What route would you go?

[5.0Droptop]

I would go with A = daily driver reliability.

You have been given alot of good advice from people who know. I would read carefully and make a good decision.

Honestly if the bottom end is still solid why not just do the HCI for now and later on if the bottom end goes out you can buy a short block.

Also keep the Explorer gt40 motor swap in mind. You can find low mile explorer motors with all the gt40 parts for 500-800 throw in a cam and its a good running mtr.

 

[Aliate X]

A strong running N/A 302 is A LOT of fun, it just sounds so damn good....the sound of boost being forced through tiny heads/intake eh, it will go fast for sure, but h/c/i with the right bolt ons is so much fun man.

 

[magnj]

I'm thinking of doing the explorer swap this summer...is that gonna be impossible for someone who has less than a lot of car experience?

 

[blackened88lx]

A strong running N/A 302 is A LOT of fun, it just sounds so damn good....the sound of boost being forced through tiny heads/intake eh, it will go fast for sure, but h/c/i with the right bolt ons is so much fun man.

That's why you need the best of both worlds, healthy h/c/i, and boost being fed through that
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/70b1d55f-51b0-41c3-bde4-98c8013a21bd.htm

Now that's a beautiful sound.

 

[5.0Droptop]

I'm thinking of doing the explorer swap this summer...is that gonna be impossible for someone who has less than a lot of car experience?

Its not impossible. You have a whole group of people to fall back on right here if you need pointers and help.

 

[ras50gt]

with about $3,000-$3500 max spending limit....

Either

A.
rebuild 302($800), Throw Trickflow top-end kit($2200), finish full bolt-ons for around 3k total and have a full bolt-on h/c/i on fresh 302 with some suspension mods.
estimated 290-300rwhp

Where did you find the TrickFlow top end kit for $2200??

 

[magnj]

Its not impossible. You have a whole group of people to fall back on right here if you need pointers and help.

I might end up doing a rebuild on another mustang 5.0, either way it will be a junkyard motor that I will rebuild and do a "budget" HCI on. I would do it on the one that is in there but it is 130K miles, knocking and my DD so I don't think I could deal with that much down time, nor do I want to sink into a crap engine.

</hijack>

Do a rebuild and HCI