This year is the year to pull more ponies from the truck. This is a daily driver/work truck (pulls landscaping trailer and equipment. I will be doing all the work, well, my dad, my son and I. Budget is roughly $2500 in parts.

It’s a manual transmission and I already have a standalone ecm. Larger injectors are already budgeted for.

Current mods are home ported E7s and milled to 57cc with 1.72 rollers. Cam is comp 31-255-5. Bottom is completely stock and needs to be freshened up. This is where the ideas are..

Option 1: get junkyard gt40p heads and get a 327 stroker kit. Borescope showed no cuts in walls, so good honing job to deglaze and install stroker kit.

Option 2: brodix ST 5.0 heads and rebuild the bottom end with stock parts, minus I’ll put forged pistons.

Option 3: junkyard 351, move my cam into it. (I know different firing order), get my E7s drilled for 1/2” bolts and use them with the 1.72s. Before my stuff goes on, all new bearings, rings, timing set, etc. if I get lucky and get a roller 351, then I’ll splurge and get a different cam, maybe. I’ll port the lower so I can put the 302 upper intake on.

I do not have a “hp or tq goal” as I know each option will give me more than I have. I want to have this “team building” with my family more than anything else before the time comes that it can’t happen. If I left out a viable option in that range, I’m all ears.

Last thing, later, I plan to do forced induction. That will be the just me and the kid project as that’s what he wants to do to a vehicle of his own at some point. My dad and I are going to build the cowl hood.

EDIT: well, I screwed up the poll and don’t know how to edit it!! First vote should be option 1..

 

Why put a flat tappet cam in a roller block?

Are you able to get exhaust manifolds/headers for the “P” heads?

Why would you go to forged pistons for those heads or am I reading this wrong? Couldn’t you put those heads on the stock block or do they require different valve reliefs?

I don’t know about lucky. I searched car-part.com for a roller cam 351W. Then I took the GT40 heads off the 302, had them rebuilt and the bolt holes opened up go on 351.

 

There is no replacement for displacement,

especially where torque is concerned.

And especially where you can make the stroke longer.

t

 

I want forged over hypers for when I go forced induction, not for the heads. The “lucky” statement was in reference to a thread last month (I think) about there’s no “safe” years to guarantee a roller cam. If I went that route and got a roller block, I’ll keep the roller cam and 1.72s. I should have clarified the “maybe I’ll swap the cam if it’s a roller”. If the 351 is a flat tappet, then I’ll swap mine. My current headers will work with p heads. I know someone that has them. The turbo kit, if I go that route, specifically states that it will work with P heads as well.

You have a 302 upper on a 351 lower right? I feel like I saw that somewhere. If so, how long did you spend grinding the lower?

 

This is the motto I was raised on! My dad built motors and we raced a mud bogger in FL, 70 1/2 Camaro on 44s with a fully sleeved 454.

 

Your '90 5.0 block is roller ready meaning it has the raised bosses in the lifter valley for the factory spider retainer and the lifter bores should be machined flat on top. With a junkyard spider assembly a roller cam is a direct bolt in. With that block if you are rebuilding the bottom end go all the way to 347 cubes, the 5.0 truck intake is better designed than the 5.8 version with larger runners so it's better suited to a performance build. You could easily end up with a 400hp/400tq motor depending on the heads and cam used, even a mild build with gt40s should make 380tq/300hp which is still a massive upgrade from stock.

 

That’s what I was getting at. Why was the Comp 31-255-5 chosen since it is a flat tappet cam? Doesn’t make sense to have put that in a roller block. A few years ago I picked up the spider assembly from the junkyard but the cam kit came with those parts.

Makes sense. There was no luck involved at all. I searched for a ‘94 - 97 351W. Check the side of the block to make sure it is a F4TE casting. I have 3 bar heads so what headers work with 4 bar “P” heads?

I do but am not using it. The upper plenum would not clear the tall valve covers. I have AFR Renegade 185 heads. I stole the Edelbrock 3881 off the Bronco and then put the hybrid intake on that engine. The engine shop ported the lower.

 

When I bought the truck, I read the thread on the 300+ hp build on another forum that night. I had plans to do a roller cam. I was doing more research before pulling the trigger. Well, two days after buying it, I had to replace the entire fuel system from injectors to fuel tank and pump. That killed that budget. I knew it had a timing cover and intake manifold leak. Going that far into it, a new timing chain was going on. So was a cam. Being that this truck replaced my previous work truck during peak mowing season, it had to be back up and driving within a few days. I like the cam, it works great honestly. I don’t hesitate to drive it anywhere and it has the power to move what I need done.

If the budget was more, a 347 or 408 would happen, without hesitation. I can’t have mine down long enough to send it off and get bored (3-3 weeks minimum). Last year I asked for the general price to bore a block .030 over and they want $900. That’s 2/5 of my budget. I’ve talked with local Mustang clubs, no one has “scrap blocks” laying around for a few hundred. That leaves the junkyard and they are $950.

Those three options are the most viable ones. Option 3 requires the purchase of engine hoist/stand. I know I can sell those after and recoup some of that money, but also has to be budgeted. The first 2 options will be done with the engine in the truck, trans slid back.

@My4Fordtrucks Hedman shorty headers 89470 are the ones that can fit P heads. They say no, I’ve seen it and others in the Q and A have done it as well.

 

What boost and HP levels are you looking for? That's going to determine what you have to do to the bottom end if you don't want to have to pull it all apart again. Something else to consider is what level power factory blocks can handle (I only know Mopars).

Speaking hypothetically I would find a roller 351 as the base. I pulled one out of a 1994 truck. Just the short block from a pick 'n pull you're looking at $250.

• Factory crank, align bore the mains and use studs.
• Factory rods with ARP bolts, or aftermarket rods depending on price
• Whatever forged piston works for the heads with rings gapped for boost
• Reuse your heads and rocker gear
• Summit branded roller cam: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-8904#overview and springs

If you're going to be shoving air down it's gullet later on I wouldn't worry too much on the flow rate of the heads, especially if you already have a worked over set. Besides, you can replace the heads later on if you need to with pulling the motor. I would focus more on the bottom end survivability for your wanted power level. If you are really turning the wick up then a full forged rotating kit is going to blow your $2500 budget quickly.

 

Boost will be 8-9 psi. Under 450 on the 302 and shifting under 5500 rpm’s to protect the block. I don’t see hitting 5500 anyways, even if I hit the drag strip that’s supposed to open back up. I plan to set a rev limiter of 5400 when I get that done. I want the added “safety” of swapping the pistons from hyper to forged. It’s my daily driver and my work truck, so she needs to last.

I do plan to get a custom grind cam when I put boost, maybe not immediately, but I will. These three options are the building block. Later on the forces will come.

 

Junkyard 351 with ebay turbo kit.

 

You have any dealings with an eBay kit?! The one I was planning for was the On3 kit. I’ve heard good reviews on them.

 

Mine has aluminum pro comp heads(horse traded E7's), and I home ported my upper/lower, it will roast the M/T 31's off of it at a stop sign, so I'm saddling up to see what you do...should be fun.

 

We talking in 4wd or 2?!

 

2wd, 355 gearing