Progress Thread Need Opinions On 302 Upgrades

Those are good heads. A custom ground cam is not that much more than an off the shelf so it's worth looking into. I have not heard of anyone unhappy with their custom cam.

X2 heads and a custom cam. Check with FlowTechInductions.com,Bullet cams,or a few others(Brian Friedentag,Buddy Rawls,etc). You can buy the heads already setup to the cam profile if you use Ed(owner of flowtechinductions.com). I'd actually recommend some tfs heads over the AFR 165's but the AFR heads are a solid choice.

Johhny J said:

the 302 is in a 67 mustang




Ive been reading a bunch about trickflow vs afr, i cant figure out which ones are better. So far ive come to the conclusion that both are just really good heads. I did hear that with a lot of the trickflow products. they all have to be matched. Heads, pistons, rods all have to be trickflow brand.

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Not true. There is a lot of misinformation out there. TFS doesn't help with some of their advertising etc. In some instances a specific piston may be needed because of their brand specific valve angles. This is only truly needed in specific situations. The reason i recommend tfs over AFR 165's is the bigger valves and potential for growth. There is more material to work with if ever needed. But if you just want a 300-375 hp motor and never truly intend to go above that(n/a application) then either the 170cc tfs head or AFR 165 are fairly equal. Some have made more power with either product but have truly dialed in the combination of parts needed/tuning etc.

For a typical 302 build with stock "styled" pistons you just need to be mindful of cam timing events. The avg owner can run a lot of "typical" roller cams. Most clear in the PTV (piston to valve) clearances. A custom cam can actually be designed with significantly more lift for example than the avg off the shelf cam profile. It's all about when those events happen. Obviously you want the timing events to be correct when the piston is at the top of the cylinder(TDC). That is when bad stuff can happen. The valve can lift a lot when the piston is traveling up and down. Also valve springs must be matched to the cam profile. You don't want soft springs that can cause valve float etc.

The cam designer can dial in all these considerations for max benefits. You want to be able to fill the cylinders with the maximum amount of air as possible. A lower duration/high lift cam is a great option with mild manners,greater efficiency and in return more power. You'll need to tell them exactly what parts you are using,intended usage of car(drag,street,some of each,etc),trans type,rear gear ratio,type and sizing of headers/exhaust. Typical OTS cams run around 2-300$. A custom will run around 350-400$ depending on what material they make the blank out of and the manufacturer they use.