hey guys, well am going to buy an engine from a junkyard to do my first engine build (excited) anyways theres not many carb 302s where i visit but there are a couple FI explorer and lincoln town cars and such that have 302s, now before i make the buy i just wanted to ask if i could use these engine blocks to later on put in the mav am not using any of the electronics or the FI am just going to use the block this is ok right ? and if and when i have the block and start building on it do i buy parts (cam,pistons,manifold....) at stores based on the mav or on the vehicle that the block was previously on? thnx appreciate it
The Explorer 5.0 is vastly superior to the Lincoln Town car 5.0. The Exploder 5.0 will have GT40 heads (or should have)And a pretty decent rolelr cam, just a tad less cam than the Mustangs had. Only thing missing on these newer 5.0's is the lack of the column shifter/clutch linkage hole on the lower drivers side of the block.
302 What you'll need on somethings is the car and year of that engine. On somethings it'll come down to the Mav info. It depends on what area you're working on.
I am running a 85 T Bird engine in mine, it was FI and electronic in the donor car, now it's Holley 4 bbl and points dist, so, yes, you can use late model engines in early model cars. Intakes and distributors swap easily. Just make sure to use the proper weight flywheel/flexplate for the engine,28 oz up to about 84, 50 oz on the later engines.
ok cool , but am still confused a bit i understand some parts are easily interchangable but lets say i get an explorer block (which am most likely getting tomorrow) and i wanna get high performance heads do i order them through the info of 19?? ford explorer 302 or 73 ford mav 302 because they both came with different heads. or does it even matter ??? sorry if the questions are a little redundant, i just wanna make sure am doing the right thing thnx
Order all engine hard parts,Cam,Heads, crank,etc... based on the exploder the engine came out of,or at least on the year of the engine.Older 302 blocks had a shorter deck height than later ones and are balanced differently for example. So keep that in mind.
If you do decide to dump the exploder heads,send em to meI will take care of them for you.The explorers had GT40-P heads on them,they are good heads to have for a mild performance build.You should probably use them unless you have a build plan allready that includes new heads.If so I would buy them?take them? if you dont want them.good luck on your project.
I just happen to be in the middle of an engine change and using a 2001 EXP long block. Here is some info you would need. The pan, front cover and water pump are different and need your old parts to replace them depending on applications you make.. The motor is a roller block with 40p heads. These heads have plugs at an angle and can cause exhaust issues with header selection in other applications. The correct 5L flywheel weight must be maintained and still fit a C4 or an AOD. Next the power can be upgraded by the use of a 95-96 Mustang Cobra cam and it's 1.72 rockers. This puts the motor up to Mustang Cobra specs of close to 240 Hp. The idle will be rock solid because lobe center for the Cobra cam is shifted to 118.5 °. This cam improves the bottom to mid range, while the heads do the mid to top end with sleightly later intake opening and different exhaust open/close points. The cam is still a 270° cam and has higher lift in the .485 range. If the cam is retarded 4°, the mid to top end gets better while not losing that much in the lower end. Hell of a deal using all Ford parts. My motor gets these changes plus the Kenne Bell blower from my original motor. This combo should put my power in the 360 range with P head porting and Ford Motor sports headers that fit the P heads in a Mustang configuration. Cobra cam OEM # is F3ZE-CA The motor is not going in a Mav or Comet but thought you all might like to know this info.
The Cobra cam is a bit more cam, but rare as hens teeth to find. The Exploder cam is an excellant piece, just needs 1.7 rockers to boost the lift specs to .445/.473 (int/exh) The Cobra rockers were 1.7's not 1.72's. I run the Exploder cam in my 89 Ranger's 5.0 (with 1.7 rockers)and it's the best cam I've run yet with a carb. If I didn't tell you the motor had a carb, you'd never guess it. The advertised duration of the Explorer's cam (also known as the F4TE roller) is 256/266 (int/exh) 116* LSA
2 references say the following about the Cobra Cam. The lobe lift both Int and Exh is .282 x 1.72 = .485 = the specified lift for these motors. Rockers can and do vary in ratio from mfging and different sources in the practical world. This cam in/5L applications is not all that critical for absolute valve lift values but more responsive to valve diameter. The valve curtain changes with rocker ratio lift changes mostly at near peak lifts and sleightly quicker off ramps in terms of lift per degree, but an increase in valve diameter is fully effective increasing the curtain, right off the seat and back to the seat in linear fashion, for the same combination.
There was only one source of rockers for the Cobra motors----that was Crane Cams. They made the roller rockers for these engines and they now sell em in their Energizer series roller rockers. The pedestal rockers are 1.7 ratio. My source is Ford, who did you get yours from? The Cobra cam was also used in the 93 T-Bird and Cougar's but these never had the 1.7 rockers.
i myself really dont have an exstensive knowledge of the subject, duration lift ratio and such am just trying to get as much horsepower as much as i can from that motor and thanx by the way to all
My source is also Ford and the NHRA tech for all the stock Ford Mustang classs & years. Never mentioned any other lines of cars within Ford. The cam lift is .282 and the valve lift is specified as .485 and the rr is specified as 1.72 all on the same sheet.. When you figure it it is 1.72 x .282 = .48504 just as specified. 1.7 x .282 = .4794. It's little more than 1/2 mill difference. It's there in black and white and in the math. The difference is only .000564", within any reasonable tolerence for production line manufacturing and is way more than that for real. Hell, heat expansion is way more than this amount and could lift the valve ever farther or the cam could be ground smaller and lift the valve even less or tolerence stackup could make it anything within limits. If you want to argue over a half mill then do it with someone else. Cheers.
That explains it. The NHRA rules would allow some "fudging" on ratio and total valve lift. That's where the extra ratio is given.
