1986 f150 4wd fi 302

i have a burnt or bent valve in the drivers side head. truck sounds like a disiel. so i have 2 ideas to make it stronger for towing:

1: set of heads from a 302 mustang cov't heads have 49,000 miles on them, paired with a nice torquey cam. posibly headers with this would i benifit more by haveing the heads ported and polished and decked? i mostly mean the hp to dollar ratio.

2. go to the yard and pull a set of 351w heads and cam. as well as the computer wiring harness, and complete intake mani. posible a set of headers. maybe decking port and polishing

3. leave well enough alone and just swap the mustang 302 heads on it and drive it.

looking for the best bang for the buck. i tow a car hauler and my jeep in to the mountains with a bed full of camping equipment.

 

You need a 351, PERIOD. Go find a complete EFI motor... oil pan to throttle body, and swap in an RV cam. If rebuilding the bottom end, get 9:1 pistons with valve eyebrows, port the factory heads on the exhaust side only, and use the factory intake. That's a great towing upgrade.

 

i didnt some searching and found there are 4 different head codes for my truck and only 2 of those for the mustang. where are the sodes located on the heads???

 

It's under the heads.

 

oooo is there any place i can find out what heads are in my truck via the vin or something. but i guese if i pull off the bad head i can see the code. compare it to the mustang heads and if they are different ill just get the head fixed.


i am correct that not all the heads will work on any block? im replacing both heads so doese it really matter what the head code is?

 

Your heads are likely E5TE or E6SE. E7TE is the later head that is found on most trucks and mustangs, and would be what I would recommend. All these will bolt on and work fine on your motor.

 

E7TE and E6SE heads can be Id'd with em still on the motor. The E7's have a large "T" cast in the front lower corner of the passenger side head, next to the valve cover. The E6SE's have a large "S" in the same location. GT40P's have a "P" there.

 

thanks for the info so far.



i was talking with the guy that has the heads and he has a hydrolic cam and lifters out of a 2000 explorer ho. he said its supposed to be a torquey cam. i can have it. any one know the grind on it? and what i can expect performance wise. it has to better then what i have now..

 

The Explorer cam is called the F4TE. Duration is 256/266 (advetised, not @.050) lift is .422/.445 with 1.6 rockers. Add .030 to that for 1.7's. I run one in my V8 89 Ranger with ported heads and a 4 speed & the 1.7 rockers. Good all around cam, smooth idle, pulls from idle to 6000 rpms. Great mileage. Also a great choice for a lower than 9 to 1 compression ratio 5.0 or 5.8 (if it's a roller block) The specs are just a tad shy of the GT/HO 5.0 cam, with 10 degrees less duration and .020 less lift on the intake side. This cam was used in all 94-97 E & F150-250's with a 5.0, the 94-97 351W roller motor and the 96-2001 Explorer/Mountaineer 5.0.

 

wow awesome info...... my block is not a hydrolic block but the heads are. will i have to change anything?

im pretty dum when it comes to cames. what is the "with 1.6 rockers. Add .030 to that for 1.7's" doese that mean you didnt use the stock rockers. or that you used spacers?

could you break it down a little for me. thanks

 

All internal combustion motors work on the principles of hydraulics for the cams and bearings. The only difference between the 2 factory cam options are that one uses lifters with roller followers, and the other flat tappets. Both these are still hydraulic lifters, meaning oil pressure is used to pump up the lifter and take the slack out of the valve train. There are no hydraulic actions in the heads only the lever action of the rocker arms.

The rockers are mounted on the heads and provide a lever to open the valves. The factory ratio on this lever is 1.6:1, meaning the lift provided by the cam is multiplied by this lever ratio. You can fit 1.72:1 ratio rockers arms which will result in more valve lift with the same cam.

 

great. as far as the ratio of the rockers. both heads (f150 and mustang) will have the 1.6:1? im guesing i can buy the 1.7:1 rockers, are they a stock swap or and after market only? and the lifters i would just use the ones that are with the cam already?

 

Yes, factory ratio for all Windsor motors(302 and 351) is 1.6:1. Some SVT vehicles may have come with 1.72 ratio rockers. You can buy aftermarket roller rockers(an upgrade over the factory slide fulcrum rockers) at any performance shop like Summit in 1.6 and 1.72 ratios.
Ford windsor heads use pedistal mount rockers, so aftermarket pedistal mount rockers are a direct bolt on without changing anything else.
BTW.. you need the roller lifters, spider and dogbones assembly along with that Explorer roller cam to install it. You also need to change the distributor drive gear. You cannot use the existing lifters, pushrods, or drive gear in your motor now with a roller cam.

 

you probably saw this one coming, dogbones and spiders?

for the money i spend on other parts to make this cam work it looks like id be better with ordering a flat tappet cam

 

Yes.. funny names on those parts, but that's what they look like. The dogbones are small H shaped pieces of steel that link pairs of lifters together and prevent them from rotating in the bores, and the spider is an 8 leged piece of sheet steel that bolts down in the lifter valley holding the dogbones in place. These are available in kit form for about $100 and show up on Ebay occasionally for less. Roller lifters, on the other hand are very expensive, $300+ a set new. Considering you can buy a new flat tappet cam with lifters for $150, converting to a roller cam is not cost effective unless you score a deal on all the parts needed.