302 limited upgrades, which?

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VintageSpeed

New member
Joined
Jul 17, 2011
Messages
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Location
Westerlo, Belgium
My Car
1973 Mach1
Hi,

I've got a 302 2v, single exhaust, standaard engine in my 73 mach1. (exept for electronic ignition)

It's ok, but missing a little punch (low compression smog engine).

As I don't want to put to much cash into the engine, what do you guys think would be the best upgrades to do, to get some extra horses.

Let's say if I want to spend $800-$1200 what would be the best combo investment? dual exhaust with headers and an performer intake and carb?

get heads from an earlier 302/351, 2 or 4v.

Maybe some other simple tips that are often forgotten about?

 
Cam, headers, intake, carb, and exhaust. I put a set of 69 model 351w 4v heads on my 91 5.0 with no mods required. That car ran really well. Give com cams a call and tell them what you want and they will guide you along.

 
Put a deeper (higher numerically) gear in it. Get the distributor curve right (34-36 total, all in by 2800 rpm). Dual exhaust. If anything is left, a 2V autolite carb from a big block (1.14 or 1.23 throttle bores) with a 1 inch open spacer. You might be surprised. Chuck

 
Cam, headers, intake, carb, and exhaust. I put a set of 69 model 351w 4v heads on my 91 5.0 with no mods required. That car ran really well. Give com cams a call and tell them what you want and they will guide you along.
even without other heads, I might be able to squize some extre hp out of this low compression engine?

Sounds good.

Just to make sure, so I won't search wrong parts, what would be the best carb, intake, cam, exhaust to go on the low comp. 302?

Edelbrock Performer? Weiand Street Warrior? What carb or cam?

Good tip on the gearing, might see into that too.

 
One of the first things you should do is make sure you have a solid foundation(engine).Inspect it well! Run a compression check etc.....If it all is good go for it! You will have no trouble making good power from the 302..You can really wake one up with just bolt on parts! In my experiance with the 289 / 302's the first thing would be a really good exhaust system starting with full length headers,at least a 2.5 exhaust and good free flowing mufflers.Make sure you have a good electronic ignition,good coil, wires etc.....the next would be a good dual plane intake.My favorite for the small block was the factory Cobra / Edelbrock F4B dual plane manifolds.I have used the steert master but I don't recall it responding like the Ford designed intake. The Edelbrock torquer was a good one also. Get a good carb in the 600CFM range,don't go to small or too large! I have had the bext luck with the Holley 600 and Edelbrock 600.If you go to a new cam use a cam like the comp cams 268H high energy or one of the extream energy.When you use a cam you are going to want a good set of springs.The springs will require you to have you rocker studs pinned or drilled for screw in studs.The factory studs will eventually pull out( ask me how I know!) A real good double roller time set is also a good Idea. You are lucky in that now days you can buy a good set of aftermarket heads that already have the mods like screw in studs good springs,stainless valves hardened valve seats etc....for about the same as modifing your old stuff.Just stick with the smaller valves 1.90 intake / 1.60 exhaust for good street drivability.Like Chuck said,don't forget the gears and torque converter.Those really wake a car up! Good luck!

 
In my opinion, "FastE" is right on the money, in the exact order that he mentioned the possible upgrades.

Work the exhaust first, i.e. headers, mufflers and a true dual system...that will take care of the $800.

BT

 
Six months ago I chucked a new 575cfm Holley Street Avenger carby and 4bbl manifold on my stock 302 to replace the 2 bbl carb and manifold that was on it. I noticed an instant improvement in horsepower, mainly in the higher rev ranges where the 2 bbl had been gasping.

 
Hi,

I've got a 302 2v, single exhaust, standaard engine in my 73 mach1. (exept for electronic ignition)

It's ok, but missing a little punch (low compression smog engine).

As I don't want to put to much cash into the engine, what do you guys think would be the best upgrades to do, to get some extra horses.

Let's say if I want to spend $800-$1200 what would be the best combo investment? dual exhaust with headers and an performer intake and carb?

get heads from an earlier 302/351, 2 or 4v.

Maybe some other simple tips that are often forgotten about?
VintageSpeed,

I'm currently doing a 73 with the same engine and exhaust system. What I've decided to do is build this car for fuel economy. Keeping the stock 2bbl carb and ditching the single exhaust for a dual with Flowmasters. Also ordered a Ram Air kit to hide the 2bbl and make it look like it's got something something under there ;) This will be the "all bark, no bite" daily driver :D

Even with the stock setup, it had enough punch to spin the tires. If you're looking to spank a well tuned Honda, then yes, do all the mods suggested by the others, but if not, then I recommend doing a build like mine. Have fun with your build!

DJ



Cam, headers, intake, carb, and exhaust. I put a set of 69 model 351w 4v heads on my 91 5.0 with no mods required. That car ran really well. Give com cams a call and tell them what you want and they will guide you along.
even without other heads, I might be able to squize some extre hp out of this low compression engine?

Sounds good.

Just to make sure, so I won't search wrong parts, what would be the best carb, intake, cam, exhaust to go on the low comp. 302?

Edelbrock Performer? Weiand Street Warrior? What carb or cam?

Good tip on the gearing, might see into that too.
Well, you can throw out the $800-$1200 budget.. For me, it cost that much just to do gearing :rolleyes:

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I would build another motor and then put dual exaust on the car. get a 90-91 roller 5.0 block and put a TFS stage one cam or E303 and then get some GT40 heads off an 96 explorer with some nice headers and put ur intake and ur accessories back on. but remember if you use ur distributor change the gear.

 
As far as intake manifolds go I would suggest the edelbrock performer rpm air gap. I have dyno results {for a 351c 4v} from stock intake to air gap gained 50hp. I have an extreme energy cam in there with 10:1 compression. My cam is a bit on the big side. In my opinion the air gap is the best bang for your buck.

 
I asked Dale from Summit what a good bargain combo would be in the price range, he gave me these references :

intake http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-2121/

carb http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HLY-0-80457S/

headers http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HOK-6901HKR/

dual exhaust http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-680111/

cam http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-2122/

he believes 275hp could be possible with a decent installation.

What you guys think? Is this good, or beter change something?

 
I would call those solid, honest choices. Nice parts for nice value.

 
I asked Dale from Summit what a good bargain combo would be in the price range, he gave me these references :

intake http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-2121/

carb http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HLY-0-80457S/

headers http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HOK-6901HKR/

dual exhaust http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-680111/

cam http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-2122/

he believes 275hp could be possible with a decent installation.

What you guys think? Is this good, or beter change something?
Given the weight of the car and gear ratio, torque should be the primary factor to consider, the horse power comes along with it. The intake listed above will work fine for your application. The carb listed does not have adjustable floats or a jet block in the secondary side, very limited calibration changes are readily done. Perhaps a better choice is the Summit Carb M08600VS. It has more adjustability, almost can't leak due to the design, is a little cheaper, and has very good street drivability (it is basically an improved version of the Autolite 4100 carb). The headers suggested will work with the 1 5/8 primary tube size but a header with a 1 1/2 dimeter primary pipe would build some more torque (Flow Tech 121000FLT). Either way you will need to either coat or paint the Headers or they will rust away quickly. You will also need a power steering adaptor bracket to lower the PS ram to clear the headers (Flow Tech 10041FT). I believe the engine would make more torque with a 2 1/4 inch system than the 2 1/2 suggested. The mufflers are fine, sound good, not too loud. The cam will work and build good torque as it is fundamentally the Ford Marine cam for 351W. It may have the 351W firing order (13726548). You will need matching valve springs, locks, and perhaps retainers. Reusing the original timing set is a bad idea due to wear and the fact that, if I remember correctly, cam retard was built into the gear set from Ford. If there is any way to have the cam degreed in it is advisable to make sure the relationship between the cam and crank are precisely what they should be. You will still need to check and or adjust the calibration of the distributor and timing since you will have changed the operating parameters of the engine substantially. I hope you plans go smoothly.

Good Luck,

Chuck

 
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