doing.

Whats your wheel size, what's the rear end ratio , what is the tranny you are using , what do you want to do with the truck . What rpm range is most important to you ?

What's your budget?

351 blocks are cheap , if power is what you want you will save money starting with a 351w block over a 302.

 

Eventually I'll be putting 33s with I think 373 gears. What ever was the closest match to the 355s. I have the aod tranny. I guess I'm looking for more torque since I'll still be using it as a truck to haul stuff around and a daily driver when I don't have to take my son anywhere.

Rpm range I would say is idle to 4000 since if I remember correctly, the aod doesn't run past 4250.

Budget is undecided, but cheap. My wife don't work and I have an 11 month old so money gets tight sometimes.

 

350 brake HP out of a 302 is not easy or cheap. You probably have a low-compression engine and its probably pretty worn out, being a 1985. The assumption is you will have it rebuilt with improvements. A set of heads, the throttle-body fuel injection with electronic engine control, a good mid-range cam, updated electronic ignition and a good quality exhaust system would be good. Even with this little bit you're looking at 5 grand, easy.
Another way to go could be dual turbos and keeping the low-compression engine but go with the throttle-body FI and electronic ignition and engine control along with a good exhaust system like Magnaflow.


Also don't forget the oldest trick in hot-rodding - go to the junk yard and get a late model engine. Of course its not so simple now - you have to have the computers that make the engine work.

 

Easy.. but not shoe string budget cheap... you still need aftermarket heads, cam, and a proper intake and carb combo.

 

You need 4.56 gears, that is from experience owning 5.0/AOD trucks and building a 5.0 motor for one. I also currently own a truck with the 4.10 gears and 31" tires and that is a perfect combo for a small V8 truck that does some work.

You have the wrong motor then, everything that makes more HP also makes the 5.0 weaker at low rpms, so the solution is to just let it spool up some and gear appropriately. Don't worry I'm not talking about 5000rpm but you need to forget about everything below 2000rpm.


So given that I'm gonna suggest you go junkyard shopping for a donor motor to build and some GT40 heads, if you can find a '96-97.5 Explorer 5.0 you will get both at the same time. Rebuild that so you don't have to take your truck off the road any longer than necessary, with just about any tunable 500-600cfm carb, a full exhaust system and a mild cam that combo will generate 300-325hp at 5000rpm which is double what you have now.

 

Or get a 1996 351 rollerblock put on the gt40 heads ,cam and a dual plane manifold , headers and make 400 foot pounds of torque.

 

Yes.. if one was buying a motor to build anyway this is the way to go.

 

So I have been eye balling part number 31-255-5 on comp cams website. Does this cam also work with a carburetor? Also, I'm looking for one with a bit of a lope if I can while remaining with good torque of possible.


On a side note, where can I find the numbers on the block to verify my motor? Is it possible to see them with the motor still in the vehicle?