Ideal 302 Roller Block Year?

68conv4sp

New Member
Oct 24, 2005
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Please correct me if I'm wrong. I think that the 89 5.0 roller may be an excellent platform because it has the roller cam, forged pistons, and basic EFI. Is there a better year block/engine to start a 302 or 331 build?
 
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Hmm, another question: What are the external tell tale signs that a motor has been rebuilt? i don't want to get it and open it up to find that it has been everbored 30 or 40 thousandths.
 
The roller blocks are all the same from 87 to 2001. The rods were revised in 91 or so and aren't quite as strong as the 68-90's (C8OE rods) I've personally seen two 90's motors with broken rods, rods not the bolts. Forged pistons are not a requirement for a perfomance build. And chances are any blocks you find now after 10-20 years will need a rebuild. Factory reman motors usually have a metal tag riveted to the outside that lists the overbore and crank undersize
 
I may be wrong but I thought they are all the same from 85-93, all I know is every 5.0 I have seen opened up and late 5.8,s show very little cylinder wear my 94 5.8 block came from a van with over 200k on the clock and I could have just honed it. I'm thinking late 80's mid 90's blocks must have a higher nickel content or something even chevy's in those years have almost no cylinder wear BUT maybe its because most of those cars came equipped with OD trannies?
 
The 85 blocks have 4 pounds less iron in em than the 86-up blocks.The extra iron was added to the decks and bore bottoms to strengthen these areas. The lesser wear is due to the switch to low tension ring assemblies. Ford blocks always were harder in the bores than Chevy blocks. Just a better iron alloy used.