ive been reading around here and a lot of people seem to say that a 351 is better that the 302... as far as touque and such heck yes, but the 302 and 351 are pretty much the same thing, different pistons and heads and such but really the exact same engine.. or am i wrong. I know the 302 and the 351 are ased off the same block and hae a lot of parts that are interchangeable. My truck has a 302 in it and it seems to be great, havent had any problems with it at all excot for the inevitible coolant leaks and such.

Just pondering this... does my truck suddenly suck cause it has a 302?

 

no the 302 is not a bad engine at all. As far as the blocks being the same, that is not the case. Yes some things are inter changeable but not as much as you would think. the 351 block is just physically bigger in every way. The heads are interchangeable with either drilling out the bolt holes of 302 head for 351 or using bushings for 351 heads on 302. timing chain cover is the same, water pumps are interchangable, oil filter . but oil pan, crank, rods, pistons, intake are all different. Depends on what you want to do with it. There are some stock 302's that make lots of power and stay together. but for how long? the 351W block is usually good for 600hp reliable, i wouldn't trust a stock 302 block for that. But there is nothing wrong with a 302 by any means. if so why was it last for so long? 289/302 from what 60's-95? something like that right.

 

302s aren't that bad at all, just the trucks are heavy...

 

nah mate 302,s are a great engine,my f150 has a 02 an 5spd and the engine is original one put in by ford in 1989 and has 330,240 kilometres on it,not quite sure what that is in miles,but its only been apart once with one head off for a crook head gasket and this engine has been on full time lpg for the last 200,000 k,s,so dont let anybody tell ya there no good.

 

My grandfather drove a '74 F100 for 22 years with a 302, and in its last years the truck ran on either 6 or 7 cylinders ... talk about tough, it just "kept on keepin' on!" So I'd obviously put the 302 up against anything else. It's just a damned good motor.

 

The 302 *is* Ford Motor Company. That engine has put on more miles in more vehicles than anything else ever made by Ford. The best vehicle of any type that I have ever owned in my 46 years had a 302 - I miss that truck still, every day. Never owned anything that had more "want to" than that old 302. Never put anything behind it that it couldn't pull and it never pulled anything that wasn't over it's rated capacity. I was gonna drop a 351 in my Bronco but I gotta have at least one 302 in my stable so I am keeping it. All they do is go.

 

i think that 302 a great engines i have put mine through its passes and it still just keeps on going on problem i just have problems with the 80s wiring harness

 

As stated.. the 302 is a great.. reliable motor. But for some reason it was deployed in trucks with the worst possible combination of options and parts. Pre '94 versions were needlessly smothered with wimpy cams and restrictive exhausts, and were found in heavy vehicles and high gear ratios. Actually if Ford had made 3.73 gears the minimum ratio for 302 trucks then we probably wouldn't have this bad opinion of it. But folks are driving trucks with 302/3.08 combinations and wondering why it can't haul anything. The motor can make good power, it just needs to rev a bit more to generate it. I think the new trucks are blessed with much better gear ratios, so even the 4.6 powered F150s make decent haulers.

 

I don't know all that much about the 302, but I can do math!

330,240 kilometers = 205,201.623 miles

So ... Wow!

 

nice, hey my truck runs great, debating if i want to run her at the drag strip tomorow night, but i dont know if i want to beat on her

 

I will take a 302 anyday of the week and twice on sundays. I love all of the 302's that I have had over the years. My great grandpa had a baby blue mid 70's truck with the 302 and it still runs and drives just fine today. Sure I am chasing a gremlin in my 94 Bronco but it's on the electrical side not mechanical. Sure the 351 makes more power, no replacement for displacement but the 302 is a great motor. BTW one of my mustangs had 165, 000 miles and was sprayed with nitrous for the last 50,000 of that before I stroked it and it didn't need to rebuild then.

 

I had no real problems, and have nothing bad to say about the 302. My old truck ('85 F150 4x4) had a 302/AOD setup, and ran down the road just great. I had no problems with the engine at all. Granted, when it came to pulling a gravity wagon, it had its limitations, and farm use, a 302 might not be the best engine you can have in a truck, but the truck did pretty much everything I asked of it. I bought a '91 F250 4x4 with a 351 and found it could outpull the old half-ton, but I have to say, the 302 tried, and did as well as could be expected for what it was. The basic problem with this setup is that the 302 is a bit on the lightweight side when it comes to being a truck engine... at least in my experiences using a truck on the farm. I'm sure that if I'd wanted to tear it up working out here, I could have done it eventually, but that gets expensive.

I also owned a 1978 Mercury Cougar XR-7 that had a 302 in it, and could'nt have asked for a better engine for that car. And I would'nt rule out buying another pickup that came with one. Like any engine/transmission/rear-end... any part you wanna name, there comes a point that you find something that you simply cannot do without doing damage to it.

As for going drag racing... hey, why not? Keep it below the redline and watch the Christmas tree close. You'll do okay.

 

I dont have a redline on my truck odly enough, it tops put a 6000rpm, but i have an automatic so i dont have to worry too much about shifting, i may drop it into first and shift into 2nd and then drive so i can control it, i dont know yet lol

I have the 1994 302 which has the 351 firing order which i hear is better

 

No, not at all, but just compare the 302 V8 and the 300 in-line 6.
Both have the same displacement and piston diameter, but it is applied differently.

The 300 in-line 6 is designed to make more lower rpm torque as the stroke is much longer-
(302 stroke is 3.00 and the 300 is 3.98)

and the rod (and it's ratio which is a major point) is longer as well

(302 rod is 5.09 and the 300 is 6.21)

You could say that with either pushed to their limits "design wise", that the 302 would be more of a high RPM screamer, and the 300 would be more of a low RPM thumper.

But I am getting nit picky as the two designs tend to "lean" towards one way, or type of use, more than the other, and either can be built for power and rpm with the appropriate application of aftermarket parts.



Both the 302 and the 351 are of similar V8 design but the 351 stroke is 1/2 inch longer and the rod is almost an inch longer as well so there would be more HP from more cid and much more torque as well from the longer stroke and rod ratio (all other thing being equal).

In an F150 used for light loads and/or commuting, the 302, or the 300 I6 is perfectly ok and should get decent fuel mileage as well (A HUGE ISSUE THESE DAYS), but if you want to haul heavy all the time, the 351 would be a much better choice depending on the weight application and the gearing, as you could gear the 302 or the 300 much lower and get decent heavy hauling use as well.

Then again, a Diesel or a 460 would be even better, but at the cost (ONCE AGAIN, A HUGE ISSUE THESE DAYS) of higher fuel consumption, loaded heavy or driven empty.

You have to ask yourself "what is the real intended use" and decide what you need, as most of us rarely need all the added HP we want or think we need.

My 7.3 Diesel will most likely never see a load that a 300 I6 or a 302 could handle easily, but I wanted a Diesel.

 

Ive had nothing but good things to say about each 302 I have owned. I have never had a 302 in anything bigger then an f150 though, and my f150s werent used like trucks either.

As for performance, the 302 can be done up quite well too.

99yellow gt, why is it, that a 351w would be good for more hp then a 302 block? I would think they would be just about identical. I think you can use the same motor mounts to do a 351/302 swap, and with alot of parts, like heads, being interchangeable, I wouldnt think the 351 block would be a whole lot bigger, or different...