Engine Rebuild Questions
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Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 1999
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From: Comox Valley, Canada
Engine Rebuild Questions
Well, after toying with the idea of a 300/6 I "wimped out" and decided to rebuild the 302 in my 53. I figured it would be quicker, read cheaper :-) , to reuse the present setup at this time. Also being quicker the "Minister of Finance" aka my wife, will not be riding my butt about the extended downtime of the project.
Anyway, off to the question. The parts are at the machine shop, block getting cleaned, mains line-bored, rods resized and cylinders bored .030, crank turned to clean up the gouges from lack of oil apparently. The question is which new pistons should I get? The heads are D0CE's , which I think have 58cc chambers, the rods are C8CE's and the block is D3CE...........so do I go flat top, dished, domed ????
If it matters.....the exhaust goes thru headers and magnaflo mufflers, I have a stock 4bbl manifold but I am still looking for a carb for it. I installed a duraspark ignition system just before the teardown.
I am not going for outrageous compression and end up having to buy fuel from NASA :-) just a daily driver that has enough power to get out of its own way.
So any ideas, suggestions, demands, pointers, etc, etc
Anyway, off to the question. The parts are at the machine shop, block getting cleaned, mains line-bored, rods resized and cylinders bored .030, crank turned to clean up the gouges from lack of oil apparently. The question is which new pistons should I get? The heads are D0CE's , which I think have 58cc chambers, the rods are C8CE's and the block is D3CE...........so do I go flat top, dished, domed ????
If it matters.....the exhaust goes thru headers and magnaflo mufflers, I have a stock 4bbl manifold but I am still looking for a carb for it. I installed a duraspark ignition system just before the teardown.
I am not going for outrageous compression and end up having to buy fuel from NASA :-) just a daily driver that has enough power to get out of its own way.
So any ideas, suggestions, demands, pointers, etc, etc
Senior User
Joined: Feb 2004
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From: new jersey
I recommend the flat tops in a compression ratio of your choice,8 1/2 to 1 ratio or 9 to 1 ratio. i do not recommend dish pistons as they are a low compression smog piston which in turn if used IMO will give a slug for an engine and you won't be happy. dome pistons are a high performance piston used in high Hp motors with compression ratios at or about 11.1 and above. As far as your carb goes, i would be looking for something around a 500 to 600 cfm. if you decide to change your intake i recommend a near stock aluminum dual plane. but your intake will also work.
Postmaster
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 3,005
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From: Santa Clarita
54 has given you excellent advice. I would stay with the flat tops also, particularly if you want something reliable. Popups will give you the added horses, but you can run into clearance problems between valve and pistons, plus you need high octane to avoid ping. I've used TRW pistons for years and they are very reliable. As a carb, that's a matter of choice. I see several people running Edelbrock (including myself) but some swear by Holleys and now the new Dominator carbs. Edelbrock makes a variety of aluminum manifolds you can use also. If you want a little more power between midrange and top end, I'd recommend going with a higher lift/ duration camshaft since you already have the engine torn apart. That will make a different especially with the headers and muffler system you have. Fords like to breathe.
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From: Comox Valley, Canada
Thanks guys. I have ordered the flat tops. I forgot to mention the truck came with a new cam and lifters, although I have no idea if it is stock or not.
It was actually an interesting tear down......the engine had never really been running until I got it...but it had rebuilt heads, new cam, new lifters, new oil pump, new fuel pump, new headers, new exhaust but a junkyard carb/manifold and a bottom end that was very well used...thus the .030 bore, resizing the rods, line boring the mains and the turning of the crank.....makes you wonder why someone would bolt all that new stuff onto an old well worn block...which had 3psi of oil pressure when I got it running and warm :-)
It was actually an interesting tear down......the engine had never really been running until I got it...but it had rebuilt heads, new cam, new lifters, new oil pump, new fuel pump, new headers, new exhaust but a junkyard carb/manifold and a bottom end that was very well used...thus the .030 bore, resizing the rods, line boring the mains and the turning of the crank.....makes you wonder why someone would bolt all that new stuff onto an old well worn block...which had 3psi of oil pressure when I got it running and warm :-)
Postmaster
Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Santa Clarita
Sparky, it's very typical to find what you have. Most people have fear of doing anything to the lower block in the way of rods/ bearings, etc. The common thing to get more horsepower from a tired engine is to do a valve job, cam, headers and exhaust. Sometimes a new timing chain. Consider yourself lucky, you'll save some money on the rebuild. As for the cam, your machinist can measure the lobes on the cam and sometimes the lift and duration is stamped on the end of the camshaft.
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Posting Guru
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From: Comox Valley, Canada
Yeah I have already considered myself lucky a few times with this truck....many many new parts with 0 hours on them........got to love buying an abandoned project :-)
Oh yeah the engine also had a new timing set
Thanks for the info I will try and decipher the cam just for curiosity now.
Oh yeah the engine also had a new timing set
Thanks for the info I will try and decipher the cam just for curiosity now.
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