302 Engine build questions

Vulpes5.0 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?)

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Vulpes5.0 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

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Sean Canney said:

Stock cam and Trick flow 1.73 rockers do well together. Sound great. Out of the box patriot heads self ported and polished where needed. Clean up bowl areas. They come with 2.02 int 1.6 ex valves. Making that set up really comparable to 69;351 Windsor heads from a cougar. With 1.85int. 1.54 ex with 1.73 roller rocks. The lift is good enough with the big valves. Don't forget arp studs and cometec mlg for aluminum to iron block to prevent quick scrubbing failure. Edelbrock performer ported upper and lower . Port matched. 19# truck injectors and pro M 77 mm msg calibrated for the set up. It runs like a champ throw full msd ignition in. Coil , wires billet aluminum dizzy with their pip and tfi . And msd 6AL . It's a cheap set up. Likely knocking on four at the floor

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Monkeybutt2000 said:

What?? I have no idea what just happened here...

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mikestang63 said:

my condolences on the BAMA tune. I would pull that worthless POS chip out as they do more harm than good IMO. IF you can't find a locat tuner. Dirty Dirty Racing or Matt Leech can provide an awesome remote tune.

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