getting compression out of a 81 302
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getting compression out of a 81 302
i have a 1981 302 truck engine with 55,000KM. where can i find a thinner than factory head gasket. the factory one was about .045 thick. i'm reusing my old pistons and was thinking of shaving the heads .040 is this ok.
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From: Virginia
getting compression out of a 81 302
Before I paid to have the heads shaved I would compare buying flat top pistons. I think I paid 80.00 or so for a set of 8 from summit racing and paid 5.00/piston to get them installed on the rods.
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getting compression out of a 81 302
SVO Ford carries a (FelPro?) head gasket for 302/351w that has a compressed thickness of .039". You might want to check with a race shop and see if there is an all metal gasket made for small block Fords. A friend of mine and his father race 350 Chevs (sportsman stock car) and they use an all metel gasket that would have a compressed thickness of about .015-.020".
Just a thought.
RCC
Just a thought.
RCC
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getting compression out of a 81 302
i've tried looking for a steel shim type gasket but all i can find is the composite thick one. i talked to the ford parts guy about getting head gaskets for a 1969 302 or 289 but they are discontinued. i don';t want to replace the pistons because i'm in canada and everything costs almost double hat you american guys pay. besides my pistons only have 55,000KM. if they had more i would chang them for sure
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getting compression out of a 81 302
Franklin2, hey what are those pistons that you were talking about? I am also rebuilding a 302, and you said 80 a set? is that right? Cause the lowest price I found was around 13.39 a piece, and those were sterling pistons? Are those any good? What I am going to do is put on 289HP heads, and should I go with Flat Top, Dome, Hypertunitic, Steel what? And they have to be a reasonable price, and I want to make somewhere around 300HP or higher for this motor, prefierably higher, but it all depends on the wallet size, and mine is small, thanks,
Nick
"Speed equals money how fast do you want to go?"
Horsepower tv guy the fat one.
Nick
"Speed equals money how fast do you want to go?"
Horsepower tv guy the fat one.
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From: Virginia
getting compression out of a 81 302
You have to call Summit Racing (1-800-230-3030). Their catalog lists all their high performance high priced stuff, but they also sell "ordinary" stock parts. The pistons I bought were cast flat tops (I think they were TRW?) with the four eyebrows on top. I bought them about 5 yrs ago, but I wouldn't think the price would be much different. The phone thing can be aggravating because they are so busy, but you can't beat their prices at all. A guy warned me also that some machine shops don't like to do work on parts you didn't buy from them, but I haven't had any problems. They also helped me technically with the engine I was working on. It was an 86 302. I found out the later model engines take a thinner ring that was almost 70.00 a set. I bought them from Summit and then found out my original piston skirts were cracked. These later style pistons were also more expensive. I asked the rep at Summit if I could put the earlier style pistons and rings in and he said yes, and they took back the other rings I had bought to boot. It all worked pretty good and the earlier stuff is much cheaper.
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