i have a 1982 300. I found a 1986 f150 4x4 with a fuel injected 302 for 300 dollars. If the motors runs good should i make the swap and how hard would it be to do. the ad i found says for parts so i dont know if the motor runs or not. thanks for any help. matt

 

Personally, i wouldn't trade my six for any other powerplant. It has great power potential and economy (when propperly tuned). This is the second carburated six i have owned and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one! The only benifit to the 302 EFI swap is the fuel efficiency of fuel injection and perhaps a few more ponies. IN addition, I am a fan of K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) the six has the same displacement as the small v8, but about 20% fewer moving parts wich= more reliable and longer life (in my experience) I have found that for a light duty truck, this six sutes my needs for towing as well as commuting better than any other engine. In my opinion, I would save the cash and purchase a header and dual exhaust or perhaps lower rear gears. Just my 2 cents

Captain Tim Bland
1986 F150 SWB 4WD
300 I6 1bbl
3.08's
NP205
4 speed

 

ditto what Tim said!! Your 6 will out torque and pull the 302 - it needs those revs to put out power. If you are looking for an 8 with power and a fairly easy swap try a 351w. Lots of threads on this subject - most of use are allways looking for more!!
I put a clifford water heated intake on with the split cast iron exhaust and it was like night and day!!

 

I too agree with above posts. The 300 will out-torque a 302 and the horsepower difference is only a meager 30. A (properly) built 300 will last you for an unbeleivibly long time and can produce surprising amounts of power if done with the right parts. If you absolutely need the ponies and have to swap to a V8, then do it rite and go with a 351 Windsor. It's just not worth it to put a 302 in unless you're prepared to invest large amount of money into the motor to make it faster, which will in turn reduce gas milage, reliability and durability (lifespan) of the poor little 302. Go with a 351, or just keep the six and put your money into that motor. It'll never do you wrong and it'll give you all the power you need.

 

thanks for the advice i think i will stay with the 300 but was just wondering what you guys thought. how can i beef up my 300 and what kind of exhuast would sound good on it.

 

Upgrading the 300 is not cheap (mainly the reason I am still stock) but plenty worth it as steted before. Check out this site.. http://www.cliffordperformance.com I would recomend and exhaust upgrade first simply because a clifford headder will fit with the stock intake, but not the other way around

Captain Tim Bland
1986 F150 SWB 4WD
300 I6 1bbl
3.08's
NP 205
4 speed

 

To build the inline 6 here are the parts/upgrades you can add to produce more power:

1. Dual outlet header (Clifford Performance)
2. Free flowing muffler (flowmaster 40 series sounds good) and catalytic converter
3. 2.5" exhaust piping
4. Ignition box and coil (MSD, Holley, etc)
5. Spiral wound spark plug wires (For the new ignition box)
6. K&N filter injection performance kit
7. 4 bbl 390cfm carburetor (This is the best carburetor you can get for this engine any more would be to much)
8. intake manifold (Clifford Performance)
9. Port and polish the exhaust ports on the head
10. camshaft (anywhere from 252 to 270 advertised duration)
11. 1.6 to 1.7 rocker ratio for the camshaft
12. change the rear differential gears to 3.55 or 4.10 if you tow

 

actually, i was thinking i wouldn't mind upgrading my sixer a bit either...
It's the stock '82 300 straight... I've got the ford 4 speed on the floor, the one with low gear first, not sure what i've got for a rear end though...

what sort of suggestions do you have for increasing my power without losing too much milage and not spending an insane amount.... I don't have the biggest budget right now, so i'd rather do it step by step if possible...

-Der Meister-

 

I have that low, pretty much unusable except when hauling heavy loads and starting out up very steep hills first gear. Wondering if putting like 2.73's in the rear end would help make it usable and give better mileage at highway speed. I know it'll run 85mph on the interstate with a 63 Falcon on a tow dolly behind it (from experience) but the poor ol' engine does rev up there a bit at those speeds. :P

 

Dermeister if you want to modify your 300 look at the list I posted above your post for parts. As for expenses and which order to add them, start off with free flowing air filter, preferably K&N for your carb. Then add the spiral wound spark plug wires. You need these special wires to use the MSD-6A ignition. Then add the a MSD coil. Once you get the money redo you exhaust system with a set of Clifford Performance dual outlet headers and run them into a 3" Y-Pipe into a high flow 3"in/out cat into a 3" Flowmaster 30 series muffler. You'll love the sound!!! Then move onto the C.P. intake manifold if you want but make sure you get the 390cfm 4bbl carb. This carb will the 300 HOWL and not lower gas mileage. Power will shoot up noticebly. Good luck duude!

 

Paul, will the 4bbl carb fit on the as-is the same as the little 1bbl, or will i have to get a different intake for it? And what's a good source(s) for all these parts in Canada?

Also, i was wondering if anyone could help me figure out what i've got for a rear end. With my 300 and the ford 4-speed with low, I'm running about 2000 rpm in 4th gear at about 100 Kph. Thanx.

-Der Meister-

 

>Paul, will the 4bbl carb fit
>on the as-is the same
>as the little 1bbl, or
>will i have to get
>a different intake for it?
>And what's a good source(s)
>for all these parts in
>Canada?
>
>Also, i was wondering if anyone
>could help me figure out
>what i've got for a
>rear end. With my 300
>and the ford 4-speed with
>low, I'm running about 2000
>rpm in 4th gear at
>about 100 Kph. Thanx.
>

To install the 4bbl carb you will need a new intake manifold. These intake manifold can be found at Offenhauser or Clifford Performance, both have websites. If your looking to save money Offenhauser will be cheaper. However C.P. is in the economic niche of building performance parts for inline engines and hence the reason why they are more expensive. They do make good parts however! The 4bbl carb you should be able to find just about anywhere. As for suppliers in Canada I don't know of any.

The gear ratio in your truck's differential is probably a 2.73(the highest gear you can get). I figured this ratio based on 2000rpms at 100kph (60mph) and assuming you have 29" tires. You might want to change this to a lower ratio, 3.31 or 4.10s depending on what you want to use your truck for.

 

Paulg: In post #6 you recommend a 2.5" exhaust for the 300 I6 and in post #9 you recommend a 3". I was just wondering what the difference would be--different levels of performance mods?

 

Yeah the reason for the change is, a 3" exhaust would look better and give you slightly less backpressure and better flow. I ran 3" exhaust from the Y-Pipe thru the cat and into a 2.5" single centered in/out Flowmaster. One could say I'm **** when it comes to my truck and I wish I would have done 3" all the way but ended up buying a 2.5" muffler. To tell the truth I really don't think there is much of a performance difference between 2.5"s and 3"s. It might make a difference if one installs a camshaft with high lift, something I would like to do here soon. A 1/2" of valve lift should make some good power with this engine, hence the reason why I suggested 3" instead of 2.5". The 2.5" I have now gave me a good increase in power over the stock system but I also installed headers too.

 

Thanks Paulg. I wonder what RPM level would benefit from the bigger pipes. For example, (just a guess, but) the stock (roughly 2"??) pipe probably is fine up through 2000 or 2500, a 2.5 inch probably (as you noted) would do the trick through the RPMs one would normally go up to with a stock 300 (about 3600 to 3800 RPM), and a 3" probably would help with a 5000 RPM and a cam. Have you considered the possibility of higher ratio rockers to avoid changing the cam? I think I read that the extra lift combined with the more limited stock duration would be a good combo for torque. My neighbor is a Ford engineer. He said the 2.5" or 3" would likely not be a noticable difference and that either would certainly not hurt and may help. If my system ever rots out I will try either a cat-back or a freer flowing muffler. Probably won't get to try the 50 gallon drum, though .