ok guys im asking for some opinions here. ill tell you what i got so far and i need to know what peices i should be looking for to make a stong lil 306. freshly rebuilt '72 302 bored .030 over msd pro billet ditributer msd 6al msd coil edelbrock victor jr intake stock heads rebuilt long tube headers now i want you guys to realize this is the first ford motor ive messed with. its also the first motor ive done from an early model car so be gentle. some of the questions i have are this: will this motor take roller rockers? if so what size is best from what i understand it will not take a full roller cam so what is the biggest cam i can go with and what heads should i be looking for to go with it? i'll admit im behind the curve when it comes to old motors thats why im asking questions. i had origanally planned on stroking this motor to a 347 but think it may need to wait a year or two so please keep that in mind i hate buying parts twice. thanks for your help in advance.
How hard do you plan on running this motor? Hard street car? 530 lift DD with a little track time? 480 lift. You will need springs also to match your cam Rebuilding the heads? gt40 valves and some porting should do the trick. Roller rockers? i would just go 1.5 so i can get the effect of roller rockers without messing with my cam lift too much.
if this is your first ford just remeber that the thrust bearing is in the middle not the back like a chevy
this car is going to be strickly a track car. maybe see the street on the way to the track thats about it.
So many questions and so little time................first, and you probably already no this, is that SBF's have a head problem, stock heads don't breath and the ports/vlaves are just pathetic compared to a Chevy. So if you want to make HP you will need aftermarket heads, AFR, TFS, Edelbrock......and others. Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, you can just build a mild motor and get your feet wet and then later build a killer motor if you want. The intake you have is pretty radical for a 302, unless you are going to sping the motor above 7000RPM and sacrafice below 2500RPM. If you are going to use the stock heads and just rebuild them, then try and put some 1.94 intake valves and 1.6 exhaust................get yourself a porting kit from Summitt.....................find information on porting SBF heads on the internet or buy a book.....................and do the work yourself....................it will give you better performance and also give you a chance to get your feet wet, and save you enough money to go out and buy a better intake manifold and carb. As for the cam, I have always been partial to E303 cam from FMS, along with the springs, retainers, keepers, pushrods and lifters. By doing most of the work yourself and picking the right parts I would think you should be able to get around 350HP at the crank............how about a Boss 302 pan and windage tray and build yourself a crank scraper.................IMHO
Buy better heads... The stock 72 heads will limit power/RPM The heads you choose will determine pistons/cam selection and so on. You can put roller rockers on the stock heads no problem. If you plan to race it regularly. Loose the stock rod bolts at the very least. Stud the mains (bolts allow too much main cap walk) The stock rods/crank will live to 400 HP If you plan to make more HP and rev the wee out of it (beyond 6500 RPM) Upgrade the reciprocating components. You can put "retrofit" roller cams in the older blocks (they are readily available) Theres more to it,this is just a precursor to what you will ultimately need if you want to race and be compettitive/reliable. Good luck. Mopar LA series engines aint so different from fords/same tricks work for both for the most part.
Steelhorse, What are you going to be using the car for? Street only Street performance maybe a couple trips to the track Street and strip sreet driven strip car Track only and how fast do you want to spin the engine? 5000- 5500 5500-6000 6000-6500 6500-7000 7000- 7500 7500 -up With this information you can get better fitting information.
you can do a full roller cam I have a full roller in my 308 its a 69 block and I think maybe you should go with an eld rpm performer with your stock heads and only use the victor if you get a good set of heads
Heads, how many times have I posted on this subject??? Here's your bottle neck Bro. FORD HEADS SUCK!!!!! You can put in all the race fuel, all the nitrous and any other liquid in you want but if it won't flow you won't go! One word for you here, EBAY How many times has anyone posted my heads are too big? I wish I had that problem. Good luck with your build, by the way, did I fail to mention you need a set of good aftermarket heads? As always just my .02 but I'm right about the Ford Heads. Bossmav
me either thats why i was asking. i was debating if it was even worth porting and big valving the stock heads or getting aftermarket. next question is which aftermarket heads do i need to be loking for. i know alot of you run AFR's but how well do they compare to World Products, Edelbrock, and some of the others. i was trying to budget about $1000-$1500 on the heads but i dont want to buy a set of heads that wont be absolutely spectacular with a 347 or 363.
The heads are just the beginning. So many questions? Along with your heads you need the right cam, pistons, carb , stall and gear ratio. To a certain point this is all a guess game. Here’s a big question, how deep are your pockets? Speed cost, how fast do you want to go? I did a quick search on ebay and for the starting dollar here a smoking deal but you might want to go faster then this. Good luck. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SBF-...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
