Building a 302 have some ?'s

Sorry AFR's


Talk to my buddy at the speed shop today and he said for $900 he could get me a set of the Edelbrock heads, and would work out some of the other parts that I will be needing...

Like Tom said if it takes me 3 years to buy and build what I want that will be fine.

Lance I am looking to build a motor for the street and then to have alittle fun with once a year and the big gathering ....

 

Neal, Aftermarket heads are the way to go, especially if your building a stroker.
Which Edlebrock heads did he price for you? Edelbrock has the Performer, Performer RPM, Victor Jr's and Victor heads for the small block Ford.

 

Performer Rpm

I guess this is really a hard question to ask because everyone is going to have a different opinion. I do want quality parts no dought, I love to drive my car and I don't want it to break down because I used sh$tty parts. But they also don't have to be drag race ready. I just want a street car that has some pep and if I want to take a few trips down the track the Round-up or Maverick Gathering I don't want it to explode.

 

the engine i have is exactly that. it has pep.. it gets up and can boogey... but its not race only. it rpms out at 5200 and it sounds awesome.

 

Without fail, I have always found better performance with a mild single plane intake when it comes to SBFs.
Without fail! Plenty streetable too. I don't race. I have been to the track maybe twice in 15 years.
T-289
Wieand single plane
Offy POS (edge of mild)
Holley single plane

Do not run Victors, Parkers, VR Spyder, or T-302 if you want torque! These are NOT mild.

 

Honestly,I would go 331 vs 347, You aren't racing and looking for every extra horse power. They tend to be more reliable. You will get a hundred different opinions on that but that's mine and I'm sticking with it.

Easy 400 hp at the FW or better(425 to 450 is common place).Plenty to get you around town.
Go Hyd Roller Cam. Easy maintence,More torque/hp than a comparable flat tappet. Keep everything in the 6200rpm to 6800 rpm redline range.

9.5 to 1 to 11 to 1 comp ratio(if using aluminum heads no more than 10.5 to 1 on Iron and that depends on cam stats)

What trans/stall speed will you be using and rear gears? If using a highway gear build the motor with a cam that leans toward low rpm torque but still pull to at least 6k rpm.

Then again you could just build a decent 302.

then again that's the fun of this hobby "Deciding" and then following through only to realize you changed your mind umpteen times along the way.

 

I wasn't trying to be a smartarse, I just realize it took alot of time/effort/and money. Glad you built your dream

 

build cost

5.0 engine and car $200.00
347 stroker kit from CHP $2000.00
arp head and lower end studs $350.00
girdle $170.00
Edelbrock performer rpm II heads $1800.00
cam $200.00
distributor $350.00
edelbrock performer rpm intake $600.00 - 700.00
throttle body $250.00
computer efi $500.00
harness painless $600.00
injectors $350.00
and about $500.00 for other misc stuff

but I had the money and I knew that I was going to do this. I didn't want a bank breaker but I also wanted to a good kit and i talked to several mustang friends and they spoke highly of CHP so i called them and I liked what they had to say so I bought a kit and put it together its been sitting in the garage waiting for the doug thorley headers that i will recieve next week sometime and the engine will go in the car.

 

I have always thought it was best to spend your money on the block, machine work, and bottom end (especially if you are not sure exactly where you want the project to go or running boarderline on budget). Real world for "car hobby guy" is you run out of time, money, some other priority. If you build a bullet proof block and bottom end....everything else is bolt on stuff. At least it will be built to take the "upgrades" without having to go back and do all of that stuff again when life is coming less fast.

Just my 2 cents.
Good roller block with best machining (Old Guy Dave mentioned some good machining tips), 331 stroker, H beam rods, forged pistons, windage tray, good oil pan, balance job. If the bank is broke or time runs out after that, slap on a set of home ported E6 heads and swap meet intake and carb and be done.....that is until you walk into one of those screamin' deals.

Cleaver

 

Thanks for all the thoughts and opinions guys, I knew I would get plenty

Now to make up my mind

 

You know....I've seen hundreds of these "what parts should I use" threads but damn few have ever mentioned machine work. Good parts help but the basis for ANY quality engine is round holes and square decks. Honestly, I have scrimped on a crank, rods and pistons before but I spent very good money on great machine work. Finding a machinist who really knows what he's doing (and really cares) is the key to a quality engine.

 

I was wandering around the net last night and ran across Craft Racing Engines last night.
Used to be half of the old Kuntz & Craft duo...
Anyway they have just purchased CNC block machining equipment.
They said it can bore, square, and center every hole and surface on the block to a level of perfection above and beyond standard casting and machining.
The programing is very demanding and they only have 302s and 351s worked out at the moment. They say the big block programming is under development.

I just thought that was really neat.
An essentially perfectly machined block...
Flat and square surfaces with perfect 90* angles and bores that are located in relation to that perfect 90* angle off a perfectly located crank bore. The operations are all done with the engine in the machine one time, and 3 operations can be performed together. This keeps every machined surface traveling on a plane in relation to all the other machined surfaces. Totally takes the casting variations and machining variations from using several machines, over several steps, and makes them a non-issue.

 

Neat thing about it is that it also uses a heating tank to heat the cutting lubricant to operating temperatures similar to the fluids present in the block. Thus simulating actual operating temperatures. DSS uses this type of equipment also. It's essential for machining OEM aluminum blocks (like the 4.6 Teksid units) but it works great on iron as well.

 

They charge almost $3k to machine your new FMS 302 block to perfection.
Kinda pricey, but this is what we were discussing...
Money up the machining and worry about the other stuff later.
Just taken to the extreme.
Dave

 

2200.. 3000... you guys got off cheap..

1 set edelbrock performer rpm heads 1200 with shipping (summit) 700 in prep to finish them(checking springs valve job cleaning etc)
1 edelbrock preformer rpm air gap 240 and gaskets studs etc 275-300 total
1 comp 282s solid cam 300ish with new lifters timing set and gas
900 bucks for the flat top equiped short block
1 sfi 18.1 balancer 200 (professional products with spacer bolts extra 28oz weight 300 ish total
1 650hp carb ( you only live once cost 580 at schucks/kragen/checker) 1 set of air bleeds 170 1 set of jets 80
1 set comp pro magnum rockers (full roller) 280 and shipping
16 trick flow .060 longer pushrods 90 with shipping from summit
studs plates valve covers aggravation etc 300
1 milidon oil pan and pickup arp drive 300 bucks (and 65 dollar 8 quart synthetic oil changes and k&n filters)
1 msd billet dist vacuum advance 400
1msd box (rebuilt once) 220 (with repair)
set of 8.5 mm wires(how many now 4..) 90 bucks
1 k&n 3 inch air cleaner 1 k&n filtered top stub stacks (tall and short) 300
headers 100 mufflers 180(2.5 flowbastard 40's) rest of the x pipe and tailpipes 225
tranny tci master rebuild tci shift kit and rebuild 2 2500 convertors 1500 dollars
stock drive shaft (having it replaced soon)
lakewood maverick specific slapper bars 150 new bolts 50 3.55's free 4.62's 200
body is stock by ford and rust
... the list continues 10 years 20,000 bucks and I haven't even began the body work or interior yet.. I wish you luck on your "budget"