This is what im figuring this 302 has for horsepower

1968 302 with 2 barrel heads and 2 barrel carb is 210 horsepower
add four barrel heads... around 50 horse?
Edelbrock Performer RPM Intake.... 10-15 horse?
Crane 272 degree cam.... 35-45 horse?
headers......25 horse

Im figuring right around 330 horsepower?? Im a 17 year old kid trying to figure this out. i need some help here. Any info would be much aprreciated. Thanks!

jayjay

 

Sorry to burst your bubble but it doesn't quite work that way. Every part you add must be designed to work in conjunction with all the others. To get 330 HP out of a 302 your going to have to do a lot more than just bolt on parts.

What your suggesting, assuming a 750 Holley carb, will probably max out at 240 HP on the dyno.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 06-May-02 AT 08:50 PM (EST)]ok... this doesnt make any sense to me at all. If you have a 210 horsepower stock 302 with 2 barrel heads (62cc or 64cc??). If you go to the fourbarrel heads (54 cc)..... it ups the compression by a FULL point.... which SHOULD easily EASILY give you 30 horse. Now, larger cam should give more than 15 horse. Ok..so now we are at 255 horsepower. Now the fourbarrel intake...going from a 2 barrel intake to a fourbarrel intake is at least 10-15 horsepower more . Now we are around the 265-270 horsepower mark. Now we have headers... most headers say u can get 10-15 percent more power. This means at least 10 horse. we are now at the 275-280 horsepower mark at the MINIMUM i think?? Im just a 17 year old kid ..... and this isnt making much sense to me at all.

On the edelbrock website.. they say a 302 with a performer RPM cam... RPM intake....and RPM heads...and headers... makes 367 horsepower. Now i dont have the performer RPM cam... or RPM heads....but i have the intake...and headers. The reason i am putting the RPM intake on is for more high rpm power. And the reason for the crane 272 is for more off the line. I just wanted a lil more that 5500 as the peak rpm. and the fourbarrel heads im puttin on are ported and polished with chevy 2.02 valves. They probably make around half as much horsepower as the performer rpm heads. but this motor should be around 300 horsepower. I have talked to 3 engine builders in the last 5 hours and they say the motor should bring over 275 horsepower. How are you only figuring 240 horsepower?? Im not trying to be a ***** or nething.... but its not making any sense to me at all!! Ill talk to ya some more about it when ya reply!

jayjay

 

jayjay, You could see 275, but you need to tune the thing right. You also need a good timing set and the correct length pushrods. You have to know how to degree your cam, and buy and install correctly the right valve springs. You would have to either get a better distributor, or re-curve the advance on the one you have. With 2.02 valves and that cam, you stand a good chance of having your valves hit your pistons, unless you get them flycut for 2.02 valves. You would need to find the correct heat range plugs, and set your timing just right. Find the best jetting for your carb. I've only covered some of the things you haven't even mentioned or thought of. Edelbrock will tell you anything to sell you their parts. What a professional engine builder can get out of an engine, and what you can get out of an engine, are two very different figures. If you don't have access to a dyno, it takes a lot of time just to get things tuned right. And that's assuming you chose the right parts in the first place. You never said how fresh your engine is, but you're asking for trouble if you're adding more power to an engine that hasn't been freshened up. What rc351w posted was 100% correct. There's a whole lot more to it then just bolting on some parts and go.
But then it sounds like you'll find out the hard way, just like I did. Just don't get discouraged, and read, read, read everything you can.

 

Alright i believe ya guys...... its just hard to comprehend that putting 600 bucks into a motor and only a 60 horse increase ya know?!!? but i guess thats how it goes!! I was thinking.... Summit sells 10.1:1 compression pistons for my cc head for 186 bucks. Would these pistons get me over that 300 horse range? I can spend about 1200 bucks on this motor. So if you have any suggestions on what i can do to get to the 325 horsepower range gime some ideas!!! Ill be waiting for responses! thanks!

jayjay

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 07-May-02 AT 09:26 AM (EST)]Jayjay, It's going to be tough with a 1200 dollar budget. A 1968 block most likely needs machine work. If you're going to do it, do it right. I had a 302 hot tanked, decked .010", bored and honed to fit +.040" pistons, align honed, and a tap run through all the threaded holes. Also the crank was turned .010"/.010", all the oil holes were chamfered in the crank,the rods were resized with ARP rod bolts added, The new pistons and pins pressed on, and the complete reciprocating assembly was balanced. I may have missed something here or there. This work was just over $740.00, and the machinist is a friend of mine. This isn't even counting the price of any parts, or any of the work I did to the heads. The grand total was about $3,800.00, but I used the best of everything. That figure doesn't even count some of the parts I already had. If you add a set of aftermarket heads into the list, we're talking at least another thousand. I forgot the name of the engine builder, but he had a famous saying. "Speed costs son. How fast do you want to go"? For this particular engine, we're talking 336 horsepower at 6000 RPM's, and 298 lbs's of torque. I have another one that puts out more, but you don't even want to know how much money I have in that one.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 07-May-02 AT 07:14 PM (EST)]Alright.....heres what i have decided on what im doing for my 302.

Its a 68 302 with 2 barrel heads and 2 barrel manifold:

Adding:

Four Barrel Heads with 2.02 valves (54 cc)
Keith Black Silv-o-lite flat top pistons : 10.1:1 bored .030
Performer RPM Cam
Performer RPM Intake
Edelbrock 600 Electric Choke
Headman 1 5/8 inch headers

This is what my budget can have.. so this is what im going with. Im sure with these parts the 1968 Cougar should rip just fine with 3.25 gears. I was hoping to get to that 325-350 horse range. But anywhere close to the 275 mark will be fine in a car that weighs 3200 pounds. Thanks for all the suggestions guys!! I appreciate it!!

jayjay

 

A 68 Cougar is a sweet car. I've been looking for a 67/68 for a long time for a decent price. Good luck with your build.