'86 H.O. 302

ELGUAPO91LX · Jan 12, 2006

This my first time posting in this section so forgive me if i ask any questions that my be stupid to you guys...but i have a 91 lx that i currently have turbo 2.3 in and it is pretty fast but i was thinking of building a 86 302 that i took out of my old lincoln mark VII and i was wondering is it as impossible as i heard it is because if the sucky heads they came with and so forth

wild86stang · Jan 12, 2006

My car is an 86 5.0L Mustang, assuming the engines are the same (I don't know if they are or not, yours might or might not be an h.o.) I can tell you that the heads are restrictive compared to other 5 liters. Also, the pistons are true flat-tops (no reliefs), so keep that in mind if you are considering a cam. I would assume that the motor mounts are in the same spots. Without further research I don't know whether the engines and heads are the same, but hopefully you'll get more responses from people who do know. Good luck.

N8Miller · Jan 12, 2006

i do not think that the engine is a HO model, but i am not certin. as stated above, the 86 heads are restrictive and the pistons arent the best. but hell, but it in, modify your 2.3 turbo for on it and rock it!

ELGUAPO91LX · Jan 13, 2006

Yes the engine is a H.O. and it is the same as the 86 gt. I read about the restrictive heads, is it possible to swap the heads from a 87 or newer 302 on there or no? I am not quite looking to do anything crazy, i just wanna be able to get about 300-400 horses out of it, possibly slap a turbo on there

Nvidia · Jan 13, 2006

Yes, you can swap on E7 heads for your E6 for a gain of about 20 HP. It's pretty easy. However, there's a catch to it that I can't remember. I think if you do that, then you can't use the 87 and up camshaft with it, or something.

I did a lot of research into this on www.foureyedpride.com, and came to conclusion that working with a 1986 motor just isn't worth it. When you look at the fact that you can't touch the camshaft unless you convert to mass air, and that you can't really work with heads unless you notch your pistons (If you don't, you'll have piston to valve clearance issues), I didn't feel it was worth modding. You'd be better off pulling an 89+ motor out of a junker stang and just dropping that in, making sure you take the computer with you.

Good luck, and like I said, www.foureyedpride.com has tons of information when it comes to any type of mustang part between 1979 and 1986.

I have a feeling that I just spewed a ton of BS that isn't true, but hey, I'm a little tired right now. Please feel free to correct me if anything I said was wrong.

86bluecobra · Jan 13, 2006

i would say get a newer 5.0L engine or take that 86 and throw a economical 331 stroker rotating assemble in it and now you have no worry's about valve to piston clearence odds are it needs a freshening up before you put it in your stang. then you can get a nice set of e-7's or aftermarket heads if your budget allows it. those e-7 heads are not exclusive to mustangs they are on a lot of 302 equiped fords so they are cheap to pick up.

MrKwik · Jan 13, 2006

Personally, I would keep the 2.3T in there before I would swap to the 86 motor. Problem with the 86 flat tops and E7 heads is that your valve clearance wont allow for extra cam lift. Now there are plenty of guys running the stock HO cam so its not like you have to change it. The intake on a 86 is non-HO and has a smaller throttle body than the later ones as well. Theres probably more Im forgetting but IMO, you would be money ahead to just use the engine swap money for a nice intercooler and crank up the boost. A decent 2.3T should be able to run down a stockish 5.0 pretty easy. It should also handle better since its a little more balanced.

rd · Jan 13, 2006

I have heard both yes and no on swapping heads on the 86 motor. It is because the 86 heads apparently had the valves higer in the head, and no valve reliefs were put in the pistons. I guess if you were going to build it, it would not matter, just change pistons or notch them. Some have used E7's with no prob, I hear.

I was interested in buying the turbo car, from your post in 2.3, but I have not convinced myself to drive to OH from SC in January with a trailer. It sounds exactly like what I want for my next project.

SmockDoiley · Jan 13, 2006

Jesus people, this isnt rocket science. Besides the heads and no relief pistons, its the same friggin motor. Swap the heads, swap the cam, play with yourself, its all good. Its a roller cam engine, your fine. The heads dont flow as well, but just change them. As far as no valve reliefs, its not an issue if you run Trickflow heads. And anyone who doubts me, your wrong, I specifically asked a trickflow rep if their 2.02 valve heads would work on a non relief piston 86 engine, and he said yes. I dont know what you are talking about with the cam problem, but I swapped in an E303 into an 86 block with stock heads and used 1.6 rollers, carbed setup, and exhaust and I ran 13.8s all day long. Also, its a good bottom end which uses forged pistons and supposedly a forged crank. If you need reliefs, just flycut em. Other than that, its not a bad engine, and those heads with a good exhaust pulled pretty hard.

Nvidia · Jan 14, 2006

When you mess with the cam, it can screw with the vacuum signal, and cause huge surging idle issues with a speed density car. If you need further proof, please go to www.foureyedpride.com, go to search, type in "cam", and read all the threads about people either looking for speed-density friendly cams or complaining about how they can't swap the cam without huge idle issues.

SmockDoiley · Jan 14, 2006

I wasnt talking about speed density, mine was carb(read). We dont even know what he is going to use because hes just talking about long block stuff and its coming from a Lincoln. He may go carbed, use new stuff, or go SD, he hasnt said.

slorob · Jan 14, 2006

you can put a set of E7's on. and do all the intake/exhaust mods without upsetting thesd. piston to valve clearance will be tight with E7's so no cam or higher ratio rockers. I bought an 86 coupe that someone replaced the original heads with E7's. if I had known it Id have moded it to the max as a sd car.

SmockDoiley · Jan 14, 2006

What are you talking about tight clearance by using the E7's?? They use the same valves and valve angle as the E6's. And yes you can use a cam.

Daggar · Jan 14, 2006

SmockDoiley said:
What are you talking about tight clearance by using the E7's?? They use the same valves and valve angle as the E6's. And yes you can use a cam.

Yes, they use the same valve face size and valve angles but the valves are roughly 1/8th in further away from the piston face on E6 heads and have 1/8th inch shorter valve stem.

Daggar · Jan 14, 2006

SmockDoiley said:
Jesus people, this isnt rocket science. Besides the heads and no relief pistons, its the same friggin motor. Swap the heads, swap the cam, play with yourself, its all good. Its a roller cam engine, your fine. The heads dont flow as well, but just change them. As far as no valve reliefs, its not an issue if you run Trickflow heads. And anyone who doubts me, your wrong, I specifically asked a trickflow rep if their 2.02 valve heads would work on a non relief piston 86 engine, and he said yes. I dont know what you are talking about with the cam problem, but I swapped in an E303 into an 86 block with stock heads and used 1.6 rollers, carbed setup, and exhaust and I ran 13.8s all day long. Also, its a good bottom end which uses forged pistons and supposedly a forged crank. If you need reliefs, just flycut em. Other than that, its not a bad engine, and those heads with a good exhaust pulled pretty hard.

Smock is as tactful as ever but he's right. If you want to upgrade the heads, go with the TFS-TW heads. It's like they were built specifically for the 86 flat tops. The lack of valve reliefs in this case is a bonus! Compression ends up being slightly higher. The rule of thumb for these heads over an 86 bottom end is no more than 224* @ .050" dur, No less than 112* LSA. You can go up to approximately .550" lift. For a boosted application install the TFS # 31400414 dual springs. If you intend to ever run an intake mounted SC like a Kenne Bell then prepare to run a spacer and have the snout bracket modified (I wonder how I know that). The top surface of the TFS heads sit a bit higher than stock though the exhaust ports are in the stock locations.

ELGUAPO91LX · Jan 14, 2006

I still am not sure about whether i will go carb or fuel injection. What would you guys suggest? and also i might be able to get my hands on a set of gt40 heads, could those work?

Daggar · Jan 14, 2006

The gt-40s will not work without piston replacement or notching. As far as which method of induction to go with.... whatever will be easiest and cheapest for you to go. If you don't already have all the fuel injection parts, then slap a carb on there and be happy.

ELGUAPO91LX · Jan 14, 2006

I have been also considering changing the pistons to eliminate the bullcrap of the clearance issues, what are some good forged pistons that guys usually use that dont cost and arm and a leg?

And RD im selling the turbostang real cheap, if it was my next planned project I would go ahead and make the drive, its not that bad, and besides the weather is nice up here now

Daggar · Jan 14, 2006

Purchase the pistons that best fit the heads that you intend to use. Try to think in terms of combination as opposed to individual parts.

carbed87 · Jan 14, 2006

are you going to sell that turboed 2.3? id know a few people that might be interested.

'86 H.O. 302

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wild86stang

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