I have a 95 f250 w/fuel injected 302 and I have found a carbed 302 from an 83 f150. My question is this...what kind of difficulties will I encounter making a swap like this? Can It be done on a budget, or done at all? Is it worth the time and energy? I'm tight on money and I'm wondering if I should just keep my motor and just take the time to buy an overhaul kit and do it myself....I'm lost and need some guidance on this one folks...what's the best call? I have $400 to do this with and my truck needs something done to it because it's my daily driver and ok only vehicle.

 

Swapping to a carb motor is going to cost a lot more than just putting another longblock in your truck with the existing EFI system. What exactly is wrong with the existing motor, is is low oil pressure, a blown head gasket, or something worse?

 

Well yes for one the oil pump is going out and the piston rings are shot I'm assuming due to the massive amounts of whit smoke pouring out of the tailpipe. It has 175,000 miles on it and the carfax seem to show that it was routinely taken care of up until 2015 then all records stop

 

White smoke means coolant is getting into the combustion chamber, that is often a head gasket leak but could also be from a crack in the head or block, and if the motor has low oil pressure too you should just consider this motor shot and look for a replacement. Any 302/5.0 could be a viable candidate for this job but the later EFI motors are more powerful, plentiful, and in some cases a very easy swap into your truck.
- The engine that would literally be plug and play would be another '94-96 truck 5.0, if it comes from a truck with the SD EFI system like yours no disassembly is necessary, you can just pull out the old motor and bolt in the other, plug in the wiring harness and be back on the road. And even if it comes from a MAF truck(most 95 & 96 F150s and Broncos) you just have to remove the upper intake and pull off the wiring so the engine harness from your truck can be installed, then it's plug and play again.
- Second best is a 5.0 from an '87-93 trucks, these earlier EFI motors might look the same but the wiring harness is assembled different and has very different connectors in some cases, so again the engine wiring has to come off so you can install the one from your truck. These earlier motors use the old 302 firing order so the spark plugs are wired differently which isn't a big deal, but the distributor wiring is also different so a later style distributor must be used, you could use the one from your old motor. But after that you're back to plug and play status again.
- The 5.0HO from a Mustang or Tbird could be used as could an Explorer motor, but these have numerous differences from the trucks and therefore need to be stripped to the bare longblock, after that you have to install a rear sump oil pump and pan, the complete truck upper and lover intake and wiring, distributor, and all accessory brackets and components. It's a bunch of work but still shouldn't be too expensive and these are the most powerful 5.0 motors produced.
- Least desirable are the old carbed 302s, these are the weakest of all, require all the EFI parts be transferred, and the '81 and older motors have a different balance requiring a different flexplate to mate to your transmission.
All '87-96 F and E series trucks used these 5.0 motors so they are plentiful.