now it is time to change my 302, 1983 f-150, i found an 302efi, the guy told me that i could change my intake and be just fine, is thair anythins else i have to change to use the mechanical fuel pump? or any other obstacles i might run into. any help will be very appreciated. thanks!

 

Franklin2 is the person I've seen post the most on this subject.And according to Franklin2 you must take off and use entire front of motor....Timing chain cover,timing chain fuel pump bumper,water pump and all pullys ect.

 

Fuel injected 5.0's are roller cam so you need to change the cam gearto a bronze one if using a distributor from a non roller cam engine, also the fueli's use the 5.8 firing order.
I'm not sure what year the imbalance changed so I'd use a fuel injected engine flywheel and balancer.

 

All fuel-injected 5.0's are not roller-cammed. In fact, those used in EFI trucks from '85 to, I believe, '94 have flat-tappet, hydraulic cams.

 

Good point, I normally use car engines as donors as they are more plentiful.

 

Not all efi 5.0 use the 5.8 firing order. Only the HO 5.0 use the 5.8(351w) firing order. As I posted before, I asked before I did this and my local Ford engine builder told me a Ford roller cam will work with a non-efi dist. So I took his advice, and ran an 80 dist in a 86 efi motor with roller cam for 8 years with no problems.

 

The only reason the EFI 5.0HO engine used the 351 firing order is because thats the way the computer box was. If you change the computer from a Mustang into a Crown Vic or whatever you have got to use the 351 firing order.
Changing the intake to an HO requires only the one wiring harness that goes to the plugs on the firewall and the new computer box, the HO electronics are much more efficiant.
As for the distributor, I had a 78 engine and I swapped that into an 85 F-150 with TFI and it worked beauty, I am now mid process of putting an 86 Roller motor into the same truck and I will be using the same distributor I used before. Any 302 distributor will work in any 302, simply said.

All of fords fuel injector motors could be easilly made into roller engines because they were already pre-drilled to fit the lifter retainers and guide plates.

I have my truck on an electric fuel pump right now, and I find it is much more efficiant than the mechanical one. I have a switch on the side of the dash to turn it on and off and that works alot nicer than having it turn on as soon as you turn the key. It also works well because I can turn it off if I get into trouble at the track

They changed the balance of the engines between 84 and 85 sometime. I ran into problems when I swapped the 78 302 onto the 85 truck and I used the harmonic damper from the 85 engine as well as the flywheel. The engine eventually spun off a rod bearing. The 85+ flywheels and dampners were all the same balance from 85 to when they stopped making the 302 as far as I know.

To change to a mechanical fuel pump all you have to do is buy a front engine gasket set, pull off the water pump harmonic damper and timing plate, replace the timing plate with one off of an older engine and on the cam gear there will be an "eccentric"?(sp?) some call it, that moves the arm on the fuel pump. Even the fuelie engines had them, its a balance thing (saves having to rebalance the engine for different years) Anyways, replace the cover and bolt the fuel pump up and you're set to rock.

Car engines are more plentiful but they don't last as long as truck engines! Truck engines used forged pistons all the way to 96 where most car engines stopped using them in 89, as well as the piston rings which were 'moly in the truck and HO engines, the car engines used plasma moly or some ***** rings.
And car engines usually don't make the same torque a truck engine does, its all in the camshaft profile and airflow.
I once did a swap with an 88 F-150 302 and a Mustang HO 302 engine and the Mustang engine seemed gutless compared to the blowby ridden original engine.
The car engine is setup for the intake assembly that comes on a car engine where a truck engine is ment for the one it comes with as well. The car engines have something like 8.7:1 compression and 16lb injectors where the truck engines have a way lower duration camshaft for torque) 9:1 compression and 19lb injectors.
The explanation of the more torque for a truck engine goes deeper though, look at the intake assembly of a truck. The intake tract is much shorter and straighter than the one on a car, if you have ever delt with a tunnel ram intake you'll notice the long, straight runners of a tunnel ram cause it to make more top end power, where a short straight runner allows it to make more low end torque. Its all in the airflow folks! The more you can get the air to swirl when going into the engine the more you can get in there, being the reason that K&N filters make more power. The way the gauze is setup in them it causes the air to "swirl" as it goes into the intake, causing turbulance. Ford screwed up when they went with the "turbo swirl" head castings in 86 on the HO engines. They had too much valve shrouding and caused the air leaving the engine to swirl as well, you want air to come into the engine quick and leave quick, and exhaust gases don't leave quick when they're stuck swirling around trying to sneak past the valve shrouds!

I'm shutting up now before I get kicked in the nuts!

Anyways I hope my useless babble has been of some help and possibly a learning experince to you all
Merry Ho Ho!!!!!!!

 

Another important reason for a 302 HO having a 351w firing order is the camshaft. The 302 and 351w camshafts can be interchanged as long as the sparkplug wires are swappped.

The eccentric on an efi motor is not the proper setup for a mechanical fuel pump. If you notice, the older fuel pump motors had a 2 piece eccentric, which will cause much less wear on the fuel pump arm.

Another feature of a late block that can accept a roller cam is the lifter bores are taller to accept the roller lifters which are taller.

 

Them too!
But if you know what you are up to the 302HO/351 camshaft can be used with the normal firing order! I tried an experiment with an old 302 engine I had. The camshaft lobes aren't that much off that it won't run, I think, if I remember right, all you had to do was advance the camshaft timing 180 degrees and it would run and hit on all 8! I have too much time on my hands, I'm sure of it
Merry ho ho folks! and a happy new years!

 

If I's you I'd just use the old intake and carb off the old motor and not go through the headache of installing a computer and all the diferent sensors for it to even run.

 

thanks! that is what i did, got her installed into my truck everything hooked up and she runs great, unlike the old motor, i started it every time with a big cloud of blue, ah all better now the truck says.

And also thanks everyone who gave me input and helped guide me through this experience, even though i do know a little about the fords, i still learn. Thanks!!!