302/5.0L head swap

[superme]

Greetings,
I have an oddball question about swapping heads from a 5.0L onto a 302. Long story short, I am trying to get my 66 fastback on the road with a very limited budget. I have been running a 73 302 with EFI from a 89 crown Vic. I decided to do a dirty rebuild on the engine due to smoking and I have it out of the car. When I took the heads (D2OE BA) into a machine shop, I was told that the heads would not be worth having hardened seats put into it. I can purchase some off from the internet for $309.00 for the pair with shipping, I can get some from NAPA or Carquest for about $200.00 each but I do have the original heads from the crown Vic (E6SE) but I am concerned about having too low compression with this head and dished pistons on the 73 block. I was also thinking of putting some inexpensive flat top pistons in the 73 block if it would help. I can get a set from Northern Auto Parts for about $100.00

I do not mean to sound like a cheap skate but I have a very limited budget. I know that the E6SE heads suck but it might be a while until I can build my dream motor.

Any assistance will be appreciated

 

[RFMustangGT]

if you are already looking at $400 for heads and $100 for pistons, why just not start looking for a used 87-95 long block? $500 should get you a very usable long block in my opinion. Those motors out of the box are around 215-225 hp with enough torque to still make it an enjoyable ride. Hope this helps.

 

[D.Hearne]

Greetings,
I have an oddball question about swapping heads from a 5.0L onto a 302. Long story short, I am trying to get my 66 fastback on the road with a very limited budget. I have been running a 73 302 with EFI from a 89 crown Vic. I decided to do a dirty rebuild on the engine due to smoking and I have it out of the car. When I took the heads (D2OE BA) into a machine shop, I was told that the heads would not be worth having hardened seats put into it. I can purchase some off from the internet for $309.00 for the pair with shipping, I can get some from NAPA or Carquest for about $200.00 each but I do have the original heads from the crown Vic (E6SE) but I am concerned about having too low compression with this head and dished pistons on the 73 block. I was also thinking of putting some inexpensive flat top pistons in the 73 block if it would help. I can get a set from Northern Auto Parts for about $100.00

I do not mean to sound like a cheap skate but I have a very limited budget. I know that the E6SE heads suck but it might be a while until I can build my dream motor.

Any assistance will be appreciated

You're right about the E6SE heads. The chambers are 10 ccs larger than the 72 heads you had. You surely don't want to go from an 8 to 1 comp ratio down into the 7's. Best thing to do is go ahead with the piston swap, but be careful choosing these too, as some will yeild no more compression than the dishes yo now have. Many flat tops for the 302 have a 1.585 compression height (also refered to as pin height), these are the ones you don't want. Look for a set with a 1.605-1.619 pin height. Then get a set of E7TE heads, these can be had cheap too and will yeild a bit more compression over the E6's (64 cc chambers vs E6's 68 cc) plus give you 25 more horses.

 

[Fast63]

you can get the E7 heads used, they are a dime a dozen. Freshen them up maybe and throw them on, but I also agree with purchasing a used 87-92 5.0L long block for around $500. Your fuel injection will bolt on, you will have an engine with factory forged pistons, about 9.2:1 compression, roller cam, E7 heads.... Then you can sell your existing parts for a little cash. Might want to rebuild the used longblock though, but you can do that for pretty cheap if you do it yourself.