Small Block Ford Build Info - 300hp Formula?

OK I'm pulling the heads, should I do a cam at the same time. It's a street car. But I wont to keep up with the outher guys.

 

Good stuff here. I am looking at doing the same.

 

What type of intake manifold do you suggest for a street setup...?

 

Here's one for budget mided folks, like myself: http://www.mustangsandmore.com/ubb/BudgetSmallBlock.html

great forum for buiilding hot Fords: www.SBFTech.com

My roadster plans: (mild '93 5.0 HO at first), I plan to run AFR or Canfield heads, 7:1 roller rockers, bigger springs, stock bottom end for now, Edelbrock Victor Jr Intake, stock roller cam (maybe), Speed Demon carb-maybe a 650-have to crunch the numbers as I get closer), open/baffled long tube headers, electric fuel pump and fan, converting from EFI to V-belt, MSD ignition, '66 Mustang water pump,

 

Basic physics is heat is energy The loss of heat is why you can run w/o knock at the same compression, there's less heat. Tests show you got to raise CR 1 point to offset this loss. Alloy heads perform better because they are usually a better design than OEM. The Japs built a test ehgine with ceramic piston tops & everything else in the combustion chamber coated with ceramics. The results was really high HP, MPG an oil requirement of maybe 1 qt in the pan & a radiator about 2 qts. All because of heat being kept in the chamber instead of being lost.

 

No, heat is a byproduct of the conversion of energy from one form to another.

Controlling that heat byproduct is the key to power. Which is what that reference you made demonstrated. You can make a lot of heat and not much power or you can make some heat and a lot of power.

 

Talkin' Fords here! Save your opinions for a Chevy thread...There are PLENTY of them on the H.A.M.B.

 

For looks and power try this. Pony Carbs , Los Cruses,nm

 

This thread keeps me up at night

 

If your collecting parts, find a set of 289 rods for your 302, they will help boost compression since are slightly longer than the 302 rods. 289 rods measure 5.155", 302 rods measure 5.09"

 

Rod length doesn't effect stroke, just dwell time @ TDC. 289 length rods were used on the BOSS 302, a wrist pin location change was needed.

 

300hp is easy. I built this engine http://www.gonzomotorsports.com/?p=143
this was the first engine I built, it was pretty strong, the only difference was i first has stock 77 heads, but moved up to afr 165 heads.


Or if you can find a good roller engine, this probably will get it done http://airflowresearch.com/articles/article087/A-P1.htm

 

One more thing I forgot to mention, my personal 3 favorite intake manifolds... After having about every off the shelf manifold on one engine or another, it's hard to beat the Weiand Stealth, the original torker (twisted style) for a vintage look. The Victor Jr is a great intake as well, and I have run that on some pretty mild 302s. Stay away from the performer, or any low rise single plane. I was surprised at the difference from a torker II to the stealth, but then again the torker II is a pretty crappy intake. Tried this setup on about three different engines, torker II vs stealth, and stealth vs Victor Jr. Victor Jr every time was better by seat of the pants and track times, but the stealth held it's own, torker II is junk. Don't confuse the torker II with the original torker they are drasticly different.

 

Forgot one more thing... The isky 280H megacam in the Joe Sherman build is a pretty decent hydraulic stick. It's got a classic rumpity rump idle, had excelent mid range power. A few ex gfs said pretty much the same thing, they loved it when I would crusie through their neighborhoods at night 25mph, slight lope at that speed... One said the sound would dang near put her to sleep.

 

I have a '65 289 that I think should be over 300hp, but is yet to be proven...my truck is still in the works. I have a stealth intake with a Holly 750, huge crane cam that I forgot the specs on, '65 small chamber heads that have 1.94" and 1.60" valves and some other goodies, Erson roller rockers, flat top hyperutectic pistons, and a Mallory Unilite dizzy, and some short center dump headers...along with proper upgrades to the oiling system and cooling system. I am expecting close to 300, but a little over would be nice!

I snagged my heads from a local machine shop already finished with the hardened seats, 3 angle valve grind, 1.94" and 1.60" valves, mild port and bowl work, bronze guides, guide plates, double springs that were spec'd and checked per my cam, sitting on the shelf bagged and oiled for $600. The fun part was finding push rods! Not to many places stock a 7.20" push rod on the cheap. From what I have read in books, heard from old Ford guys etc... the small chamber non thermactor valve heads from the mid '60s were the best way to go outside of a Clevor setup for cast iron heads.

 

One drag about stock heads, you may end up with a conversion to screw in studs and guide plates before they are suitable for use with aftermarket cams. On top of the cost of rebuilding the heads. Using stock heads did not save me as much as I hoped.

Look up the specs on the Shelby 289's 306hp. I think the used the same head castings are the 289hp. These had the same valves and ports as most 289/302.

Don't rule out a solid lifter cam. Comp's 270s is .499 lift, 270 duration, 224 @ .50.

 

Has anyone done this combo or something close: Stock bottom end with a high nodular iron crank, H.O. small bolt rods, H.O. Forged 4 valve relief pistons, 1963 289 heads with a 49.2cc chamber and 2.02/1.60 valves and a Comp Cams Big Mutha Thumpr cam which specs at: .512 Int and .498 Exh lift and 243 Int and 257 exh duration with a 107 lobe seperation and intake center line of 102?

Hopefully it will be good for around 350 horse. Any Idea what the compression will be?

 

I'm getting ready to start a 302 soon. Looking for a cheap build so I'm starting with a fresh 1988 model stock short block....Explorer GT40P heads....Thump'r series cam and a Parker intake. I'm hoping for around 300 hp.

 

Bigd4xman, I have a hard time believing that 2.02" intake valves would fit given the configuration on my '65 heads, but if it does that will make for some heavy breathin heads! I have long forgot the cam specs on my Crane, but if memory serves me (and it often does not) it was one of the biggest SBF cams they made if not the largest. The combo I listed above ran smooth as butter when I fired it up. One thing I would highly recomend to ANY SBF builder is clay the pistons for clearance. With so many different head/valve/piston combos available it never hurts to have that re-assurance that you will clear. Sometimes it helps to state the obvious...

 

Ford-Man, measured the valves with a micrometer and they are indeed 2.02/1.60. 63 C8OE heads were one year only, did not come out with big valves but they BARELY fit, yes they should be some heavy breathers.

 

I have a pro proudcts intake witch is a copy of the victor jr I think? with a trick flow stage one cam and holly 600 will it be wothless with a stock c4 in my 61 f100 with 3.50 rear?

 

That should be a decent combo, did something similar with 3.54 gears in an 81 F150 I had and it had one hell of a mid range pull.

 

I have a 96 explorer 5.0, that is box stock long block with a ford racing b-303 cam, rpm air gap, 650 dp, msd and headers, and roller rockers, good idle and good gas, 143,000 miles, makes 323 hp at the crank, best 300$ I ever spent,(before the bolt ons of course)

 

Lots of good info -- I'm right in the middle of building a road-race 302 roller, fairly expensive motor with lots of the good stuff in it.

Heads are key to power - on almost any engine. The late GT40P heads are about the best inexpensive factory heads -- you'll probably pickup 25 - 40 HP over the heads you have . . . with no work. If you have them ported just a bit and go to larger valves (especially the intake), you can make some inexpensive power. They don't have the thermactor bump and flow pretty well out of the box. If you port them, they can compete with the smaller AFRs - but they're cast iron.

I bought a brand new set of GT40P castings - was going to run them in SCCA American Sedan, but have moved over to NASA American Iron class - so we've moved up to some Dart Pro1 heads (nice stuff, but $1500 - 2000 by the time you're through with them).

If anybody is interested in a new set of GT40P heads - bare - let me know, was going to put them on EvilBay. (no valves . . . as you'll probably want your own bigger ones anyway and the Ford springs/retainers are crap anyway).

Just PM me in you're looking for GT40Ps . . . they're about to go out the door!