Hey y'all...
We have a 1985 F150 with a factory carbed 302...We took off all the emissions junk (still rolling the stock exhaust meaning the cat is still in play) and We changed the 2bbl carb to a Holley 600 cfm 4bbl. The rest of the motor is a rebuilt bone stock block / cam / heads / exh manifolds on the factory (rebuilt) AOD transmission. Does anyone have some good parts lists for cam and head combos and maybe a good exhaust to match the new performance with a Thumping sound? We are not looking for the max race engine...More like a quality weekend runner that can light em up, sounds good, maybe some polished aluminum shining up the engine bay so we can go hit some car shows and show off a little. With the carb / intake change, we are probably up to maybe 180-190hp and its waaaay better than the stock 2bbl was...So, If we can get up to 250-275 hp (to the tires?)...or better...this thing will be a rocket ship for a long bed truck. We understand that without a dyno...we will never know for sure so its really just the "seat of pants" gauge we are utilizing...and that is ok...

I'm looking for you 1980's/190's 302 gear heads experience on this one. I am a child of the 70's...but I was just too poor to afford being able to tinker on the hot rodding growing up...so...any advice and help...maybe parts sources, we would be very grateful for...

 

For cam and valvetrain- Eskenderian... Howard & Crower is also very good as well. Head AFR. Intake Edelbrock performer or performer air gap may fit under your hood.

 

Sounds like you're due for a camshaft! You probably don't have a roller block, but the conversion is straight forward. I'd convert and probably run a B303 cam. If you can afford aluminum heads - TFS, Edelbrock or AFD are all solid choices and any will easily support your power level. +1 on the Edelbrock Air Gap.

What's your budget?

 

You can do what I did back in the day lol. 302 with forged pistons, HiPo rods, Vic Jr heads and manifold, Isky cam, Holley 650 double pumper and a 275 shot of nitrous off the button. Bunny hops were fantastic.

 

hard to say without the intake off as 85 was the change over year, some cars like the mustang had factory roller cams for the first year ( yes i had a 85 stang gt it had rollers and the last of the year of a holley) . if ford used 2 casting IDK

 

Check it for a steel distributor gear
Unless a HO motor in a Mustang or Lincoln, in 1985 it would be unlikely IMO to get a roller block in a truck unless late year production
You just about need to pull the distributor to get the intake off anyway, so just check the gear
Your gear will be cast iron, or steel if a roller block