Hey, This summer i plan on getting a newer fuel injected 302 truck motor and rebuilding it to replace the 302 in my 92 F-150 NITE with an aod. I want to rebuild it somewhat stock but I want some mild mods. Heres what i plan to do. Buy a 30 over rebuild kit from summit that comes with hyperputic pistons, speed pro rings, main cam and rod bearings, standard oil pump, gaskets, freeze plugs, Plastiguage, and assembly lube. Buy a mild cam, keep the factory heads, summit shorty truck headers a high flow cat to replace the one factory one i have left and mabie a throtle body spacer. Is this a good combination?
Also here are some Questions.

1 What size cam should i get? (how much lift this will be for road driving 1000 to 3000 Rpm)

2 Shuld i buy new rods?

3 Should i buy new injectors?

4 What kind of things can i do to the stock heads (port and polish) can or should i put different size valves in them or would i be safe just leaving them stock? (i hope)

5 will I have to buy new lifters and pushrods?

Thanks in advane for any info. I am 19 and just finished my first year of automotive mechanics in college. I havent taken engine building yet so I am not to sure what make a good combo

 

ok, your going to be limited on the size cam you can get because of the speed density fuel system on your truck. i plan on doing a smilar build to my 89 over the summer(it's got 130,000miles so i can convince my parents that it needs it) i've heard comp cams has a cam grind for our trucks that is computer friendly. as far as new connecting rods i'm gonna use my old ones, if you get a cam you'll need new lifters, push rod are ok to re-use, your heads should be fine, maybe some mild porting and polishing and a 3 angle valve job. if your going to buy another block i'd look for a mustang block with the roller cam(which is what i'm doing) i would use the stock injectors if they all work, maybe clean them, i'm also going to port match the upper and lower intakes, plus the intake to the head and heads to the headers. i dont' know what the Dome or dish of the pistons in the summit kit is but you have to find that out to find your compression ratio.(i want to bump mine upto 9:1 or a lil more) i'm looking for anywhere from 230hp-250hp and i'm prolly gonna put a 4.10 rear in my truck with a limited slip. if your concernd abotu the gas milage then i would use the stock cam. well just my .02 worth. justin

 

Just a few things. When I bought my kit from Summit, I ordered it with the Total Seal Zero Gap rings. It's cheap horsepower, and your rings last much longer. In addition, you get only about 1% leakdown compared to between 5 and 10% with regular rings, higher vacuum, better ring seal, and way less blow-by when you engine gets older. Stock rods are okay to re-use, but use ARP high strength rod bolts. I also had my rods re-sized when I had my other machine work done. I also can't see re-using pushrods from a higher mileage engine.
It's pretty tough sometimes to get all the gunk and sludge out from the inside. New aftermarket pushrods aren't all that expensive. Also you can buy them that are much stronger, and won't flex as easy. When you get your cam, buy new valve springs to match the cam. I agree with everything else.

 

The only thing I might add is to possibly consider a super-stock kit from PAW. The advantages to this are that you can put it together (it includes the block and crank) while you're still driving on your old engine, meaning less downtime when you go to make the switch, the kit is comparably priced or actually less than most aftermarket rebuilds, and advertises a much higher degree of machine work, including balancing. I'm building the same type of setup you're looking for this summer, and I think I'm looking for the same things - smooth running, more torque and horsepower at the low end and midrange, while retaining stock emissions and speed density. The Comp Cam I'm planning to use is, I believe, the one you reference - grind # 31-213-4. Hyd. Flat Tappet (non-roller), good vacuum, better torque/power 800-4800 rpm, works w/ stock computer. 252/252 advertised duration, 0.432/0.432 lift, 112 deg. lobe separation. Hope this helps.

 

i'd like to know more about the PAW, how do they keep the cost down and so on? you exchange your block with them or what?

 

They've been in business a while, and they sell mainly high performance engine parts. Check out www.pawengineparts.com. Give them a call and order their catalog, it's worth the price as it's 2" thick. Don't know on the pricing, all I can guess is volume. No cores are necessary on the Super Stock Block Kits (block is included), and the complete assembly (pistons, crank, rods, bearings, gaskets, etc.) for the 302 is advertised at $1109 (cast piston) for the short block. Not the cheapest, nor the most expensive (the trick is that you do the assembly work). But, with the machine work that's included (block is decked, freeze plugs installed, block is painted, cam bearings installed, custom honing of block / grinding of crank, custom balancing of pistons / rods) it becomes an attractive option. I believe the long block is about $400 higher. I know the heads have a three-angle valve job, but I don't know which castings you receive. You may be able to specify, as I know you have a lot of options when it comes to specifying cam, pistons, rings, etc.

 

Thanks guys. What would be the best parts to buy, like the lifters pushrods valvwe springs valves. What about a ford racing cam?

 

I would also look at Northern Auto Parts. They have rebuild kits for about $300. I'm looking at doing the same thing. I already have a spare block and heads setting in my garage waiting for machine work.

[link:www.northernautoparts.com|Northern Auto Parts]

Roger Lane

 

Hey guys I got some bad news today. I called the Summit teck line today and the teck told me that on a speed density air flow engine(87-94) you cannot do anything to change the airflow because it will mess the computer up. He told me that there is only one cam for the application and he said that it will only give me about 5 horse. Kind of a waste. He also told me that .30 over would probably be the most i could go over whithout messing up the computer. Basically he said that if you want to make some mods you have to change your speed densidy airflow system over to a mass air flow system (600.00 for the kit). Basically all i can do to my motor is buy the headers and the throttle body spacer. Thats another thing you cant buy is the bigger throttle body without messing up the computer. Anything that changes the air flow on those speed densidy systems messes up the computer resulting in poor performance. I dont know aboutyou guys but i am not spending 600.00 on the mass air flow conversion kit. What do you guys think? Thanks for all of your info.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 16-May-02 AT 04:33 PM (EST)]Don't listen to that guy. The 93-95 Lightnings were not mass air. They came with GT-40 heads and intake, headers, higher flowing exhaust and airfilter, hotter cam, etc. WAY better airflow then stock.
I owned one. With the stock speed density system in place, I ported and polished the heads, and had a 3-angle valve job done. At the same time, the heads were milled .010" to bump up compression. I got rid of the stock restrictive headers, and installed a set of equal length coated shorties. I left the stock 4 cat system, but had 2.5 inch pipes ru out the back with no mufflers, and big tips on the ends. I also added a K&N air filter. That engine was flowing MUCH more air then stock, and it ran GREAT. The check engine light never came on even once. That Lightning cam is something like only .444" lift. Not much more then your 302. The trick is to maximize your volumetric efficiency, without going to a huge cam. There are a lot more mods you can make with speed density then most people know. When you talk to people who really don't know, the first thing they say is to switch to mass air. I've known people to do just that, and still have problems after spending about $800.00 on the conversion. If you want to learn more about making power with speed density, contact SuperFord magazine or Muscle Mustang and Fast Fords magazine. I used to have a bunch of articles concerning just that, but I recently sold my magazine library.

 

Anyone else agree or disagree?

 

I agree fully. Do your homework..... it will take a bit of careful planning and research, but you can improve your SD 302 without making the switch to mass air. There was a point where I was going to switch, myself. Putting in a hot cam and heads is always attractive, but on an '85 (although I do love my truck), at what point do I control the amount of $$$ I put into it? By sticking to the $600 cheaper stock SD system and keeping the project somewhat within budget, I've just justified my reasons for restoring the old Bronco and not buying a brand new loaded Super Duty. Does this mean I'm condemned to driving around a decent truck with a weak engine? No. I'll just have to carefully plan what I'm going to do with my rebuild. One of the biggest headaches with the EEC IV is idle quality.... you drop below around 14" - 15" of vacuum at idle and the engine will surge and hunt, cutoff, and otherwise run like crap. If you can keep the vacuum up, most will accept changes without any problem. On the cam side, keep the duration and lift sane, and try to keep the degrees of lobe separation above 112. Crane and Comp Cams, to name two, both make computer-friendly cams designed for this purpose. Headers and free-flow exhaust are fair game, as are ignition mods and K&N filters. Milder head mods can be handled okay, as well. Remember, the '87 and '88 Mustang GT's were speed density, and they weren't slouches. One more item..... consider mods that don't necessarily add horsepower, but instead reduce frictional drag. Examples include roller rocker arms and electric engine cooling fans. It all adds up.

 

The guy at summit is a #####......... all i have to say SD is a good air intake may not be best but it can do what you want it to. here is a good site http://cobragt87.stangnet.com/ this site will let you in on some good info about the cam a buddie of mine did what this guy did and it cam out nice car looks like crap but it out runs most things with its ducktaped bumper.

 

I am also looking at rebuilding my 302 and Summit has a good selection of camshafts for computer controlled 302. I'm looking at a roller cam for 1500-5000rpm which should work fine for almost any gearing. It has 208 intake and 216 exhaust duration with .530 intake and .530 exhaust lift. It runs about $176 but it a good choice for a low rpm rebuild that will pull.