Change of plans. Plan was to put a cam, lifters, valve springs and timing chain into the original '72 302 motor with 56K miles. But, this morning I found an '88 Mustang 302 HO motor with recently redone heads on Craigslist for $300. Picked it up for $250, which is less than I would have put into the '72 302. :bananaman Seems like a better way to go if everything is as advertised. If all goes well, I'll sell the '72 long block and E7TE heads I was going to use.
Oh Boy!! I'm not liking some of the things I'm seeing on this engine. I'm trying to decide if it was a great deal or I overpaid for a rebuildable core. Block casting number, E7TE, looks correct for '88 Mustang. Info I'm finding says the heads should be E7SE. What I'm reading (with a mirror, heads installed) is E8SE. One looks like it could be E9SE but I'm thinking its really an "8" that didn't cast very well for some reason. Can't find any listings for 302 heads with E8SE casting number. Can anyone shed any light on the subject? Thanks.
e7,e6,e8,e9 87,86,88,89 d1,d2,d3,4 71,72,73,74 just a date code for a year all 87+ 5.0 blocks got "e7" heads, regardless if it says e7,e8, whatever. That's just the year stamp. i'd suggest ditching them anyhow, and buying ford explorer gt40 or gt40p heads..can be had all day long for under $300 and will add a full 50-75+ hp
Question? Can I use the GT40 head on a 1973, 302? I never knew that they would add quite that much H.P.
a stock 5.0 roller block will put down 190ish at the wheels. a 96-01 explorer motor will put down 240-280 at the wheels depending if you're running smog. Of course, that's with the better efi explorer intake too. My brother and I made 240 at the wheels in our 86 mustangs with the late explorer engines and he had gt40 heads, I had the p heads. He made this through FULL SMOG, cats and everything. 240 at the wheels is around 275-290 at the flywheel, which is 50-75 hp over the stock fox 5.0 that was in there. All of my friends running long tubes and no smog make another 20-40 hp on top of what we did with no smog, a good roller cam in a late roller block, and a good carb'd setup and exhaust, with gt40 or gt40p heads, you CAN expect 280/290 at the wheels///which is at or over 300 flywheel. YES you can bolt those onto your older block, but you've got several other factors involved. with the old flat tappet block, they only made about 140 hp from the factory. To bring that up to modern levels you need a real sick cam and a lot of compression. (this is why i always advocate late 5.0 roller engines..they make more HP without having to run an unstreetable cam and too much compression) Without diving into your shortblock, you'd like to just bolt on a set of gt40 heads. The biggest question you need to research first, or ask around....is how are these heads going to effect your compression ratio. I cannot answer that, as I'm unfamiliar with the flat tappet engines of yesterday. If they don't hurt your compression ratio, then they'll be an awesome swap. however, if it turns that they're going to drop your compression ratio, then you may want to address that.
the motor in my maverick i think is an '88. I know its a HO police interceptor engine...ive been to lazy to check for the year.
the ssp/police motors are identical to the other 5.0's...the main difference would be that you may have an external oil cooler on it, and blue radiator hoses
I thought the casting number showed the year of the DESIGN of the part, not the year it was CAST??? So, E8SE and E9SE would be identical spec to E7SE? And, maybe the one head really IS E9 meaning I have heads cast in different years, one in '88 and one in '89? I'll be keeping the E7 heads. GT40s don't fit in my budget. Thanks for the info.
if you look in the pick and pull you wrench-it or junk yard to the layman you can score some cheep got mine for $37 and change and two hours of my time look for 96 and early 97 explorers and have the three lines on the ends brad
I hear what you guys are saying about GT40s, and I appreaciate your advice, but I enjoy tinkering with this stuff and am looking forward to porting my E7 heads. I bought a pair for $50 and got what MIGHT be another equivalent pair with the 302 HO. So I'm fat with e7 heads. Can't keep remaking decisions if I'm going to make any progress. Ported E7s is a done deal for phase 1. (I can see a phase 2 for 3:55 traction-loc, AOD, higher stall converter, and another round of engine upgrades when funds allow.) Anyway, what I'd really like to hear is confirmation that the E7, E8 (and E9?) heads are all the same. That's not what I thought I knew. I thought the casting number was the DESIGN year, not the year the part was cast. Anyone??
