First of all I just had the whole body of my 83 ford f-150 stepside 300 staight six repainted and redone, so my main goal now is to make it a somewhat fast steet truck, the 300 has alot of pulling power especially when its got the 4 speed grany gear trany, but no speed and I understand that engine wasnt made for speed. So my main question is should I swap the engine that is in it now for a new 302 with high performace parts, or rebuild the 300. I also want to stay with a manual trany not an auto. Thanks.

 

The six you have is a good engine. It is a 4.9L where the 302 is only a 5.0L with may be 40 more HP. You have a number of choices available to you but I would NOT go with the 302 because it is still a small block and your truck is much heavier than a Mustang. See where I am going with this?

If you want any kind of street performance you will need at least a 351 (still a small block but modifications make a bigger difference in RWHP (rear wheel horse power)

The granny will not hold up to 350+ HP. It was not designed for the higher RPM clutch popping starts. It was designed for low RPM grunt work and does an excellent job at that.

I am currently in the process of building a stroked 351C with parts from a 400 for a 1981 SWB step. The main reason I am doing this is because I have all the parts I need, and access to a machine shop. If I were going to just swap engines, I would go with a stock 429/460 from a late 60's early 70's Thunderbird/Lincoln and the C6 automatic. C6's require very little modification to handle up to 400 HP. If greater than 400 HP, you need a better than stock torque converter.

The engines and transmissions from these cars are almost a direct bolt in but you will need the accessory brackets, oil pan, and frame perches from a 1983 F-250 or newer 460 to complete the swap. You will also need a drive shaft from any C6 SWB F-Series 2WD.

You just can't beat the torque that the 429/460 engines provide and there is no substitute for BB performance.

I put a modified 302 (325 HP) into my LWB 82 and it was a big disappointment. Yeah, it would spin the rear tires but was no threat to a modified Dodge Neon. Now the 460, will blow his glass out and give him a good look at my tail lights before he gets off the line.

Due to the model year of your truck, you can put just about any non FE engine in the compartment and still be legal with emissions because Ford used the 302W, 351W, 351M, 400, and 460 during the 1983 production year. There is no real visual difference between the 429 and 460.

The street performance is entirely up to you. I have provided suggestions that will work in your truck.

 

I have a 350hp 351W (built to take some abuse)in my 82 flareside(picture in my gallery). Now the total cost of the build was 4 grand but that was from start to finsh incuding a full 3" single exhaust with cutout, new mounts, mini starter from a newer efi truck. Anyway if i were you i would find a 351HO for any 80's truck and go from there. That way you can keep the mods low but still put out an easy 300hp. One thing that you will want to do if you end up with some power is finding a limited slip/locker rearend cause if you truck is anything like mine then it will do the one wheeled wonder all the way down the local drags. I will be installing a 3.25 limited slip with traction bars to hopefully solve this problem, and be able to burn the SRT 4 neon instead of just keepin up. Anyway just so you know these truck aren't that heaver as they only weigh 3600-3700 pounds.

 

Little basic rule. Take your vehicle weight and divide by 10, the answer will give you the minimum RWHP you need to be competitive.