Hello, so I have a 1990 bronco XLT with a 302 bolted up to an aod that's been like that since I bought it. Now what's goin on with it is it's now been sitting for a bit over a year and the reason being is that I was driving it last winter and it started to overheat pretty good. Never steamed out of the rad or nothing horrible, I am positive that it blew one or both of the head gaskets. Now what I'm trying to figure out is if I'm going to put a different 302 in it's place as is does the new block have to be from the same year and truck? I've got leads on a few 302 long blocks but one is from an 88 Thunderbird and another is from an 89 mustang. Is there any difference between these blocks or is it bolt in as far as I need it to be to get it running? If any of you guys have opinions, please share em. Thanks

 

I'd use a 94 or newer so you end up with a roller cam motor
Not exactly sure when they got the upgraded roller cam
You should be able to put a 5.8 into it, as well, pretty easily

 

There is a good possibility your existing motor can be repaired by simply puling the topend to install new head gaskets, but on the other hand it's almost guaranteed some bolts will break off in the timing cover or intake manifold and fixing that is best done on an engine stand so you might as well pull the engine out.

The faster way to get the truck up and running again is with a donor motor, the Mustang engine is the HO version which would give you a nice power upgrade but there is some work involved in using them in your truck. The car motor has to be stripped to the bare longblock and all the truck specific parts(upper/lower intake, oilpan and pickup, accessory brackets, exhaust manifolds) have to be installed. In your case the distributors are the same except for the drive gear(the car engines have a steel roller cam) so you should use the car distributor.. the electrical plug is the same. All of the truck engine wiring must be used... all wiring that comes with the donor must be removed, the only change is the spark plugs must be routed for the HO firing order.
Some of the T-birds got the HO as well but there were a lot that got the lo-po 5.0 too.. I'm no T-Bird expert but I believe it will depend on what trim level the car is.

If you were to get the whole car it would be possible to do a MAF swap using the computer and complete engine wiring harness from the car, that woukld add more performance again but that makes it a bigger project. You could salvage all the parts and do that at a later date though.

 

You're in luck.. I have a 302 that I want to off load out of a 90 f150! How far away are you from Eureka CA?

 

Not too bad. The OP’s profile has Missouri

 

It all comes down to what you want to do, and how much you can spend.... You could likely repair your current motor for less than a few hundred bucks, or you could swap out for a new stroker or something else....