i have posted on here before about rebuilding my 302 but i still want to do a little more looking into it so i know EXACTLY what i need..... i want an engine that would be able to hand the operating range of a mud truck along with some good speed.
what would be a good cam for this?
i would like to use 1.7 RR and gt40p heads, any suggestion on brand of rockers?
what should i do for an intake? keep stock or go bigger?
would 24 lb injectors be good for this or should i keep stock?
should i port the heads or would the gt40ps be fine?
what should i do for springs?

any other suggestions would be great, i just want this to be a mean engine.. i know im asking a lot of questions but ive come to the best place to ask them and i appreciate any feedback

 

Well, a 302 and mud truck/good speed is not usually all in one sentence. Not that the 302 isn't a good engine, but surely not a powerhouse(for a truck).

Any stock head will help with some minor cleanup in the ports. Nothing crazy, but smooth/gasket match. Remove any bump in the exhaust port.

What gear ratio you running(tire size too)? What kind of RPM do you plan on turning it? Stock automatic or stick shift? That will determine your camshaft and intake choice.

 

Is this a competition mud truck or a play mud truck. For the first one you're wasting money building a 302.. there just ain't enough displacement to produce competetive power, but if this is a play toy then you can certainly have some fun with it. GTP heads are certainly better than stock but if you want serious HP then start looking for something used from AFR, RHS, Dart, or TFS, and when you have that then you can pic a cam, rockers, injectors, and intake that are appropriate. And of course this assumes you have a 94+ MAF truck to begin with, if you don't then you can tack on the cost of converting it.

 

Whats your budget? If it was me, i would find a stock 5.0 HO cam from a mustang for way cheap and spend as much as I could on some nice heads. I believe one of the mustang mags ran an article about hitting 400 hp with a simple head change, stock bottom end and camshaft.

 

It was carcraft, here is a link. Ford 302 V8 Engine Buildup- Car Craft Magazine

 

That seems kinda bogus. Why would they take a "stock Mustang" engine, then suddenly bolt a Weiand intake and 4bbl on it. That's not "stock" in any means. What happens when they put the factory intake back on it(like you would have to in a Mustang or a truck)?

I take most of those rag write ups with a grain of salt. My opinion.

 

Ya i know its bout near impossible but i want the closest thing to it. i cant tell you for sure what the gear ratio is, i know its something high and i plan on regearing in the future, not anytime soon though.. im running 33-12.5-15s.. automatic E4OD with shift kit and plan on running around 3500 i think

 

it is just a play truck... and its a 92.. would it be best to convert it?... and i think i found a cam, its the comp 35-512-8

 

Yeah that's a good cam, port the stock heads or find some GT40s to bolt on and you'll have about as much power as you can get from the stock EFI system. The truck will need lots of gears however, no engine upgrade will do as much for performance as gears.. which should be 4.56 in your case.

 

yea i plan on regearing in the future..... what about an intake and headers?

 

as said before, the 302 is not a stellar truck motor. It is a great "in-town" truck. It was a wonderful car motor as well. They can be built and tuned to make some decent power, but if you are really going to do some work and try to make power, you should look at the 5.8. They often bolt up quite easily. Stock 5.8 feels amazingly more powerful than the 302s. You can find them in donor trucks. You should buy a long block, build it to what you want, and have less down time with your truck

 

The stock intake will support all the HP you'll ever make but you want longtubes if at all possible.

 

with the longtube headers, since there will be no balancer pipe for the o2 sensor, would i be able to just put the senor on one side of the exhaust, or does it have to be balanced?

 

^^Yes. Install just one side(plug the other).

Just went through this with my new shorties.

 

alrighty thanks