Engine choice of 302s
 

My local u auto pull it is having a sale this weekend and I plan on getting a "new" engine. My choices are 95 F150 2wd, 96 F150 4x4, or 96 Mountaineer. Is there any difference in the cam in any of these choices? Which would you get? I already have a set of GT40p heads so I'm not concerned with heads.

What are your plans for the engine?

Do you want to get a good runner or a rebuilder?

I would get the Mountaineer since it also has the GT40 or GT40p heads, and I would not take the heads off. This is assuming the engine is a runner. I have always gotten good service from good used engines and only rebuilt them when worn out.

Just planning on continuing to use it in my 77 F100 as my daily driver. The Mountaineer us what i was leaning towards.

My current 302 in there has low compression on number 4 cylinder and horrible blowby. All cylinders have about 145psi except the number 4 which only has about 60.

Engine choices
 

Well I like to have spare engines around, so depending how good the junkyard ones are, and how cheap, I'd get one or two. Often the yard does a compression test and writes the numbers under the hood.

But maybe for now it would be easier to just put on your spare GT40 heads and not have to pull the motor in your truck? You'd have better compression, unleaded fuel capability and better flow, so if the lower end is still reasonably okay, it should be a worthwhile improvement.

I already put them on a few months ago whenI had a blown head gasket. Since i had to take the heads off I went ahead and put on the p heads. They didn't help the compression number for #4 or the blowby out the oil fill cap breather. So I'm gonna get the new engine to put in and have my one that's in the truck now be my spare. After I get it out I'll check the rings and keep it for a future project.

As for prices whole engines are 218, long blocks are 120, and short blocks are 80. And the sale is half of those prices!! I think I think I may grab a complete engine and a short block. If I have time.

No difference in the cams between these but the Mountaineer has GT40 heads(not the P version you already have) which will accept any standard header and still flow 25% better than E7 heads.

Wow those are good prices. I was searching around for a Honda head at the local junkyards a month ago when the wife's car dropped a valve and was quoted $495.
Needless to say I got the original rebuilt, for only a little less.

Really new car stuff prices are a little higher as they are in a separate part of the yard, but for the p heads I took off a 2000 Explorer I only paid $35 each, and that's full price.

Used parts prices
 

You definitely have more reasonable junkyards.
The wife's vehicle is a 1999 which one would think is getting on the old side, and it was a base engine.

But that's why I rarely go to junkyards anymore. It could be that land prices and taxes are quite high around here, making it impossible to run a discount junkyard.

Ended up getting the long block from the 95 2wd. I started with the Mountaineer but it was proving TOO difficult so i switched to the truck. It was much easier but to my dismay when I pulled the intake off it was not a roller cam. Any way I got a better engine than is in my truck now. Just got to swap over my P heads. And freshen it up with some new gaskets. Oh it cost me a whopping $64 for the long block.

Nope.. well maybe a little bit. A late model flat tappet engine still has 9:1 compression which is close to a full point more than your smog era motor. But evidently the original motor for that truck was swapped out at some point.

By "better" I meant that I'll have an engine with good compression across all cylinders and no massive blowby by the time I put it in. I'm ready to pull my engine so I can see whats up with the #4 piston. It looked fine when I did the head gasket a while back, but something more was obviously wrong with it. If I didn't drive my truck everyday I would have just pulled my engine and saw what was up but I can't have any downtime with it really.

That engine was not the original engine for that truck. I would take it back, it's something someone who knew no better swapped into it, no telling what it came from, may even be the reason the truck was junked.

I pulled the heads off today and found out they are E7 heads and the pistons are marked 20 over so this motor has been rebuilt before. I haven't gotten the balancer and timing cover off yet to see about the cam. It looks like it has allen head plugs in where the spider is supposed to bolt down. I may go back to the junk yard this weekend and just pull the cam, lifters, and spider out of that Mountaineer, but I don't know yet. Just wanted to give yall a little update.

When you go get the cam, don't toss the spyder hold down bolts, you need those. Use bolts that are longer and they'll distort the cam bearings.