Here's a question for all you all-star Ford mechanics. I am wondering if anyone could give me rough estimate on how much horsepower I am probably cranking out and ways to test how much horsepower my 302 has. It's not much but here it goes

-bored .030 over
-280H Competition Cam
-Edelbrock aluminum intake manifold
-Speed Pro flat top pistions
-570 cfm Holley Street Avenger carburetor
-80 gph Holley mechanical fuel pump
-2.5" dual exhaust with Flow Tech headers & Flow Master mufflers
-Bosch Platinum spark plugs
-C-6 tranny
-8.5mm spark plug wires

**distributor came off another '79 302 that belonged to a friend so I am not sure what brand & model it is.

**I also have a 1" spacer, looking to get a 2" so I can use a bigger air cleaner, if it makes any difference.

If I am not mistaken a '79 302 came with 185 horsepower stock. So my guess I am probably in the 210-220 range - hopefully. I would like to get in the 240-250 range so I could use some advice. Now I also have an '84 302 which I would like to rebuild so this is my blue print so to speak. I was looking to go with some Roush heads and get rid of my suck *** stock heads but a co-worker of mine offered me a set of gt-40 heads for $350. I almost jumped on it and he said that it would work with my 302 and they are stampted so you can verify it's a true gt-40 head. He also said the exhaust ports are the same so I can keep my headers and the same goes for the intake. Should I take him up on his offer or consider going with another set of heads? I figure the gt-40's would give me a 30-40 horsepower boost and hopefully put me over my goal. So if any of you can give me a ball park figure of what I am cranking out of my '79 302 I sure would appreciate it. I would also appreciate any feedback on how to get me to 250 horsepower & about building a really nice 302 for my '84. Thanks for listening.

 

with your current set-up i would say it has the potential for 250-270HP provided your timming and everything is set up properly. that dosent mean your actually doing it, with good head and every thing in order you could likely get 310-320HP DW

 

Really? I never though I would be able to crank out 270 horsepower. So what do you suggest I do to get in that 250-270 range? How do you test horsepower? Thanks for your feedback.

 

My timing is set at 8 degrees BTDC which what is the factory calls for. I also am punching on 20 psi on my vaccuum gauge which is about right as well. She runs really good so I am curious as to what kind of power I am generating. Do you know how to conduct a test for horsepower other than using one of those dyno machines?

 

well it is prety easy to get 1HP per cubic inch, but being that your running stock unported heads is why i guesed a little short of that, you can by a program for your PC called DESKTOP DYNO runs around $35.00 give or take and it fairly acurate if you plug in the corect numbers. my program says 279HP and 316ftlb tourqe but that with everthing being set ideal. with GT-40 hds stock would bump you to 297HP 324ftlbs tourqe. to acheive this you will need to do some tuning like making shure your running the correct fuel jets, you base timming should be 10 -12 degr. BTDC if you can run it with out sparknock or valve rattle, your total advance shoulbe around 32-34 degr. and it should be fully advanced by 2400-2800 RPM. i also run those numbers in the program useing a 600cfm carb. Good Luck DW

 

Where can I find one of those Desktop Dynos? Advance or Auto Zone? So those figures you have for 279 horsepower 316 lbs. of torque are my engine specs? I have a 600 cfm Holley carburetor but I bought the 570cfm Street Avenger and ran a dual fuel line. Unlimited Speed said I would be better off with the Street Avenger and so far I think it has outpeformed my old 600 cfm carburetor. I was in the market for a new one and I am happy with my purchase so I guess the figures would be about the same right? What brand of heads do you recommend? I always hear people talk about the GT-40 heads on Mustangs but I guess there might be a better set of heads for a rough and tough truck. Thanks so much for your help.

 

if i could find my disc i could email the program to you, but it has no provisions for different carbs, and while it may have made a difference, its probably not a bunch of ponies. there are two gt-40 heads gt40x and gt40p the gt40x came on 93 cobra's and 351 lightnings while the later gt40p's have different combustion chamber that make them burn better, and the dont have smog pump injectors built into the heads, they are on 97-99 exploders. both of these heads work great on trucks(some of them came on trucks) they flow a bit better with some added technology.

 

your carb should be fine if properly tuned, and it probaly would out perform an old 600 cfm holley, the gt 40 heads would probly do fine, for a streat engine, i would have the ports cleaned up , smoothed out, blend the valve pockets, and you should have good running motor. as far as the program search amazon.com or google.com DW

 

With a good set of heads you should be making at least 1 horse per cube,
but shoulda woulda coulda, the only real way to know is to dyno it, wich you can do at the wheels, or get a G-Tech they are fairly accurate.

 

Sharpshooter
what made you choose your 280H camshaft? and do you have a stock valvetrian, springs retainers ext. I am building an engine with almost the same set up, i just have a different offenhouser intake. I was actually looking at a smaller camshaft, the 268 do you have an automatic with what ratio. thanks

Dw2455
if you could run that set up on desk top dyno with the 268 comp cams and bored 40 over. and then maybe comp cams 270magnum and his 280h camshaft, and give me the one with the most power it would be greatly apreciated.

Thanks
Brian

 

umdstang:
with stock heads and 600cfm carb
270h 287HP 333tk
280H 296HP 324TK
i dont have the specs for the 268 but if you can find the grind number i can try and put it in later, if your build this motor for a heavy vehicle thats gona be a daily driver then i would go with the smaller cam cuz of the tork, bigger isnt always better it depnds on what your gona do with the vehicle. good luck DW

 

thanks DW here are the specs on the 268 cam

Advertised duration: 268 intake/268 exhaust
* Duration at .050 in. cam lift: 218 intake/218 exhaust
* Gross valve lift: .456 in. intake/.456 in. exhaust
* Lobe separation: 110 degrees
* RPM range: 1,500 to 5,500

thanks alot by the way it is going in a 68 mustang

Brian

 

hp 285 tk 333
the grind # for that cam is 31-218-2
If this stang is gona be a daily driver id go with the 270H if gona run a AT trans with a 1500 stall converter then go with the 280H just my thoughts. Good luck DW

 

thnks dw

i think i am going with the 270h cam
that is the one that the guys at comp cams recomended

thanks again

Brian

 

Sorry for the delay but I haven't been online since early yesterday evening. I really have no idea why I went with the 280H I just remember looking through the Summit Racing magazine and reading up on all the cams and being that I torture my truck a lot either constantly pulling something or hauling something I figured it would give me the torque I need to keep pulling off the jobs I need it to do. So I went according to the description in the Summit magazine knowing what I demand of my truck.