Old 302 vs New 302

70mustanguy

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Jul 14, 2010

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#1

• Dec 30, 2010

• #1

I was able to find a deal on a fresh rebuilt 302 engine and has been slightly modfield. Guy says The engine is a 96 model year out of a pickup. I have seen much debate over which block is better as saying the old blocks are stronger but the newer ones have a roller cam? I am not the most knowledgable about the subject and can't seem to find a straight answer. But those two factors of stronger block vs roller cam seem to be the debated subject between the two engines. I'm just curious on which way to go? Should I rebuild my old 302 block or go with the newer 302 engine? So I'm looking for sugestions on which year is better. Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question.

 

woodsnake

15 Year Member

Jan 16, 2007

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Dec 30, 2010

#2

• Dec 30, 2010

• #2

Whether or not it's a good deal will dependon what you want out of the car, and what all comes with the newer motor.Are you planning on using fuel injection, or a carburetor? The water pump outlet could be on the wrong side, plus the other accesories may not line up properly. The roller cam feature is nice, but not necessarily when you balance it against the cost to convert everything over. However, if you are not looking to run a .600 inch cam, and don't need a 5.34 geared rear end, (OK, those may be extreme examples, but...) then you might as well stay with the block you have, as everything else lines up perfectly.
There is more to it than just the cost of buying the motor, is all I'm saying...

 

Realmongo

I prefer to be called "Evil Genius"

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Dec 30, 2010

#3

• Dec 30, 2010

• #3

As long as you don't want to use mechanical clutch linkage, that 302 block is about the best it gets. It has a 1 piece rear main seal, roller lifters, siamesed cylinders at their bottoms and higher QC measures. Also I think about 1991 or 1993 they went deeper into the block for the main studs.

 

jonfor

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Apr 20, 2009

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Dec 30, 2010

#4

• Dec 30, 2010

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my worthless opinion on a street car is to stick with a roller cam (due to my own bad luck in recent years with flat-tappets). Having said that it seems like a roller cam conversion is fairly simple and cheap, so I agree with keeping what you have for convenience sake. Some other advantages to a new engine is better QC, less tension on the rings, and a less traumatic firing order for the shortblock. All those things seem to be more about long term reliability and less about performance in a weekend warrior? My ford friends say the heads breathe better too?

 

2

2+2GT

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Apr 25, 2009

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Dec 30, 2010

#5

• Dec 30, 2010

• #5

Realmongo said:

As long as you don't want to use mechanical clutch linkage, that 302 block is about the best it gets.

Click to expand...

There is an inexpensive bracket that makes this a non-issue.

jonfor said:

my worthless opinion on a street car is to stick with a roller cam (due to my own bad luck in recent years with flat-tappets).

Click to expand...

Flat cams are merely a matter of proper chemistry. Neighbor of mine had a "reputable" speed shop install 3 cams in a new engine before anyone figured out there was no zinc in the oil.

 

P

Pony66

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#6

• Dec 30, 2010

• #6

I thought they stopped making the 5.0 in 1995 and came out with the 4.6 in 1996?
I like the new engines and the older. Has you 70 302 been rebuilt? I built a 70 302 block and put my 66 289 heads and externals on it. Its basically a little stroker. It is great for my budget.

Those late model engines do look cool in a classic engine bay.

 

69gmachine

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Dec 2, 2004

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Dec 30, 2010

#7

• Dec 30, 2010

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If the old blocks are stronger it would be marginal at best (except of course a real Boss 302 block). The roller cam and one piece rear main seal make the newer block the hands down winner IMO. You can put the old style front dress on if you want to make it appear original.

The 5.0 continued to be available in the truck line past 2000.

 

Realmongo

I prefer to be called "Evil Genius"

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#8

• Dec 30, 2010

• #8

69gmachine said:

If the old blocks are stronger it would be marginal at best (except of course a real Boss 302 block). The roller cam and one piece rear main seal make the newer block the hands down winner IMO. You can put the old style front dress on if you want to make it appear original.

The 5.0 continued to be available in the truck line past 2000.

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And most of those truck (Explorer) 5.0 engines had either GT40 or GTP40 cast iron heads as standard equipment. Their weak point was the high-torque truck camshaft which is an easy swap!

 

M

merkurmadness

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#9

• Dec 30, 2010

• #9

you can get retrofit roller lifters for the early blocks if you need that much lift to get the power you want.

 

70mustanguy

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#10

• Dec 30, 2010

• #10

Thanks for the information. But it truns out when I went to go look at the engine today, the vin indicated that it was a 79 and not a 96 block. I also found out it didn't have gt40 heads which was mentioned in the ads which made me a little dissapointed. I should mention the price of the engine was pretty cheap for how dressed up it was but atlas found out it was to good to be true. He lowered his price after mentioning to him and it still was a good deal to some of the other ads I have seen. Didn't seem he tried to scam me, just not the most knowledgeable about the subject after asking him some questions about what was done on the engine.


As some may asked and I should of mentioned. The deal was good enough that it was cheaper to buy this engine then to rebuild mine which made it attractive to me in the first place.

But as said by some others, I can add the roller cam on the older block. I beleave this is a costly project to do however.

 

Realmongo

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Dec 31, 2010

#11

• Dec 31, 2010

• #11

Those '79-'84 blocks are junk. Ford tried to lighten them up too much which made them weak, the QC was terrible, and resulted in a lot of core shift. The heads are junk too. Your best 302 bet is an early classic 302 block or an 87 up 5.0 roller block with the E7TE, GT40, or GTP40 heads.