A little background first: I have a beautiful 1968 "Sprint B" Mustang with a stock 302 and 3 speed auto (originally a manual, but the previous owner swapped it out). I've owned it for 5 years now and I've done all the mechanical and restoration work myself. The muscle bug has bitten me and it's time to hop the engine up and put a manual transmission back in, however this time, a 5 speed.
I'll be using the car mostly as a stock *looking* street rod for spanking fart pipe Hondas and cocky Vette drivers between stop lights now and then, and hanging with brother Cobras, GTs and Salens out there too. But, I plan on taking her to the strip a few times a year to really let 'er rip. My goal for the engine is to get as close to 400 HP / 400 ft. lbs torque (or more!) at as low RPM as humanly possible while maintaining natural aspiration, and no nitrous. Also, I have to keep the price tag as far under $5,000 as practical as I'm not on an unlimited budget. I'm not afraid of paying for quality that will last many tens of thousands of miles...Having said that though, $3,000 or less would probably keep me from being murdered by the wife. ;-)
I know very well these may be high hopes, but I've got to set a goal somewhere and it might as well be lofty. Besides, a challenge is fun. I know it's at least theoretically possible since I've heard stories about 400+ HP 302's. Before I get to the nitty-gritty of my post, I should also note that while I want to have a natural breathing carbed engine, I am contemplating installing a plate nitrous system with *no more* than a 100 HP shot; realistically, probably 50 to 75, for that extra "screw you" power.
I'd love to hear everyone's suggestions on how to accomplish this. Remember, I'm talking about everything here: Carb, heads, manifold, cam, pistons, rods, crank, fuel pump/pressure regulator, oil and water pump, ignition, headers, etc. I've been looking into stroking my engine (though I'd like to get as close to the 400 mark as possible without it) for the extra HP/torque gains and I see kits going up to 347. I've heard some bad things about the 347, so would a 331 rig be best? Is a stroker worth it for my goal? On that note, is forking out for a forged crank necessary, or can I get away with a nodular iron crank with forged pistons and rods, even with judicious use of nitrous, keeping in mind I'd like the engine to last a long time?
What should I buy? Specific parts, suggestions and ideas would be absolutely fantastic so I can start research. I'm mechanically inclined, but I'm not what you'd call a hot rodder, so solutions should be fairly "turn-key." Dropping $3,000 at a machine shop is out of the question, but a little shop work would be okay. I'd like to do as much myself as possible.
As far as turn-key solutions go, Edelbrock advertises their Performer RPM power pack as taking a stock 302 up to 387 HP @ 6500 RPM and 347 ft./lbs. of torque @ 4500 PPM. That's in the ball park of my goal, so how does the Edelbrock package rate? Would stepping the intake up to the RPM Air-Gap, plus your suggestions for pistons, etc., bring my numbers up where I want them?
Anyway, I appreciate all of your help, I really do. I look forward to hearing everyone's ideas!
id go with a 331 stroker kit there around $1000 give or take , then afr 185 heads,intake of your choice and at least a 650 carb. that should be at least 400hp
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94 gt aode baumannator,pi stallion 3000 stall,transgo,mega bite jrs,3.90 gears,31 spine moser axles,comp exteme,1.7 roller rockers,190 pump,mac cold air,ford 1 5/8 unequals, off road h,flowmaster 2 chamber with stainless tails,msd box,PIH(a9p computer ajustable fan controler),q1a k-member,kenny brown frame ties,driveshaft loop,air pump eliminator kit,bbk 70mm tb,pro-m bullit meter,24#injecters,ported heads&intake,and all the little bolt ons.
I was reading AFR's webpage and they're claiming 400+ HP on all the 302s, 331s and 347s they've dyno tested, with some serious torque to boot. This definitely seems the way to go.
As for pistons, rods and a crank...Forged pistons are a given, as are rods I'd say. But what about a forged crank? Is it necessary in a 400-500 HP application? Remember, I might add a 50-100 HP dose of nitrous sometime in the future, and if I do, I assume I'd want a forged crank. Although the attractiveness of AFR's heads are making me question the need for nitrous. I'll also need some measurements to put together a stroker kit, or some direction to someone who sells a good one.
Saying I've put together a 331 with AFR 185 heads, an Edelbrock 650-800 cfm carb and Edelbrock Performer RPM Air-Gap intake, how about the cam? Would Edelbrock's Performer RPM hydraulic roller cam with the roller lifter kit do the trick, or perhaps something from Crane or Isky??
id say you should pick up a magizine like 5.0 or muscle mustang, thay got adds for days on stroker kits im going to go with the cast steel crank im not useing boost or spray. comp cams realy impress me they got more mid lift then most cams out there my comp cam is 270,276 dur.....544 lift it works in the 5.0 but its better suited for a bigger motor (331)
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94 gt aode baumannator,pi stallion 3000 stall,transgo,mega bite jrs,3.90 gears,31 spine moser axles,comp exteme,1.7 roller rockers,190 pump,mac cold air,ford 1 5/8 unequals, off road h,flowmaster 2 chamber with stainless tails,msd box,PIH(a9p computer ajustable fan controler),q1a k-member,kenny brown frame ties,driveshaft loop,air pump eliminator kit,bbk 70mm tb,pro-m bullit meter,24#injecters,ported heads&intake,and all the little bolt ons.
Hey I am in the same situation for a 65 fastback and wanting to spook it up a little. Sounds like your dollars might be more realistic than mine as I plan on trying to build in the 1500-2000. range. I do plan on doing everything but the machine work myself. And even have a fresh stock 302 to start with. Anyway not to send you to another web page but check out fordmuscle.com. They have some great engine topics including a 400hp 302 and a several 331 and 347 build ups. It requires a subscription to read everything on their pages but lots of it is free you will just have to hack around. Very good build articles listed with everthing they used plus the dyno results and 1/4 track times with the timeslips. You need to open the project 1967 11.99 project to get all the data but be sure and check it out as another sorce of good information. It started me calling machine shops and looking for parts as I plan on a possible summer build if time allows.
Coast High Performance has some cool stuff for making horsepower easy. I would go with the 347 stroker for 302. You can buy the kit or get a shortblock. Here's a link to their site: http://coasthigh.com/Assemblies/Ford/ford_347.htm
331 is good too, but I like the 347. Either way its a good decision.
The aluminum heads mentioned like Edelbrock, AFR, TrickFlow are good choices. However if it was me I would go with cast-iron 351Cleveland 2V Heads. There is a place called Bush Performance in Fort Smith, Arkansas who can set your 302 up with Cleveland heads and a special intake for this application.
I think with all this you could easily hit 400HP and probably more.
Here"s a link to a great company I've read about in several magazines.http://www.dssracing.com/ Good luck! :thumbsup
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DHG #01434 Bullitt - full JLT intake, MGW shifter, Accel coils (I wish I had 4.10s, o/r H, tune)
Black 89 LX(the drag car) best 8.75 at 80 mph in the 1/8
97 Mountaineer V8 AWD
hi, i have a 71 302. would the afr heads be direct bolt ons for an early 302? i thought that there was something different. would the old style intake fit as well? not gonna get anything for awhile but just curious about what is needed in case i fall into money (not likely) lol.
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1970 mach 1 M code cleveland/auto red black interior, only a 302 auto now, 68 coupe w/351C auto. just got a 99 gt anniversary conv
[quote=Stratdeath] However if it was me I would go with cast-iron 351Cleveland 2V Heads. There is a place called Bush Performance in Fort Smith, Arkansas who can set your 302 up with Cleveland heads and a special intake for this application.
QUOTE]
why go with 2v cleveland heads instead of 4v heads?? thanks
Four hundred horsepower will be nearly impossible to achieve with a 302, even if it's bored .030 over to make it a 306 (naturally aspirated, of course.) You will achieve that amount with a power adder (nitrous oxide, turbocharger, supercharger) or a stroker kit (the aforementioned 331-347 kits.) That being said, simple combos can produce 300+ rear wheel horsepower and torque, which will equal close to 375 at the crank. These combos will be streetable.
I have a pretty simple combo that works well in my '79 Mustang Cobra. This combo dynoed at 307 rear wheel horsepowr and 279 rear wheel torque. This snake runs the quarter mile in 12.88 @ 110. With improvements in my suspension, I should be able to see 12.20's-12.40's with that MPH.
Here's what I have.
1. 1988 Mustang 5.0 block that's been bored/honed .030 over and decked to create 10:8:1 compression.
2. Keith Black hyperutectic domed pistons.
3. Elgin solid lifter camshaft (238INT/248EXH, 512INT/536EXH.)
4. AFR 185 aluminum cylinder heads (58 cc's.)
5. Edelbrock dual quad intake manifold.
6. Edelbrock 500 cfm carburetors (two.)
7. MAC exhaust kit (1-3/4" longtube headers, 2.5" off-road H-pipe and cat-back system.)
8. MSD ignition components (6AL, billet distributor and coil.)
As you can tell, it's no torque monster. However, it begins to make power at 2,400 rpms and continues all the way to 6,400 rpms! This is attributed to the solid lifter camshaft's ability to spin that high. I regularly shift it at 6,800 rpms when at the track. To compensate for the lack of torque, we've installed 4.30 gears. This is something that will need to be done to improve '60 foot times and takeoffs while cruising. If you install a 5-speed with the overdrive, these gears are not an issue.
I drive my car 4-5 days per week without a problem and have driven it to Connecticut 3 times for car shows (2 hour ride each way) and New Hampshire for the Fun Ford Weekend (2.5 hour ride each way.) Out on the open highway, it runs fine, even with those steep gears. The overdrive really makes the car enjoyable. At 80 mph, the tach is at 3,000 rpms. At 75, it's around 2,500-2,600 rpms. Because I begin to make power on the dyno at 2,400 rpms, I'm still in the lower part of the power band. I don't consider this to be a problem at all.
It's a pretty simple combo and when combined with the right gearing and suspension, can wreak a little bit of havoc. Of course, this particular combination could probably be tweaked to make a little bit more horsepower. I've thought about trying a single four barrel carburetor on top of an RPM air gap intake manifold and porting the AFR's but will wait until I can get some extra cash to try that experiment. For now, I love to hear the comments about the twin carburetors that reside under the hood. It's a different look and helps to separate me from the competition at the car shows. Here's a pic.
Since I can't edit my previous post, I'll change my cam specs here. Initially, I thought that those specs were correct, but I've since dug up my cam card. The name and part number are as follows: ELGIN Pro Stock E990P. The numbers are 248 INT/258 EXH @ .050 Duration and the cam lift is .536 INT/.560 EXH. It's got a 108 degree centerline.
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1979 Mustang Cobra 306 (307 rwhp/278 rwt)
MM&FF Feature Car - August 2005
Modified Mustangs Feature Car - April 2007
Foureyedpride.com 2006 Calendar
Advice on building a 302 engine with 400 HP ! 
