302 acquired. Suggestions wanted.

First off thanks to the member driftwood (matt) for giving me a 302 engine to build for my 2 door project :Handshake

-My plans are to do a mainly stock rebuild, with the least over boring and a simple re-plug and surface cleaning at the machine shop (hopefully). I'll use same rocker/head setup, and same crank/oil pump, etc.
I also plan to clean up and re-use the exhaust manifolds (which aren't like stock maverick manifolds I've seen). Was told they were a hard to find part as they are narrow and tucked in and give great engine bay clearance.

I do however want to swap to at least a slightly hotter cam over factory. Any advice or recomendations?

Also I would like to go with a 4 barrel up top, if you don't think thats overkill for the build. Any advice on that?

Lastly the engine stamp I haven't uncovered yet, but was told this was either a 67' or 68', and it has the old points setup. Any recomendations on an after market electronic distributor for the future build?

Any other advice when I send to the machine shop or tear it open would be appreciated.

thanks

 

Washed and decoded just now...turns out its a 1972 Torino/Fairlane motor.

 

Well, the first thing to do at the machine shop is have it cleaned, then have them check all of the measurements........bore, crank (the block may have to be line honed)(crank may have to be ground) and rod bearings, deck height..........then you have a starting point and will know if you have to go .020 or .030..............or you could be lucky and not have to bore it at all..........maybe, you never know until you check.
If you are really going to keep the heads have the valve springs check'd, (unless you going to buy new springs/retainers/keepers with the new cam........if you decide to............and should have the seals replaced and take a look at the guides for wear, then have a valves ground, and check the head surface to see if it needs truing also.
If I were you I'd buy a new oil pump along with a new timing chain, just cheap insurance to keep this motor running reliably. I would also have them check the rods and probably resize the big ends and while they are at it have them install some ARP rod bolts.............just the old ones are over 30 years old.................again, cheap insurance.
Since you are sticking with the stock heads and exhaust manifolds (how about a picture of the exhaust manifolds), are they HiPo type manifolds?
I would use a very mild cam because you have press'd in rocker arm studs and don't think they will take much lift without pulling out........or you could pin them.........I would think a small Holley would work well.....IMHO

 

I used a comp's 268H cam and it pushed out my pressed in studs on stock heads.. So stay under that, just IMO. Eveythig else was stated above me as well

 

i would get a duraspark II distributor. it should plug into your current harness. im not sure if the duraspark box is the same for a 6 and an 8 cyl but the boxes are inexpensive. all the aftermarket distributors wont give you any gains over the duraspark system

 

Definitely have the rocker studs pinned or replaced with screw in ones.
Stud the mains...(lose the stock main cap bolts) In a mild/stock application the bearings/crank will out live the car this way. (It will need to be aligne honed to do this properly)
As stated above...ARP fasteners for all the internal stuff and get an ARP oil pump drive shaft...You will never break it in a stock/mild application. (The stockers are prone to snapping) When this happens...No oil pump...No oil...No engine.
Plan on new pistons for your build, the skirts on the stockers may be done.
Now, that said...Figure out exactly how you want this engine to be when finished because nows the time.

 

Yea I'll have to dismantle the old motor and see if it was taken care of or driven hard and put away wet.

The heads I plan to buy all new parts for, I'm making a list for NAPA out here, just replacing with factory parts. I know machine shops nowadays do a 3 angle back cut on the valves/seats and of course I'll have the bottom trued just to be safe.

Do they still make steel shim head gaskets for the 302's?

I've had bad luck from those composite head gaskets from fel pro for the ford straight sixes

ok, yea timing chain and pump will be swapped,

I cannot get a picture of the motor at the moment but I brought up this link via google

http://www.mre-books.com/sa69/sa69_7.html

the manifolds have the webbing and looks like A in the 3rd picture.

Thanks for the feedback. Yea I figured if theres a cam thats better than stock and not pushing it then I'll buy that

How many cfm's should I look for in a carburetor with the setup?

 

@ ESampson --- thanks for the warning.

@ Bryant --- I've had good luck with durasparks and they are priced well. that would be a good choice, thanks

@ Mavman72 --- good info, :Handshake

but yea I dont want no race car or anything, I'm more concerned with reliability, but if I can free up some ponies in the process it wouldnt hurt. . This engine will be paired with a fresh c4 I rebuilt a while back and the rear gears will be bumped up into the 3's.

I've already built a 'clone' of a boss 302 air cleaner to hit the hood and pull air from my scoop, just need to get a carb to shape the base up.

 

alright, thanks man

 

Been reading into the compression ratio changes in the 302 through the 1960's/70's. Can a simple head milling bump the ratio back into the 9's?

 

Well, if the manifolds are like A/C in the 3rd picture then you have just about the best sbf cast iron exhaust ever made for the 289/302. A long time ago I saw a set of these on a 302 that did within 5HP of some shorty JBA headers (on a dyno) and they do tuck nicely into the block.
I have nothing against NAPA, but for vlave train stuff like retainers, keepers, springs and seals I'd buy a little better stuff from Summit or Jegs as you really don't want to skimp on these items.
Back in the day.............mid 70's we ran steel shim head gaskets to try and get the compression up when going to 351w heads on 289's and 302's without any issues......of course we had a lot better gas back then. You just need to cc the heads and then determine piston height/deck height and that will give you an idea of CR. Yes, you can mill the heads but then you need to be carefull of the valve lift and the type of pistons you get.
As for the carb, I would not any bigger than a 600 and maybe even a 450cfm Holley. I don't know what kind of look you are going for, but it would be neat to get a tripower manifold and put some Holley 94's with progressive linkage.............people would sure look twice because you very seldom see tripower setup any more. If they are setup correctly you get great gas mileage and a kick in the pants when you plant your right foot. I have setup around a dozen of these type setups and done them on a couple of fords, 289 and 312, and you are only flowing around 460/480cfm which is close to what the original 289/302 4 barrel had on them anyway............................IMHO

 

I have a nice, fresh set of "65/66 heads that i took off my car...Guide plates, screw in studs, roller rockers with locks...Will bolt right on...Pm me if interested

 

With everything he's contemplating doing here, plus what everyone else has suggested, he'd be far and away ahead to just go pull a 5.0 from an Explorer/Mountaineer and go that route. Chances are the motor will be good if he knows what to look for. All he'll need to do is replace the intake and remove the distributorless ignition stub and replace that with an 85 Stang distributor. And swap the timing cover, waterpump and balancer to those from a late 80's Crown Vic/Marquis. He'll come out with the same combo, same power for far less money spent.

 

@ olerodder --- I'll take a picture of them just so you folks on here can verify. I never found any casting numbers on the exhaust manifolds though at first glance. yea I'll price some parts and I'll try not to skimp out, napa has been good to me in the past though with quality parts.

I wanted the steel shim as I've already swapped a couple of fel pro's composite gaskets on the ford six cylinder, and they don't hold up from my experience.

The tri setup is a mean looking retro setup, but I'm going to keep the stock intake as well. If its aint broke I wont fix it.
If the original 4 barrel put out 460/480cfm I may try to find one of those, I suppose its a carter or autolite carb.

thanks for the help

@ streamliner --- thanks for the offer my friend , if mine are cracked/etc I may need a set down the road.

@ baddad457 --- I hope a 4 barrel, new cam, various new parts for rebuild, and machining doesn't cost more then overhauling a explorer motor

 

Overhauling an Explorer motor most times will only involve new rings, bearings, oil pump and a gasket and timing set. No machinework to speak of, other than honing the cylinders