Is the 302 even worth building anymore

[Snorky]

Exactly, they’re small displacement v8’s. It’s too costly to make decent numbers na.

Cam or cams and a centri blower at 9-10 lbs and send it! Best bang for the buck you can get. Places all the power high up in a linear curve which takes the stress off of the connecting rods. Enjoy the hell out of it And build a short block over the next year and slap it in and TURN UP THE BOOST, SON!

 

[ttocs]

Except for me lol I need a 94 95 so I am inspection exempt. Don't know how I would get a v10 modular swap through inspection

just tell them that it is a ford motor and it is the a rare 1:1

 

[Snorky]

just tell them that it is a ford motor and it is the a rare 1:1

For all the work it will be a turd, but it will lay the smack down on the tired old 302 in it currently.

 

[95opal]

I'm probably in the minority in this opinion. But that's not even a ford anymore. That's just some other company using ford's specs for the bore size and bolt hole locations. To me that takes all the fun out of it. I kinda want to beat their chevy with a ford. That's what attracts me to the godzilla, the only thing you would do is put an aftermarket supercharger on it.



Nah that's just not a car show I would ever go to. The ones I go to are specific. For instance we have a show in my town where 1969 is the latest model accepted. You're not allowed to bring some dodge throwaway car with dolls on it lol. Then there's the mustang only shows.

It looks like you're going to some crap that idiots put together and called it a "car show".

There is a truck show I like to go to, and it never fails there's a few goofballs that think someone is actually interested in their 2024 F150 or 2022 Dodge ram. They sit there with nobody around, with all the doors and the hood open. Or the bro dozers where everybody knows all they did was waste a ton of money to hurt the truck's capabilities. But it's probably 90% cool trucks so I still like to go.

By your logic adding an aftermarket SC qouldnt be Ford either lol

 

[96blak54]

Summit racing offering there new spc blocks in ford 302 version. Supposedly more meat in all the crack proned areas so that more hp can be obtained

 

[Snorky]

By your logic adding an aftermarket SC qouldnt be Ford either lol

Nor would adding an anderson cam... or afr heads.. or a tfs intake...

 

[07GtS197]

Summit racing offering there new spc blocks in ford 302 version. Supposedly more meat in all the crack proned areas so that more hp can be obtained


View attachment 47270

A builder on corral got one of those summit blocks and checked it out. I think it wasn’t much more for a dart block so he recommended going with a dart over these. If you’re pinching pennies I’m sure they’re fine though.

 

[bennylava]

Nor would adding an anderson cam... or afr heads.. or a tfs intake...

I mean you could go with a totally pure ford build, that's certainly possible. GT40 heads, ford intake, all ford parts. Then just port everything out and get a turbo that ford put on one of their vehicles.

That's why I drew the line at the block, cause where exactly do you draw the line? If you even care and consider yourself a purist. There is a point where there's nothing Ford on the thing except for specifications. Like I said it probably won't be a popular opinion, but at that point why even say it's a Ford engine? It's got ford sized holes in it... what else is left?

 

[Terrorist 5.0]

I mean you could go with a totally pure ford build, that's certainly possible. GT40 heads, ford intake, all ford parts. Then just port everything out and get a turbo that ford put on one of their vehicles.

That's why I drew the line at the block, cause where exactly do you draw the line? If you even care and consider yourself a purist. There is a point where there's nothing Ford on the thing except for specifications. Like I said it probably won't be a popular opinion, but at that point why even say it's a Ford engine? It's got ford sized holes in it... what else is left?

An ideal 302 in a Fox/SN is a Cobra motor for me. Only thing I would replace is the cam (use the Mustang cam instead of the Thunderbird cam), and maybe swap the cylinder heads to aluminum GT40 units. You get to keep it all Ford, and still have almost 300 WHP. Shouldn’t need more than that.

Think about it. Let’s take my former 95 GT 5 speed, and drop this aforementioned motor in. Now add 3.55’s. You can have a car just under 3100 pounds, with almost 300 WHP, that you can wind out to 6000 RPM (and still be making some power, unlike an E7 headed 5.0). The 3.55’s take care of the rest. You will have a car that is tons of fun, won’t immediately get you in trouble, but still be more than respectable on the street while still having factory like reliability.

I think when people lower their expectations to be more realistic, the 302 will regain popularity. Then again though, this is assuming you do the work yourself. If a shop is doing it, forget it…

Unless you have a ton of cash lying around…

One can dream.

The main point is, if you need a new block, you shouldn’t be doing what you are doing to a 302. Let them stay in their zone. There are better ways to make power now.

 

[I_LIKE_TURTLEZ]

An ideal 302 in a Fox/SN is a Cobra motor for me. Only thing I would replace is the cam (use the Mustang cam instead of the Thunderbird cam), and maybe swap the cylinder heads to aluminum GT40 units. You get to keep it all Ford, and still have almost 300 WHP. Shouldn’t need more than that.

Think about it. Let’s take my former 95 GT 5 speed, and drop this aforementioned motor in. Now add 3.55’s. You can have a car just under 3100 pounds, with almost 300 WHP, that you can wind out to 6000 RPM (and still be making some power, unlike an E7 headed 5.0). The 3.55’s take care of the rest. You will have a car that is tons of fun, won’t immediately get you in trouble, but still be more than respectable on the street while still having factory like reliability.

I think when people lower their expectations to be more realistic, the 302 will regain popularity. Then again though, this is assuming you do the work yourself. If a shop is doing it, forget it…

Unless you have a ton of cash lying around…

One can dream.

The main point is, if you need a new block, you shouldn’t be doing what you are doing to a 302. Let them stay in their zone. There are better ways to make power now.

Why not just start with a 4.6L 4v engine? 300rwhp+ with bolt-ons, triple the power potential, sound the best, strongest block to date, highly reliable etc etc.

Why would anyone lower their expectation bar that much when every street warrior is pushing 450rwhp+ these days; every road has a Hemi or LS that would eat your lunch and take your lunch money.
Hell.. most 4 cylinders are faster now.


Had a buddy that bought a foxbody that had a 302 that was stroked out(331ci I would assume).. healthy cam, gears, GT40 all the usual fox upgrades. It was barely faster than my bolt-on 02 GT at the time, if at all, his engine block split at the mains within 3 months.

I just don't understand the purist love for those 302 Windsor I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Terrorist 5.0]

Why not just start with a 4.6L 4v engine? 300rwhp+ with bolt-ons, triple the power potential, sound the best, strongest block to date, highly reliable etc etc.

Why would anyone lower their expectation bar that much when every street warrior is pushing 450rwhp+ these days; every road has a Hemi or LS that would eat your lunch and take your lunch money.
Hell.. most 4 cylinders are faster now.


Had a buddy that bought a foxbody that had a 302 that was stroked out(331ci I would assume).. healthy cam, gears, GT40 all the usual fox upgrades. It was barely faster than my bolt-on 02 GT at the time, if at all, his engine block split at the mains within 3 months.

I just don't understand the purist love for those 302 Windsor I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Your response is exactly what I am trying to say! I could get a 4V, but if you have a 94-95, you aren’t going to switch to a mod motor to get that power are you? Like you said, purist style. I’m about it.

I would bet money that the mains on your buddies Fox would have been ok if it wasn’t stroked, tune was more on point, and kept at 6K and under. Stroking is what really stresses these blocks out it seems. Not enough meat.

To me at least, I don’t need to win any races. As long as my Stang keeps me happy, the new Camry’s and Accord’s can sail right on by. Doesn’t matter to me.

 

[Musturd]

For the average person a heads cam intake 302 with 15 psi thrown at it on e85 is more then enough . If you want more imo there’s two options worth looking at for stock engines 351w and coyote

 

[I_LIKE_TURTLEZ]

Your response is exactly what I am trying to say! I could get a 4V, but if you have a 94-95, you aren’t going to switch to a mod motor to get that power are you? Like you said, purist style. I’m about it.

I would bet money that the mains on your buddies Fox would have been ok if it wasn’t stroked, tune was more on point, and kept at 6K and under. Stroking is what really stresses these blocks out it seems. Not enough meat.

To me at least, I don’t need to win any races. As long as my Stang keeps me happy, the new Camry’s and Accord’s can sail right on by. Doesn’t matter to me.

Exactly, enjoy something for what it is. Money can make anything faster, it can buy you something already fast.. it's honestly played out.
No one is impressed by your stock 500hp car that basically drives on auto pilot, sorry but it's boring.

I don't care if someone's Coyote that costs 4x as much money puts 2 lengths on me, my car sounds infinitely better losing and the person in the Camry behind us knows it.



So is the 302 worth building in 2025? Like most things in life, the answer is it depends on what the person is looking for.

 

[duh09]

For the average person a heads cam intake 302 with 15 psi thrown at it on e85 is more then enough . If you want more imo there’s two options worth looking at for stock engines 351w and coyote

Sorry E85 wasn’t around in 1994 so Ford didn’t approve it so that means it’s not really 302 power according to these weirdos.

 

[Musturd]

Sorry E85 wasn’t around in 1994 so Ford didn’t approve it so that means it’s not really 302 power according to these weirdos.

lol can run it on pump garbage too . I just don’t even bother trying to put power down on pump gas anymore . My car was a blast with the heads cam intake and d1sc on pump gas but it was way better on e85 like 150whp better ‍

 

[Snorky]

lol can run it on pump garbage too . I just don’t even bother trying to put power down on pump gas anymore . My car was a blast with the heads cam intake and d1sc on pump gas but it was way better on e85 like 150whp better ‍

Quite jealous of you and your e85 at the pump

 

[Musturd]

Quite jealous of you and your e85 at the pump

I’ve only got a couple pumps a few hours away . I just always keep lots in stock around . I can make it down there on a tank of e85 no problem . The nice 1/4 mile track is down there too