whats your STREET engine choice?

[89stangWhiz]

Hi all. I am posting this to find out some good recommendations for an ideal engine. I want my car to stay on the street, but get a ton of power! But lets say she stays a daily driver. How high can I go before its too much! What are you guys happy with?
I have looked at all different engines, from tuned 302's to 351's and all the way up to a 514. What do you have and what do you recommend?

 

[darthcual]

Nothing beats a good ole 302 bang for the buck. JMHO.

 

[srothfuss]

A freshly rebuilt 302 with some Heads / Intake and Cam.. You can't beat that for durability and reliability.

If you plan to DD your car, I'd recommend staying N/A or a SMALL blower with a good tune.

 

[Lyncher]

...ok well whats your budget and what do you consider "a ton" of power lol...

 

[p.exeter_bleu]

306 with nitrous. Heads, cam, intake, i'm looking to go this way.

 

[IntenseBlue]

turbo 331

 

[luckythirteen13]

im re-assembling my 302, blew a head gasket, dyno tuner guarantied me min of 425hp to the wheels. im upping the boost about 1-2psi with a larger intake (3" to 4") and hope to make 450rwhp. it will be my daily driver. my car topped out at 359rwhp at 4500rpm before the gasket problem because of lack of fuel. this will be my daily driver. although id love a turbo charged 408 i think anything over 650rwhp is about all id run on the street as a daily driver.

 

[mattkimsey]

If you're going to be rolling around on street tires...I'd say a h/c/i package. It'll probably be more than enough to give you traction problems. It should be as reliable as stock, get decent gas mileage, and be fun! Oh, and it also wont cost you a bundle...which is fun.

 

[mattkimsey]

MM&FF built a mid-12 second street car a couple years ago...they used ported stock heads, trick flow intake, and a .510-inch lift cam. This was on drag radials and with an auto!

 

[Dbeck002]

I just finished assembling my Heads/Cam combo and its very fun. The car is very nimble and accelerates instantly.

I dyno'd it at 302 RWHP and 331 RWTQ. The HP is low because my intake is choking my heads. When i get the holley systemax and the PRO-M 80mm mass air meter my shop gaurantees ill see 320 RWHP.

AFR165s
Trickflow cam
1.6 roller rockers
holley systemax intake instead of the cobra

320 RWHP, this combo will beat 95% of cars on the street.



As for reliability? I drive 70 miles a day with it, 5.0s are forgiving and beg for mods.

 

[p.exeter_bleu]

yea im thinking, afr165s, supporting maf and t-body, custom cam, holley systemax intake, and a nitrous kit(any suggestions, my friend has a venom and loves it)??

 

[CoupedUp]

A 260 with AFR 225's ... an E cam with a TF bread box and 19# injectors should be about right ...

 

[gyjunior50]

392 Stroker motor !!!!

392 stroker motor with decent heads, x-303 cam retarded 4 degree 1.6 roller rockers GT-40 upper and lower intake 75mm throtle body 80 mm mass air meter cold air intake underdrive pulleys msd ignition. Brother thats all you need to rule the street or strip. Thats all motor 500 to 600 horse, reliable and hella fast!!!! Also remember that no mater what the horses if you cant hook up whats the point. Suspension very very important. I love useing lift bars.

 

[9 Deuce GT]

Or just build a nice 351w setup. Some AFR 185's, FTI cam, TFS intake, call it a day.

 

[5spd GT]

A nice h/c/i package should give you a nice setup for what you want. If you have a nice bottomend (302/306) you might add a little shot to give you an extra kick when you want it

I have gotten 24mpg with my h/c/i package and drive it with 160k on the ticker everyday, multiple times a day...

 

[bubba-dough]

Go with a stroker motor - its free horsepower from a 302. I recently went through this process and found it to be just slightly higher in price to go with a stroker. Anyway you go, you will need heads, cam, intake, exhaust and the like. Or depending on your budget go with a 351 based stroker

 

[5spd GT]

bubbadough - To do a stroker cost more. You have to buy a new rotating assembly (rather than reusing 302 parts), and you need a new flywheel and balancer (different imbalance) and more machining cost and a bit less reliability. More average piston speed is present. More power though. The "higher flowing" intakes cost more as well if you want to take advantage of the stroker. higher flowing heads cost more as well on average.

More power equals more money.

 

[big blue]

331 Stroker Kit
185 AFR Heads(if NA) 205 AFR (if u use FI)
e-303 cam
GT-40 intake or Edlebrock RPMII if on budget
What the heck go ahead and thow a supercharger on it. Vortech? Paxton?

 

[bubba-dough]

5spd GT - Read the guys original post. He wants tons of power and has already looked at strokers. So toss a 302 out the door. Cost difference is minimum, I know I just built my 347 from CHP, it was only a few hundred dollars more from say a 306 when figuring that you will need new heads and intake and the like whichever way you go. Taking into consideration this guy wants more power, why would someone be rebuilding a 302 back to a 302 if they were asking for an "ideal engine" "with tons of power". No need for a new flywheel if you get a stock 50 oz. balance. Machine work is only .030 (which a basic 306 would need anyway) and the bottom of the cylinders notched.

 

[srothfuss]

5spd GT - Read the guys original post. He wants tons of power and has already looked at strokers. So toss a 302 out the door. Cost difference is minimum, I know I just built my 347 from CHP, it was only a few hundred dollars more from say a 306 when figuring that you will need new heads and intake and the like whichever way you go. Taking into consideration this guy wants more power, why would someone be rebuilding a 302 back to a 302 if they were asking for an "ideal engine" "with tons of power". No need for a new flywheel if you get a stock 50 oz. balance. Machine work is only .030 (which a basic 306 would need anyway) and the bottom of the cylinders notched.

The issue of displacement will be up to him. I didn't consider swaps to 351's or strokers because of the total cost to build a street car. Rember a STREET motor should run for 100,000 miles without a single problem. No one is saying that he couldn't do it, I am just trying to keep the bills down.

Rebuilding the bottom end and putting a H/C/I will result in a car that is very fun to drive and will not have issues of blowing Head Gaskets, Oil Pan gaskets, Etc... A motor like this commonly hits the 300HP mark and is very mild mannored.