I am glad I found this forum. I am in the begginings of restoring my 1982 xlt lariat ford Bronco. I have had it since I was 14 years old. The poor thing has been sitting up for the last 3 years since I drove it last. To start I am installing new body bushings under the 3 inch boddy lift blocks. If you have not put a body lift on DON'T DO IT. It surely takes a toll on your Bronco. The truck came with a 302 from the factory and has alwas had one in it. I think number 3 is in there right now but it is comming out. Just the other day I picked up a 302 HO out of an 89 Mustang GT. Got the block and the heads for $100. Soon I will have the block heads and crank fluxed. If the results are good then I take the next step. I will start to build the motor. Has anyone here used an 89 or similar HO roller motor as a replacement? If so how did you go about the water pump. I am not totally sure on this but when I called Jeggs the other day to see about a cam and lifters I told them what I was up to. The fella told me that the only concern I should have is the water pump. Apparently since it had a serpanten ( however you spell it) belt that the pump was reverse rotation. Does this mean the water flows a different direction? I assume even if it does I should not have a problem. According to the guy my intake off a 69 cobra will work on that motor. And if that is the case I would think since the water jackets line up it should all be the same. Anyway if anyone here has done what I am about to do please respond and let me know what all you did. Also if you have a good reciepe for your engine and you seem to be happy with it let me know. I have been out of this stuff for over 7 years. Also I am looking for some resources on new replacement parts such as seals for the door jams etc. If anyone has good leads I would appreciate it. The local Ford dealer wants a fortune for those things.Thanx

 

Good luck with your project..... for starters, you will probably want to check out MotorHaven (this site's parts store), as well as Bronco Graveyard and LMC Truck. Both have web sites, and both can send you a catalog. You should find better prices, and many of the parts are Ford originals. You'll find a decent amount of parts available for the '80 through '86's.

 

The cam in small-block HO engines intended for Mustangs is not a good choice for the Bronco. It has a high rpm power band for the much lighter 3500lb Mustang and your Bronco weighs over 5000lbs. Call a cam manufacturer for a recommendation.

 

 

Thanx George. I was pretty much on top of that before I even found the motor. I have found that the rv cams in the 268 to 272 split work really well with stalling the trans about 500 above stock. The reason I wanted the motor was 2 reasons. The fact that it is a roller and the heads are a little differnet than the stock 302 truck heads. I am not that much into high performance and really did not want to spend the big bucks on a set of alluminum castings only to spend more money on machine work and accessories. These heads from the ho will work fine, we will open the bowels a little and do a little polishing..nothing major. I also have solved the water flow problem. I was told it will not be a problem. My next step is to flux it this weekend. I called today about doing a transmission and I was floored. I have been out of this stuff for some time now and did not realize a bench job now is as much as a full pull and rebuild job 8 to 10 years ago:-X11 . I got to start saving my pennies