Ford 302 Engine Swap

[Rumplecat]

OKay, I tried the search approach and got zip! A guy called me he is scrapping a 1974 Ford F150 with a 302 engine in it. He says the engine is in great shape, is this a good candidate for a 715?
James G.

[osut362]

could be, if you like that size motor. you will need a rear sump oil pan and pick-up. i think the broncos and trucks used a rear sump pan (?).
..........al

[Roy]

I think the vans used rear sumps too...

[Mikel]

I've *heard* that 302's may not be the best choice for a truck, due to their poor low end grunt. No first hand experience.

[andy howell]

i think you will find that the small block ford family are excellent engines, however imo a poor choice for a 715 repower. they run ok but in stock form do not rev well & it takes a lot of parts swapping to get them up to speed with a chevy, and with the deep geared axles of the 715 the engine needs to rev. they are also longer than a chevy, but you can sub a mercruiser set of pulleys & dampner up front to shorten it up some. even if the engine was free you would spend a lot just to get it even with a 350 chevy, the heads have very small ports & is probably a two barrel. i just never was satisfied with the way ford engines ran compared with my chevys. i just put a 250 chevy in one of my 715s, but this will be a farm truck & all it has to do is idle around the place so i couldnt justify wasting one of my v8s in this truck, carbureted chevys are getting harder to find around here- all gone to the dirt track cars.
andy

[Rumplecat]

Guy, thanks for the replys, I guess I will keep looking for a Chevy engine.
James G.

[randyscycle]

I had a friend who had a full size Bronco at the same time I had a full size Blazer. His was a 302, mine was a 350. We both had enclosed car hauling trailers. The Blazer always pulled that trailer better than the Bronco. The 302 just always seemed sluggish, and had to shift up and down a lot. The Blazer 350 was carbureted, and the 302 in the Bronco was fuel injected. Both trucks were bone stock as well with stock gearing and tires.

The 350 was a bit more of a gas hog though.

[Hetzer]

The old saying goes, "there is no substitute for cubic inches".

So, yes I would say the 350 is a better truck engine than the 302.

The 351W was always considered to be the better choice over 302 for truck engines as well. If I had found one of those, I would have snatched it up and put a stroker kit in it. That would have been interesting. Maybe someday when I'm bored. I'd rather have a 351W than the 350, but then I like Ford trucks. Never was much for their cars however.

Now having said all this, I do have a 302 in mine. I got a good deal on it. It seemed a reasonable substitute for the 230 in a truck with the stock drivetrain that I don't plan to run the snot out of.

If I'd only finish it, I'd give you a driving impression. I'm proceeding at a snails pace with alot of rest breaks in between. Until then, it looks good sitting in the garage.

[Ronner]

"There is no replacement for displacement" is how I remember the saying goes
For me economics play a big deal. If the 302 is free and comes with a good tranny then drop it in.
Really, you cannot lose going from the what? 75hp in the stock 230. Would I rather a 351w? Yes. In fact I went whole hog and dropped in a 460 but there are about a bizillion bolt-on parts for the 302 to get more power. Some '90s Explorer heads (steal the fi at the same time if you can) and a decent intake will wake the 302 right up. As heavy as our trucks are I'd stay away from a Ford AOE tranny but several pretty stout 5spd OD manual transmissions will bolt right up.
And if you are worried about the ability of the 302 to rev just think about the red line of the 230! lol
If it is free and you can get a manual OD trans I'd bolt it in & enjoy. Really there are SOOOO many hop-up parts for the 302 that the potential is staggering.

My $.02

[Hetzer]

yep, I agree. There is a myriad of parts available.

Mine was an in the crate ACDelco longblock rebuild. I think I paid $700 for it, plus shipping. Non-HO roller motor. I stuck an Air Gap Edelbrock, Truck Avenger carb, MSD ignition and some shorty headers on it thus far. Figured it would be a good start. Oh, and I have a ZF 5-speed behind it.

Heads and cam would probably be where I went next, but we'll see about that.

At work once, we had an '89 F250 with an FI 460 in it. That was a strong motor for a stocker. Abused the crap out of too, they did.