Hi all, haven't been here in a while as I got into the diesel world pretty big over the last few years but finally have some time to get back to my roots. My uncle gave me an '88 F-250 Standand Long 4x4 with a 5 speed and a 302. Motor is Shot, but I also got 3 used EFI cores and a built .40 over short block. The thing is going to need a lot of work, as it's been rotting away over the past 5 years but no real project is too big right! Box was in horrible shape so I scrapped that already and got rid of the tanks while i was at it. I know for a fact that every brake system component needs to be replaced as well as all the u joints but thats no big deal. It has 4.10 gears and a limited slip rear axle and it's not a full floater. I believe it is a Ford Sterling 10.25. The leaves and hangers are in poor shape, but I have another truck i can rob those off of. What I can't decide is what I'm going to do about induction. I have all the parts to make it an EFI motor, but the short block has a pretty nice size (228/236 .500/.520) cam in it that i know would have to be swapped out to a stocker unit. I also know that a lot of these early trucks have efi issues and I would hate to buy two new plastic tanks, 2 sending and pump units, and a fuel line kit only to find that out. So the other option was running a fuel cell to a mechanical pump (have plenty of front covers) with a performer rpm intake a 500 or 600 cfm carb with long tubes. If not, I was going to keep the stock manifolds and run one of the jegs high flow cat-less y pipes. Any input would be appreciated. What do you think?

 

are you staying with a 302? recommendation would be to go to a 351 if you want power but its usually cheaper to use what you got like the 85 motor in my 91 lol. you dont necessarily have to use a stock cam with efi but you cant have too much of a wild one. what kind of power are you looking to get from the engine?

 

there are a lot of peopl;e on this site that have hot cams on efi equipped trucks. It can be done but im not the one to ask, but im sure someone will help you. If it comes down to buying new tanks, i would highly suggest buying new metal ones, the way the sending unit attaches to the tank can be extremely frustrating to get everything aligned and not leaking.

 

Thanks for the comments! I've also got an '84 half ton with a built 351w making in the area of 400 horse, so i kinda want to stick with the 302 motor, just don't know what i should do between the efi set up and the carb. a little better mileage would be nice too! How hard is it to do the conversion? MSD distributor i assume? If I was to go with a carb i'd get a performer rpm intake and a 600 cfm edelbrock and something like a 220-230 duration cam with a roller rocker conversion to compliment that 4.10 gear. I get more torn the more I think!!!