motor specs and various questions

brblx

New Member
Apr 2, 2003
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nashville
okay, i'm putting together a budget 302 to swap into my mustang.

the engine is a good-running motor from an 80k 1987 cougar. originally an EFI non-HO roller motor. i'm going to keep the bottom end together since a) i'm broke and b) it ran quite well when pulled. i'd just like to throw some new gaskets in it, and swap out a few parts to my liking.

it's going to have an 83-85 4 barrel aluminum intake, and i'm gonna rebuild a holley 600 (vac sec) for it. stock GT/HO roller cam (don't want to worry about clearance with flat top pistons), a set of stock HO shorty headers, and a duraspark distributor (with the steel gear, of course). i would like to swap the heads, but it will have to wait until a later date, becuase i don't have the cash to even pick up a stock set of e7te's or such.

does that sound like it's going to push about 200hp? basically it will be about the same as a 87-93 HO, except for carbed induction and crap heads. power will go through an AOD to a 7.5 posi rear. the rearend currently has 2.73's in it, but i will pick up some taller gears soon. i'm used old cars and 3 spees trannies, so the AOD just makes me all giddy thinking about actually having an overdrive...and being able to use 4.10 gears and still cruise comfortably. would that be a bit too steep for such a tame motor, though?

last thing- buying all the gaskets to put it back together seperately would be pricey. is there a kit i can buy that will give me everything? if i get a gasket set for an 83-85 motor, will everything work with the later block and heads?

oh yeah, and what compressio ration do those cast flat tops yield? is it higher than the HO ones, or do the heads even it out?

thanks from the ford newb...
 
i know that a complete gasket set for my 93 motor was about 90 bucks, dont skimp on the gaskets, or you will be sorry.... As for the motor, its a pretty unique setup, and it is hard to say what it will produce. But i can definitly see 210-220 bhp with that setup, maybe more, i am not familiar with some of the parts, i thought i would *try to pacify your requests =)
 
not trying to be bitchy. i've just never been a hardcore ford guy and figured _someone_ should be able to offer some words of an advice to make sure i get all the power i can without messing anything up. ;)