Ok guys, may as well get a few more opinions before I commit any resources. I was planning to build my motor this Spring for the Grabber, but it looks like it would be prudent of me to conserve some resources for a while until I know what my employment outlook is (not looking too good at Sprint..). I'm not going to just yank the 302 from the 77 and drop it in the 71 as it really needs overhauled. Here's my debate. I have the 90 roller block complete with crank pistons and cam, but without balancer or flexplate. Assuming the block is ok, will it be better to just freshen up my complete 302 from the 77 or go ahead and start investing in the roller block now, but hopefully reusing the cam and rotating assembly for now. I want to save money but I don't want to throw too much of it away. John, you got any more motors laying around?
I did....but I gave it to Neal! sorry. I rebuild kit from PAW is not too expensive. I wish I would have kept some of the parts off my old race motor.
Matt, for your application you may not want to mess with a roller setup. May not be worth the extra cost. But if you're interested i've got a crank and camshaft out of a stock 90' HO motor, i've also got the old roller lifters but they've got alot of miles on them. Also got some stock heads laying around.
If your interested, I have a pair of rebuilt '75 302 heads. New valve job, new springs, tanked and new freeze plugs, 0 miles.
yep, the roller motor will cost ya more to freshen. So if bucks are the issue, freshen the older motor. Dan
Personally, I wouldn't do the 77 engine. The 90 roller is the only way to go. Summit sells complete short block rebuild kits for the roller engines for only a couple of hundred bucks or so. Your options for heads are many. Pick up some gt 40 or gt 40p heads off of a 95-01 explorer, and top it off with the explorer intake, (which is almost identical the gt40 and cobra intake) or slap a carb on it. your gonna spend much more money on that old 302 to get it going fast, than what you would on that roller. Just my .02
The people above are correct--the roller motor will cost you more to rebuild... BUT!!! It is a lot less likely to need the amount of work a '77 motor would. You will almost definitely be able to reuse the cam out of the roller motor, and as long as it isn't extremely high mileage you won't likely need much rotating assembly work. Plus, i think the '77 motor has a slightly higher deck height so if you go with any heads other than stock you will lose compression big time. I would definitely go with the '90 block, even if it meant a little extra money.
Uh Oh...... The 302 was used in mustang up until the year 1995. During that time, the engine underwent many evolutions, until it became the well known and famous "5.0" in 1985, the design of the cam shaft changed to that of a roller camshaft design. Instead of the lifters having a solid bottom, the lifters now rolled across the camshaft on bearings, so to speak. This effectively became the roller moter. The roller motor is synomonous with the word "5.0" as the new age 302 got it's balls back in 1985.
The 5.0 is looking pretty good. I turned the block over and washed down the cylinders with wd-40 to get the crud out before trying to turn the crank. Had some help from Keith (my 4-yr-old) using the breaker bar for me. The cylinders feel real good and it turns over smooth. I don't think it's going to need bored, but we'll see what the shop says.
