• Mustang Forums
  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-

302 Engine build questions

  • Thread starter Thread starter Vulpes5.0
  • Start date Start date Apr 19, 2022
  • Tags Tags
    engine build
  • 1
  • 2
Next
1 of 2 Next Last

Vulpes5.0

5 Year Member
Nov 17, 2018
143
27
38
Warner Robins, Georgia
Apr 19, 2022
#1
  • Apr 19, 2022
  • #1
Hey all, currently my original engine is at the machine shop and given that the $300 bandaid engine that's currently in my car is starting to show it's age, I'm finally going to build a proper engine for this thing hopefully before the original blows up. Mind you this is a budget build, I want to get some solid power out of it but I'm going for around $3000 for this one. Been doing my research but figured I'd get some opinions before moving forward.

Currently I have a stock bottom end, trick flow stage 1 cam, explorer heads and intake, 19 lb injectors, stock TB, MAF conversion, shorty headers + x-pipe. It's certainly fun and if I had to guess I'm making somewhere between 200-275 HP, but leaves much to be desired and the bottom end is worn out. low oil pressure, oil gets gassy quick due to either leaky injectors or blowby, slight knock on startup, etc.

I have a trick flow upper and lower intake, 24 lb injectors with 24 MAF meter, and a 70mm throttle body I got a deal on ready to go on the car, so that part of the build has been taken care of.

1) I've been looking at the AFR 185 heads on summit and for their price point they seem they like a really solid aluminum head at around $1200 for a pair fully assembled. I've heard it mentioned that you would need to fly cut / notch pistons if you use these cylinder heads, but if I have an aftermarket rebuild kit with valve cutouts already in pistons, I should be okay, right?

2) Also wondering if anyone has run these heads, do you like them, and what kind of cam to pair with it to get the most bang for your buck? Are they even worthwhile on a street engine?
I like the trick flow stage 1 cam currently in my car as it has pretty decent driveability, and I've been dailying my fox for a few years now. Don't want to make the car so rowdy that it's just uncomfortable but I want a solid power band on this bad boy

3) Do 24 lb injectors handle most mods you throw at these cars? If I can go ahead and swap for some 30's while convenient I wonder if that may be a better option, or should I simply get an adjustable fuel pressure regulator to increase their output if necessary?

4) The block will likely be bored .030 over during the rebuild, and I'm going with forged pistons. Anyone have a rebuild kit they swear by?

Any opinions welcome, I haven't bought cam, heads, rebuild kit, or roller rockers, so I'm open to suggestions
 

manicmechanic007

5 Year Member
Sep 26, 2017
2,524
709
143
Roy, Utah
Apr 20, 2022
#2
  • Apr 20, 2022
  • #2
Glad you are going with forged pistons
Clay the motor regardless of advice (piston to valve clearance)
 
Reactions: Vulpes5.0

limp

wrap a little cheese around it and its a done
5 Year Member
Oct 4, 2020
5,457
2,889
173
Florida
Apr 20, 2022
#3
  • Apr 20, 2022
  • #3
Your machine shop would be the place to recommend pistons for you ...
 
Reactions: Vulpes5.0 and General karthief

96pushrod

I think they're a little easier to get off
5 Year Member
May 15, 2018
1,530
871
133
Savannah
Apr 20, 2022
#4
  • Apr 20, 2022
  • #4
The engine kits the intake, tb, maf, and injectors you have will work fine with what you’re looking to do.

The afr 185 will also be good, but checking ptv clearance is always 100% required when setting up. Theres no reason not to do it.

The link posted is actually for the engine kits, not the heads so I’ll assume that’s what you’re looking at. You could get one of those, but the intake manifold gaskets will be wrong, and you’ll have to know what the crank will clean up at.

IMO $3000 is a budget you might go slightly over, once you factor in good rockers, pushrods, and maybe you pull the engine and decide you want to do the clutch since everything is apart.
 
Reactions: Vulpes5.0

manicmechanic007

5 Year Member
Sep 26, 2017
2,524
709
143
Roy, Utah
Apr 20, 2022
#5
  • Apr 20, 2022
  • #5
My advice do not run new garbage parts
Look for vintage forged TRW pistons and NOS clevite bearings
Same with the cam
Look for a new old stock cam and kit
I found a Crane cam and kit for my old big block for 125 on ebay with lifters from the 70's
Blapp Blapp Blapp ... Sounds bad , does it run?
and in true Ford fashion, If it don't run chrome it
 
Reactions: Vulpes5.0

Vulpes5.0

5 Year Member
Nov 17, 2018
143
27
38
Warner Robins, Georgia
Apr 20, 2022
#6
  • Apr 20, 2022
  • #6
96pushrod said:
The engine kits the intake, tb, maf, and injectors you have will work fine with what you’re looking to do.

The afr 185 will also be good, but checking ptv clearance is always 100% required when setting up. Theres no reason not to do it.

The link posted is actually for the engine kits, not the heads so I’ll assume that’s what you’re looking at. You could get one of those, but the intake manifold gaskets will be wrong, and you’ll have to know what the crank will clean up at.

IMO $3000 is a budget you might go slightly over, once you factor in good rockers, pushrods, and maybe you pull the engine and decide you want to do the clutch since everything is apart.
Click to expand...
I’ve got a deal going with my dad since I helped him sell some property that he’s buying my rebuild kit, so that makes my budget a little more attainable

I also have a relatively new King Cobra clutch + aluminum flywheel in my car that I’ve enjoyed a good bit, but I did learn how to drive stick on it so you may be right about replacing it…

Here’s the proper link, something got backwards while i was copy/pasting for formatting

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/afr-1351?seid=srese1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw3v6SBhCsARIsACyrRAl_dX1sogTgkhn5mUHuxquN0LbADX1eROmscYbuqYDca1WvMCDuXAcaArNzEALw_wcB
 

Vulpes5.0

5 Year Member
Nov 17, 2018
143
27
38
Warner Robins, Georgia
Apr 20, 2022
#7
  • Apr 20, 2022
  • #7
manicmechanic007 said:
My advice do not run new garbage parts
Look for vintage forged TRW pistons and NOS clevite bearings
Same with the cam
Look for a new old stock cam and kit
I found a Crane cam and kit for my old big block for 125 on ebay with lifters from the 70's
Blapp Blapp Blapp ... Sounds bad , does it run?
and in true Ford fashion, If it don't run chrome it
Click to expand...
Now that you mention it I have an old rebuild kit lying around the garage with a “clevite 560” cam but i was unable to find anything online about the specs of it lol, hesitant to run an unknown like that. Also unsure if it’s flat tappet or roller as my car is a roller block
 

Vulpes5.0

5 Year Member
Nov 17, 2018
143
27
38
Warner Robins, Georgia
Apr 20, 2022
#8
  • Apr 20, 2022
  • #8
limp said:
Your machine shop would be the place to recommend pistons for you ...
Click to expand...
He has recommended a few, old guy who’s been building engines quite a while, often for circle track cars. Still fingers crossed to see if the block and crank are in usable condition, because man my main bearings were looking rough… then I’ll be able to move forward with it more
 

LEEDAY Boss

Member
May 25, 2006
15
2
13
Middletown OH
Apr 21, 2022
#9
  • Apr 21, 2022
  • #9
If you're not tuning it be careful with your cam selection. For a nice no worries daily drivable combo I always stick with the stock cam and 1.72 rockers. You can get a Melling "stock" replacement HO cam from Rock Auto very reasonable. With AFR165, a good intake, bigger MAF and 19 lb injectors, the car will have great manners and be super fun to drive and won't need a tune to behave. Yes the 19lb injectors are fine. Even with an Anderson B-31 cam my Holley Term X was still pulling fuel from the table almost everywhere with 19's and an efficient AFR.
 
Reactions: Potomus Pete

Vulpes5.0

5 Year Member
Nov 17, 2018
143
27
38
Warner Robins, Georgia
Apr 21, 2022
#10
  • Apr 21, 2022
  • #10
LEEDAY Boss said:
If you're not tuning it be careful with your cam selection. For a nice no worries daily drivable combo I always stick with the stock cam and 1.72 rockers. You can get a Melling "stock" replacement HO cam from Rock Auto very reasonable. With AFR165, a good intake, bigger MAF and 19 lb injectors, the car will have great manners and be super fun to drive and won't need a tune to behave. Yes the 19lb injectors are fine. Even with an Anderson B-31 cam my Holley Term X was still pulling fuel from the table almost everywhere with 19's and an efficient AFR.
Click to expand...
I have the email BAMA tune going on my car at the moment, free tunes for life and all that jazz. Pretty much a waste of money though, I’d really like to get an actual tuner take their time getting it right, car still bucks at <1500 RPMs and A/C makes it idle funny. I know i could get more out of it with a real tune.

Anyone know a good fox tuner near middle georgia? (Can you take these cars to just any old tuner?)
 

96pushrod

I think they're a little easier to get off
5 Year Member
May 15, 2018
1,530
871
133
Savannah
Apr 21, 2022
#11
  • Apr 21, 2022
  • #11
1970machwon said:
I have the email BAMA tune going on my car at the moment, free tunes for life and all that jazz. Pretty much a waste of money though, I’d really like to get an actual tuner take their time getting it right, car still bucks at <1500 RPMs and A/C makes it idle funny. I know i could get more out of it with a real tune.

Anyone know a good fox tuner near middle georgia? (Can you take these cars to just any old tuner?)
Click to expand...
You’re pretty close to Kurgan up in Gainesville. That’s who I’d go with based on your location.
 
Reactions: Vulpes5.0

LILCBRA

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air
Mod Dude
Dec 6, 2005
6,318
5,288
194
Corn County USA
Apr 21, 2022
#12
  • Apr 21, 2022
  • #12
I'm pretty sure Mo's would work well for you, they're a little closer to you being in Dallas. Their website is down, but here's their FB page.

Mo's Speed Shop | Dallas GA

Mo's Speed Shop, Dallas. 14,385 likes · 23 talking about this · 4,236 were here. Good ol’ Automotive Performance!
www.facebook.com

I can't speak from any kind of experience with their services, but they have a dyno and I believe they host a Fox Mustang show regularly.

(Taken from a post from July 2021.)

 
Last edited: Apr 21, 2022

96pushrod

I think they're a little easier to get off
5 Year Member
May 15, 2018
1,530
871
133
Savannah
Apr 21, 2022
#13
  • Apr 21, 2022
  • #13
LILCBRA said:
I'm pretty sure Mo's would work well for you, they're a little closer to you being in Dallas. Their website is down, but here's their FB page.

Mo's Speed Shop | Dallas GA

Mo's Speed Shop, Dallas. 14,385 likes · 23 talking about this · 4,236 were here. Good ol’ Automotive Performance!
www.facebook.com

I can't speak from any kind of experience with their services, but they have a dyno and I believe they host a Fox Mustang show regularly.

(Taken from a post from July 2021.)

Click to expand...
I wasn’t 100% if mo’s does in house eec iv tuning. I can say for sure kurgan does though.
 
Reactions: Vulpes5.0 and LILCBRA

LILCBRA

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air
Mod Dude
Dec 6, 2005
6,318
5,288
194
Corn County USA
Apr 21, 2022
#14
  • Apr 21, 2022
  • #14
96pushrod said:
I wasn’t 100% if mo’s does in house eec iv tuning. I can say for sure kurgan does though.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not 100% sure either. I dunno what all they work with, but I'm fairly certain that someone there is a Fox guy so I'd suspect that they'd be able to at least work with whatever's common. I've gone to one show over there, they have a pretty nice facility and the guys are pretty friendly. Best I can say is for the OP to give them a call.
 

Vulpes5.0

5 Year Member
Nov 17, 2018
143
27
38
Warner Robins, Georgia
Apr 21, 2022
#15
  • Apr 21, 2022
  • #15
LILCBRA said:
Yeah, I'm not 100% sure either. I dunno what all they work with, but I'm fairly certain that someone there is a Fox guy so I'd suspect that they'd be able to at least work with whatever's common. I've gone to one show over there, they have a pretty nice facility and the guys are pretty friendly. Best I can say is for the OP to give them a call.
Click to expand...
I need to do a ton to this car to get it comfortable enough to drive all the way to texas LOL. Still fighting a highway vibration and need to swap rear ends for a longer gear, 4.10’s are just too much, but I’ll keep these in mind
 

LILCBRA

I wish I didn't have all of these balls in the air
Mod Dude
Dec 6, 2005
6,318
5,288
194
Corn County USA
Apr 21, 2022
#16
  • Apr 21, 2022
  • #16
1970machwon said:
I need to do a ton to this car to get it comfortable enough to drive all the way to texas LOL. Still fighting a highway vibration and need to swap rear ends for a longer gear, 4.10’s are just too much, but I’ll keep these in mind
Click to expand...

They're in Dallas, Georgia.
 
Reactions: General karthief

Vulpes5.0

5 Year Member
Nov 17, 2018
143
27
38
Warner Robins, Georgia
Apr 21, 2022
#17
  • Apr 21, 2022
  • #17
LILCBRA said:
They're in Dallas, Georgia.
Click to expand...
Oops, lol… looks like they’re both about 2 hours from me, that’s a lot more manageable
 
Reactions: LILCBRA

Willybill32

But at least it's tight!
5 Year Member
Jul 16, 2019
626
347
83
Lexington, KY
Apr 24, 2022
#18
  • Apr 24, 2022
  • #18
1970machwon said:
Hey all, currently my original engine is at the machine shop and given that the $300 bandaid engine that's currently in my car is starting to show it's age, I'm finally going to build a proper engine for this thing hopefully before the original blows up. Mind you this is a budget build, I want to get some solid power out of it but I'm going for around $3000 for this one. Been doing my research but figured I'd get some opinions before moving forward.

Currently I have a stock bottom end, trick flow stage 1 cam, explorer heads and intake, 19 lb injectors, stock TB, MAF conversion, shorty headers + x-pipe. It's certainly fun and if I had to guess I'm making somewhere between 200-275 HP, but leaves much to be desired and the bottom end is worn out. low oil pressure, oil gets gassy quick due to either leaky injectors or blowby, slight knock on startup, etc.

I have a trick flow upper and lower intake, 24 lb injectors with 24 MAF meter, and a 70mm throttle body I got a deal on ready to go on the car, so that part of the build has been taken care of.

1) I've been looking at the AFR 185 heads on summit and for their price point they seem they like a really solid aluminum head at around $1200 for a pair fully assembled. I've heard it mentioned that you would need to fly cut / notch pistons if you use these cylinder heads, but if I have an aftermarket rebuild kit with valve cutouts already in pistons, I should be okay, right?

2) Also wondering if anyone has run these heads, do you like them, and what kind of cam to pair with it to get the most bang for your buck? Are they even worthwhile on a street engine?
I like the trick flow stage 1 cam currently in my car as it has pretty decent driveability, and I've been dailying my fox for a few years now. Don't want to make the car so rowdy that it's just uncomfortable but I want a solid power band on this bad boy

3) Do 24 lb injectors handle most mods you throw at these cars? If I can go ahead and swap for some 30's while convenient I wonder if that may be a better option, or should I simply get an adjustable fuel pressure regulator to increase their output if necessary?

4) The block will likely be bored .030 over during the rebuild, and I'm going with forged pistons. Anyone have a rebuild kit they swear by?

Any opinions welcome, I haven't bought cam, heads, rebuild kit, or roller rockers, so I'm open to suggestions
Click to expand...
You mention having to fly cut pistons with the AFR heads, so it sounds like you might have an '86, as that's the only 5.0 I know of with flat top pistons. The TFS TW 170 heads work without fly cutting and are a little more expensive ($1,530). I have these on my '86 with the E303 cam and roller rockers. No issues with stock pistons.

Bill
 

Vulpes5.0

5 Year Member
Nov 17, 2018
143
27
38
Warner Robins, Georgia
Apr 25, 2022
#19
  • Apr 25, 2022
  • #19
Willybill32 said:
You mention having to fly cut pistons with the AFR heads, so it sounds like you might have an '86, as that's the only 5.0 I know of with flat top pistons. The TFS TW 170 heads work without fly cutting and are a little more expensive ($1,530). I have these on my '86 with the E303 cam and roller rockers. No issues with stock pistons.

Bill
Click to expand...
I have an 87 with an engine from a different 87 currently in my car, but they do have the notches in the pistons.
The engine that I'm rebuilding has flat top pistons but they will be getting replaced with 4.030 pistons (hopefully) that already have the notches. My main concern was the notches being too small for the larger valves regardless, but I'm guessing most people running these heads only had to do that because of the flat tops and that I'll be fine to run them
 
Reactions: Willybill32

Willybill32

But at least it's tight!
5 Year Member
Jul 16, 2019
626
347
83
Lexington, KY
Apr 25, 2022
#20
  • Apr 25, 2022
  • #20
1970machwon said:
I have an 87 with an engine from a different 87 currently in my car, but they do have the notches in the pistons.
The engine that I'm rebuilding has flat top pistons but they will be getting replaced with 4.030 pistons (hopefully) that already have the notches. My main concern was the notches being too small for the larger valves regardless, but I'm guessing most people running these heads only had to do that because of the flat tops and that I'll be fine to run them
Click to expand...
Yes, that's correct. Most heads are such that the valves will likely hit the stock '86 pistons. TFS TW heads ( I have the 170s) are an exception to that rule.


Bill
 
Reactions: Vulpes5.0
  • 1
  • 2
Next
1 of 2 Next Last
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Discussion on mild budget build/ top end
  • Acesario
  • Feb 21, 2026
  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-
  • 2
Replies
20
Views
645
1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk- Feb 23, 2026
General karthief
Engine Suggestions on an engine rebuild. Stock cam/GT40Ps or aftermarket on both for a fun weekend driver?
  • MadSquirrelTech
  • Apr 28, 2026
  • Fox 5.0 Mustang Tech
  • 2
Replies
23
Views
593
Fox 5.0 Mustang Tech May 7, 2026
MadSquirrelTech
Fox Help
  • 93fox85
  • Mar 22, 2026
  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-
Replies
5
Views
181
1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk- Mar 23, 2026
Noobz347
Hard to start when engine is cold
  • 86_Capri
  • Mar 11, 2026
  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-
  • 2
Replies
31
Views
750
1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk- Mar 21, 2026
86_Capri
9
Engine Donor '00 Mountaineer meet '91 Fox
  • 91firecracker
  • May 11, 2026
  • Fox 5.0 Mustang Tech
  • 2 3
Replies
41
Views
545
Fox 5.0 Mustang Tech May 28, 2026
91firecracker
9
Share:
Bluesky Email Share Link
  • Mustang Forums
  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-
Menu
Log in

Register

  • Forums
  • What's new
  • Media
  • Resources
  • Contact
  • Sponsor
X

Privacy & Transparency

We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:

  • Personalized ads and content
  • Content measurement and audience insights

Do you accept cookies and these technologies?

X

Privacy & Transparency

We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:

  • Personalized ads and content
  • Content measurement and audience insights

Do you accept cookies and these technologies?