How would you build a semi-budget carbed 302 to put in a sub 2,500 pound chassis?
Recently, I acquired a $50 roller 302 long block from an 94 F-150 and that will be my starting point.
5.0 heart transplant
- Thread starter thetrex
- Start date
How would you build a semi-budget carbed 302 to put in a sub 2,500 pound chassis?
Recently, I acquired a $50 roller 302 long block from an 94 F-150 and that will be my starting point.
Id leave that car alone! Or rebuild back to stock. The following with those cars is phenomenal! You'd get more from the car keeping it original.
Anyhow, if the 302 is a good engine, set the car up for it and move forward. When its running great....then build the engine.
Anyhow, if the 302 is a good engine, set the car up for it and move forward. When its running great....then build the engine.
I don't see the logic in leaving it alone. Too many times do I see guys drop Chevy engines in old school Ford street rods and even in our newer mustangs so why not drop a strong 302 in a Nissan?!?! [emoji23]
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lutter94
Well-Known Member
I've seen some LS swapped Datsuns that people drool over. No reason not to throw a 302W at one! Looking forward to this build.
A few reasons actually. Stock for stock literally double the power, more efficient, lighter, and more technologically advanced. They are more money up front, but not enough to make a huge difference in terms of this swap.
g36 monkey
Post Whore
He did get the motor for $50. Even if he scored an LS for a grand, that's literally 20 times the cost, and I don't see them going for that very often.
Though, I would like an LS swap too.
Just do some rust prevention. You can feel it rusting in the pictures lol.
Excited for this build.
95opal
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$50 302 block
Set of used heads
Used Edlebrock performer carb intake
Holley 650
Used comp cam
Dont forget to change the dizzy gear and correct dizzy.
Post updates along the way
Set of used heads
Used Edlebrock performer carb intake
Holley 650
Used comp cam
Dont forget to change the dizzy gear and correct dizzy.
Post updates along the way
07GtS197
Well-Known Member
All 86+ 302s are roller acceptable blocks but the crown vic and truck 302s used flat tappet cams so you will need to convert it if you want to use a roller cam. I have read that some roller blocks that are already set up were installed in f150s but thats hearsay so Id check before swapping cams. The water pump is a reverse rotation due to the belt drive setup.
Thats going to be one badass ride!
Thats going to be one badass ride!
chris91
Well-Known Member
How's the underneath? The old Z cars like to rust from the bottom up.
I would love to shove an LS in this car, but the initial cost is holding me back. And then I'd have to source a T-56 and those are still selling for a pretty penny.
Honestly, its not too bad for 70's Japanese metal. It needs a floor pan patch in the drivers side and part of a frame rail/patch in the passenger side. Most of the Oklahoma cars I looked at all needed floors to some extent.
This isn't true. Non-HO does not mean it's not roller. IIRC any factory EFI 302 is roller, HO or not. The cam decides HO/non and firing order.
On the project,
I would suggest NOT hacking the car up. The 240Z is a iconic Nissan and getting very hard to find, especially rust free and not hacked up. They are commanding some decent money. The engines in them don't have a cross flow head which greatly hinders HP, but if you want to mod it, I would stay with a Nissan power plant, maybe a turbo I6??
It would be like LS swapping a Terminator. That's my .02 anyway!!
07GtS197
Well-Known Member
There was only one flat tappet HO and it was in the 85 Mark 7 or TB. All of the 5.0s used in the trucks, ltd crown vics and its mercury and lincoln counterparts used the LoPo 5.0 with flat tappet cams.
All 302's in all the applications I listed and maybe the mustang were flat tappet until the 86 model year but the LoPo cars were still flat tappet but could come with the hardware to run a roller cam.
I used to own an 85 ltd crown vic and it had a LoPo 5.0 with a flat tappet cam. My buddy has an 87 grand marquis with a LoPo 5.0 with a flat tappet cam.
I know birds/trucks/vics etc, were a mix in the mid 80's, during the switch, of flat/rollers until they were all rollers, but Mustangs had roller from 85+, not 86. A buddy recently sold a 86 5.0 bird, non-ho, but it was a roller. Years of being on FEP forums is where my knowledge comes from. What are you referring to LoPo??? Never heard that term.
07GtS197
Well-Known Member
Even into the 90s they were all mixed in non mustang applications that were non HO. Some trucks got roller blocks but still needed to be tapped for the taller lifter bores and spider. In mid 85 Ford intergraded roller blocks but 86 was the first year in which Ford completely swapped over, with the 302 anyway. I have firsthand experience with this. And to be clear my 85 was a cfi and a non rollerz
LoPo is another name for the non ho 302.
