Check into headers also i put them on my 302 and got a noticable gain

 

I have an 1987 F-150 Lariat with a 302, shorty headers and dual exhaust with just glasspacks flipped the loud way, so it is loud . I want to put a cold air intake system on it, im not sure if anybody makes them for this year, but if anybody knows a website that sells them, please let me know

 

Take a look at performanceunlimited.com/projectmpg . This project picked up some good HP and MPG, and charts it out. It also tells you about some "upgrades" that dident help!

 

Alright, let's clarify this some: you want to be able to go faster than 75mph @3k rpm? So first you need higher gearing (numerically lower) and if you are 4x4 you need to change it on both ends. You could also go with larger tires, but that creates it's own issues of clearances, durability of chassis parts, higher cg, ect. If your not happy with the acceleration of your truck now, you'll hate it after you change the gearing so you'll need to hop it up emphasizing torque since you want to stay below 3k rpm. For that you probably wnat an effeciancy cam with chip to match, the K&N set-up is fine, small tube headers with exhaust system to match (2.5" single or 2" dual), and if you are willing to open the engine up further you could do a minor port job where you take the roughness out of the ports, smooth the contours, and remove excessive valve shielding from the combustion chambers. If this isn't what you wanted, let us know.

 

Your cads. could be going bad it will restrict the exh. flow & get worse as times go . just a thought.

Don