build a nice little 302, that would give decent economy and power for a daily driver. Which block would you use, intake, carb, rods, pistons, etc. without going to poverty lol. I need some advice because I'm saving money for repairing my mav and wanna know which good quality parts I can get for not so high bucks. Thanks in advance.
Pretty much ANY 302 you build will give good gas economy in our small cars, as long as you are gentle on the gas pedal. I have seen little difference in a stock motor, one with Edelbrock Performer setup, and currently a singleplane with headers and better heads. I still get 20-25 mpg if I drive nice and easy, or 1 gallon per mile if I stomp on it. The higher performance engine will suck gas worse only if you use it hard, but I would guess that any setup that ran well would give reasonably good gas mileage.
For strictly street, an RV torque-type cam and matching dual plane intake, 600 cfm max vacuum secondary carb, headers and dual exhaust, stock block and internals. Keep the compression ratio 9:1 - 9.5:1. Unless you get a super deal on aluminum heads mildly port the stock irons, especially the exhaust runners and valve pockets.
Get a junkyard 88-92 5.0 HO shortblock... For the roller cam. Rebuild it. Do all the normal little stuff: Turn the crank, new bearings Find a block without too much cylinder wear so you can reuse the stock forged pistons... Hone the block ARP rod bolts (This is some extra money, but well spent) Resize rods, polish the beams if you are so inclined. Press the pistons back in with new pins. The 5.0 blocks are one piece main seals too, that's a plus. Use a Duraspark distributor, but make sure you put the bronze gear off the 5.0 distributor on it. Use a nice roller timing chain. Use an old style 302 timing cover so that you can use a mechanical fuel pump. Carter strip pump is a cheap but nice pump. Aluminum water pump. 69-73 351w heads with an inexpensive re-work and screw in studs. Chebbie long slot 1.6 ratio rocker arms. Little exhaust porting at home if you want really big gains from these heads. Weiand Stealth intake (or Summit Stage 2 intake, same as the Stealth but quite a bit less money) Holley Street Avenger 570 with electric choke. Hooker headers. C4 tranny. Trans cooler. Aluminum driveshaft (sourced from junkyard Areostar van) 8" rear with 3.25-3.40 gears, and posi if you are so inclined to pay someone to set the rear up for you. Slapper bars. B&M Z-Gate shifter (cheap, but good part) Aluminum 15" rims Subframe connectors (build some cheap) Electric fan (junkyard, smallish late model GMs have good ones) Set fan up to come on at 185, off at 170. Use a 160 thermostat and thread in fan sensor. No mechanical fan. 3.40 gears can be found in junkyards in Pintos, Bobcats, and occaisionally a Mustang 2. The last two are also good place to find 8" posis. I am sure there is much more that can be done for power and efficiency, but this is a good start. The way I would do it. Good luck Dave
The only thing I would really change from Ratio411's build is junk the c4 in favor of a T5. OD gear and lighter. You can have decent rear gears and mild engine and still make it accelerate real well when you need it to. For gas mileage I recommend aluminum parts like heads and the intake. The intake alone is worth a lot. My 81 Jeep Cherokee chief (360 engine) used to get 8 mpg. I swapped the intake and carb to an edelbrock performer (not RPM) and a 600 cfm Edel carb. Net result.....a little more torque, maybe a little more HP, and 16 MPG. (16.7 actual over a 500 mile trip 16.9 max on a flat part of New Mexico)
That's what I wuz thinking. Halfway through the post, I went broke. But it is a good choice of options. I've got (quick add) about 2500 in my engine alone, and I used my factory long block. I am one who thinks that it does cost more to build a "Ford" anything, verses a "Cheby" anything. If your budgeting, be advised, you pay more money for more fun.
I still stand by what I said...anything V8 in our 3200 lb cars will give relatively good performance with decent gas mileage. Take it from stock, just bump up the intake to a 4-barrel dual plane (or single, if you can get one cheap), and open the exhaust with either headers and/or a little porting, and you will have a decent bit of fun under the hood. Final cost is 8 hours and about $400-600 for intake and carb. Still have money in the bank for a 12-pak and a tank of gas...nowadays...make that a half-tank of gas
WOW , thank you for all the advice guys, really nice set ups there hehe . About the tranny, mexican mavericks have 4 speed trannies (without including Reverse), mine's got one. I don't know what's the name of the tranny but the gear stick is engraved and it says "Hurst", I'll take pics of it later. Maybe a nice rebuild would be good, instead of getting another one, dunno :16suspect BTW, I've heard about these "Clevor" engines, are the 351C heads good for a 302, or would be better to put 351W heads on it??? Also, back then in Mexico, not all cars that US had were sold here, like Bobcats, turbocoupes tbirds and such. Most of the ford cars from the 80's here in Mexico were crown vics, grand marquises, cougars, mustangs and such. I'm telling this cause maybe you can tell me to get a part from "x" car, but maybe this "x" car has its clone "y" car, and it'd be another option to get whatever part I could be looking for. I'm new to this so I have to much to learn from all of you, guys Thanks!!!
I would by the cam/intake kit from Summit, a modest carb....a set of headers, decent exhaust. You would have a decent runner and it will not break the bank.
I'd get something more along the lines of the Comp cams 268H, lets the engine breathe a little better, better exhaust setup. My setup, stock 74 302, Edel Peformer intake, Holley 600 or Autolite 4100, Hooker longtubes, AOD and 3:1 provides a solid 24mpg. City milage still sucks, but hey... If I played with the accelerator pump a bit I'm sure I could get better city, but I want it to thump when I hit the throttle.
If you are concerned about price, the 351c heads are NOT the way to go. You just added a bunch of $$$$ just mentioning it. Some folks are complaining about cost, but I think I listed mostly junkyard parts with some homebound mods... You can't get a lot cheaper. I even say use the stock roller cam. It's the best you can get from stock. It makes buying a new cam just a waste of dough. The only things I listed to cost much are typical stuff you can't get around. Like rebuild kit, machine shop work, ARP rod bolts (Cheap insurance), intake, carb, and headers. The last three can be found used, but are a must to get BOTH power and economy from a V8. All the other perks are just smart junkyard hunting and homework.
Just for sake of argument...my last junkyard trip cost me $40 in gas, round trip, with no parts found or purchased Not too cheap...But cheaper than a new cam.
how about going a little old school, and build a 302 with a stock stroke crank, with 289 rods, and chevy 350 pistons.
