- Hey guys, its been a while since I have been around mustangs and figured you guys were the best ones to ask. I am planning on replacing the current drive train in my sand rail (2275cc VW, 002 VW trans) with a 302 this summer. Heres the catch, I want to use most of the parts I have sitting in my garage to do it. Currently my VW is making around 200 hp and 170 lbs/ft of torque. In order to offset the added ~400 lbs, I want to make sure the 302 has plenty power. While duning, I seem to use alot of lower RPMs in the small tight stuff so torque is important. So far the VW has been adequate, but more is always better right? When we hit the bigger hills or drags I want to be able to run with some of the turbo honda/subaru cars making around 350-400 hp. I plan to try and keep the budget on this as low as I can (within reason), since I will be using parts I already have.
Goals:
- 300 hp/ 300 ft/lbs of torque N/A
- 400 hp on Nitrous (100 shot)
- use existing parts
- keep the budget low (nothing set in stone yet, but something to keep mind)
- The sand rail is driven 4-6 times a year in the dunes, and is sometimes driven around town but not often (its street legal)
- 68 302 head (already rebuilt but unported and they still have the stock size valves)
- Edelbrock Performer 289 intake manifold
- Holley Street Dominator intake manifold (divided single plane)
- Holley 600 cfm vaccume secondaries carb
- Autolite 4 bbl carb (not sure on the cfm, it came on the Performer manifold IIRC)
- NOS Nitrous kit for a 87-93 5.0 mustang (p/n 05115)
I will have to source out a short block so id like some recommendations on whats the best and most cost effective way to do it. Is a full bottom end rebuild neccessary? Could I just replace the bearings and rings? What about a cam? what would be a good combination with the heads and intakes listed? I know the Street Dominator manifold is kinda on the rare side nowadays so Id like as much insight on it as I can get. The nitrous kit I have has been sitting for around 10 years, should I replace the solenoids? aside from the plate, what would I need to convert that kit to run on a carb? Thanks in advance guys!