Good day everyone! So, I'm in the market for a 302 block. I'm finally getting ready to ditch my tired 200ci, and want to build a nice street machine that would see the occasional track day. End goal is to stroke it to either 331 or 347 and have it making 380-400 rwhp carbureted (is that a word?), which I think would strike a nice balance between fun and practicality. I live near a pick-n-pull with oodles of Ford V8's. Any tips on picking a good motor? I know that some 302's have varying characteristics, like firing order, etc. Will any of those things matter if it's getting worked over for the stroker kit? Also, what are some tips for picking a motor that won't end up with hidden cracks, rust, etc.?
Any one of em may have hidden damage/rusr...Grab one that's still in a vehicle. 94/5/6 ford exploder/mountaineers have roller 302s in em.( good place to look) or mustangs, of course. Find something that's been hit in the rear/rolled over. If its solid and straight...Its in the junk yard with a bad engine/trans.(Usually)...
Basically a roller block is a roller block, makes no difference if it was grandma's Grand Marquis, your uncle's Town Car or a Mustang, Explorer, T-Bird etc.... In other words were in everything(though not all had roller cams installed), from mid '85-up... Good for approx 450-500 crank Hp before you run the risk of it splitting into two pieces... For a high Hp stroker that really is going to be beat on, a Ford Racing or aftermarket block is a better choice... As far as which one, cars that were less likely likely to be abused is usually a better choice...
Type in roller block in the search function for more info on them. If you're planning on pulling an egine from Pick and Pull it might as well be a roller. That way you can run a modern roller cam. MD
I would lean towards an exploder 302,or any 5.0 HO... Be wary tho,they don't have the boss for a z-bar pivot/column shift linkage bracket,and the GT40P heads are a pain to get headers for in a Mav,from what I hear... There are 5.0's in town car/grand marquis/crown vics...Some Thunderchickens had HO 5.0's too... Some years ago I put a 90' town car 5.0 in my cousins 85' mustang to replace the 3.8... Fit like a glove,but even with the v6 gears,the combination of heads pistons and cam,it's an absolute slug... Only slightly faster than the v6,and very thirsty... It has the E5SE heads,dish pistons,and standard 302 firing order... Be fine if you were gonna build it tho...
