My buddy wants to put a 302 in his 37 Ford coupe. How new of a 302 can you get and still convert it back to carb and run ok? We just put an 86 efi in my 37 Ford humpie and went to carb with new dizzie. Runs great. Wondered if we could go into the 90's? Thanks
I put a '91 Mustang 5.0 HO with an Edelbrock manifold and Holley 4160 carb in my wife's '34. I did put an aftermarket HEI distributor on it to get rid of the external coil and ignition box. No other changes other than the dizzy, carb and intake manifold. Runs great. If your running an AOD, as I am, the TV cable can be tricky. I used a Lokar cable and bracket and everything went smoothly. Just get the pressure set right. There are several good threads here on that subject. Of course, if you're running a 5 speed, no problem.
haha, do we need to say anything about the water pump and PULLEYS? I have a '93 5.0 I'm going to stuff into my deuce. Not near close to running...
If it's a 86 or later, it's probably gonna be a roller cam. Need to make sure you have the correct gear for the dizzy. Intakes will all swap out. I put an 85 T Bird 5.0 in my 74 Maverick. It was a non-roller, I changed the cam anyway, used a Crane flat tappet, and a points style dizzy. Oil pans are different on later models, too. If you have a rear sump set up, to change to a front sump, you will need the pan and pickup. The dipstick is in the side of the block on newer models, so you will need to plug the hole in the block and use a early style timing cover that has the dipstick hole. There are also two different kinds of water pumps, standard and reverse rotation. V belt pumps are all standard, serpentine can be either one. My 85 T Bird engine had a serpentine pulley on the water pump, but it was standard rotation.
The 86 is a roller 5.0 engine . Just use a good duel plane intake and nothing bigger than a 600 cfm and you will be fine . If you are going with a mild cam or leave it stock I would use a Holley 570 cfm Street Avenger . It's a great street carb right out of the box ! I have build many Ford 302/5.0 engines and that is all the carb you will need even with a decent cam . The primaries are smaller for fuel economy and good low torque but the secondaries are much bigger . It's a great carb . Most people make the and install a carb way to big for the engines they use . If you change the oil a lot you will get 200,000 miles from them ! I have a couple I am going to build this winter to sell next summer at the Ford Carsile Show in Pa. . Retro Jim
Thanks for all the tips guys, great info to pass on to my buddy. I used an 86 F100 302 and AOD, both rebuilt, from another friends Dad's truck. Has a Mustang cam and we put on a stock Ford aluminum intake and a new points dizzy. Put on a new remanf Edelbrock 600 Performer on it, ran good for a bit now flooding like crazy on one side, grrrrr Have the lokar cable kit for the AOD but not on yet. Good tip on the dipstick, mine is on top of block and a pain, the stick is 2 ft long, fugly. My friend has a 302 and a C6 for his. Turns out the 302 may be too tired so he is thinking of buying a newer donor car, hence the question we had, so best to buy as new as we can. Thanks, Doug
If you can find a low mileage Explorer or Mountaineer from '98 up until the end of the 5.0L you can make a nice motor. Add a dual plane like a Weiand Stealth or Edelbrock Performer, the above mentioned Street Avenger 570, a Trick Flow Stage 1 cam and uprated springs, a Ford Duraspark distributor and change the front dress and you'll be looking at about 300 hp at the crank. You can sell the EFI to the 'stang guys as it's the same that came on the Mustang Cobra.
Great advice.But remember the gt40p heads can give you some header problems. (I have my old engine out of my o.t. car in the shop now.Gt40p heads,trick flow stage one cam.I am going to put it in my 56 town sedan or 54 f100.I still have not made up my mind yet.) and...........Merry Christmas to you all.
The Jalopy Journal
