bigray327

A friend of mine gave me a 302 engine. It's fuel injected, and kinda dirty, but it'll clean up nice. I don't know how old it is, but it doesn't appear to have very many miles on it. Everything is there except the valve covers, which are easy to pick up.

I thought about boring and stroking it, and putting it in my 07 GT, but to the best of my understanding, making the electronics play nice would be a big PITA. I know it's been done in some of the magazines and by a few people online, but I'd probably have to pay a speed shop to do the entire thing. I only have a journeyman level of knowledge when it comes to engine swaps, so I'm looking for opinions on what to do.

Options:
1. Put it in my 07 GT. Major, major project in time and money.
2. Clean it, reassemble it, and learn from the process, then sell it for a thousand bucks or so.
3. Trade everything for some forged internals that will work well with my 3v engine.

Is #3 even a realistic option?

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Bullitt995

Do option 2 and use the money for forged internals for the 07.

69_gt500

IMO, I wouldnt put an engine thats probably 10+ years old into a brand new car that already has an engine that can probably out perform it. I would hang onto the 302, but find another car/project to put it in.

281GT

The old style Ford small block was a great motor in it's day however...
Your existing OHC 3V engine is much more technically advanced than any 2V pushrod engine. You'd be going backwards. There's a reason that pushrod engines are being phased out. Overhead cam engines are much more efficient due to a much lighter and simpler valve train. (much less internal friction) The current 3V engine also has variable cam timing which if you'll do some research you will find is a very good thing to have.
Also the old 302 has a very short connecting rod which reduces torque output and places a higher than necessary side loading of the pistons. I've taken apart quite a few high mileage Ford small blocks that had egg shaped bores because of this.
You'd also be replacing an all aluminum engine with an all cast iron engine. While your 3V engine is externally larger, it's still lighter than the old cast iron 302.
It really makes no sense to replace your modern 3V with an engine that was designed over 40 years ago.
With that said the 302 would work well in another project car, maybe a street rod or something else. Or as you suggested you might be able to sell it and put the cash towards your 3V engine.

elcaminoguy

I'd go option 2 as well. It makes more sense.

Not to bring up a "chebby" in a Mustang forum but my 74 El Camino has a 72 350 truck block in it right now. That's a stand in till I rebuild the original 400 that it came with. After that the 350 will probably get rebuilt and put into a project Camaro or a runaround truck of some type. Would I put an LS2 in there if I could afford it, sure. Would I take the 350 and stick it in a 2002 SS, no freakin' way.

Anyway, I'd never dream of putting a much older engine design into a newer car unless it was a drag only thing.

70MACH1OWNER

Interesting questions you pose. I find it hard to offer an opinion to what you should do since you gave us know idea what you want to do with you car. Do you want to do nitrous, supercharger, or stay naturally aspirated. Without an answer to these questions I would find it hard to offer an opinion. If you plan to stay N.A. then don't waste you money doing forged internals. Spend you money on cosmetic mods. BTW, the older 302 would not be a good match for our cars. You would spend way more money making it work than it would ever be worth. Maybe that's why your friend gave it away.
Scott

karman

Let's call this option #4.
I vote for #4.

tom281

Agree with #4 LOL........

If the motor is in good running order, pickup an old Fox shell for cheap, and drop it in there.

You'd be going completely backwards by even thinking about putting it into a newer car.

Keystone

I'd love for someone to give me a 302 to swap in. But I'd swap it into my Ranger, not the Mustang.

bob

Dang, too bad you don't live in Va, I got a 3.4 SHO V6 I'd trade ya for that 302.

67Cobra

Some 302s are better than others, but if it was given to you it's probably worth about what you paid for it. The 5.0 HO versions from the 87 -92 Mustangs are worth rebuilding, but most of the others are boat achors.

bigray327

That's a good point. As you can tell from my sig, my 07 is supercharged. I had planned to beef up the 3v internals and then add an intercooler, and pretty much stop there, shooting for 460 rwhp or so.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. While I'd love to do option 4, I don't have the time for another big project. I think I'm gonna sell it and help fund my forged internals... or maybe some drag radials.

281GT

Drag radials. All the power isn't doing you any good if you can't get it to hook.

bob

That has more to do with control system rather than the engine itself, 87-93 are mass air engines, 86 was speed density, IIRC 85 on down is all carb.

If your gonna do a build dont worry about the heads, if your gonna do a build on the skinny, look for V8 explorer heads, or heads off of a lightning. They are the best small block heads Ford has ever utilized on a production engine (GT40 and GT40p respectively). GT40 heads are the most versitile, but the GT40p have slightly better power building features in a pure stock application, the downside is the spark plug angle either requiring specific headers or some experimentation with shorty plugs and a hammer.

If your open to aftermarket heads then the sky's the limit. Again if your want a durable build that doesn't require exotic components and $$, keep the engine speed at or under 6k, start getting above that and the materials and procedures required for a long lived motor start adding up.

The one area no mater what your building that I'd spend the dough on would be the valvetrain, roller or hydraulic roller would be advisable and this isn't do to the power potential of the parts, but rather the change that has occurred in oils due to EPA regs. Alot of the high pressure lubricants that were utilized in older oils (due to engine design at the time) have been eliminated and they are hell on a flat tappet valvetrain.

Fords4Ever

I agree that replacing a new 4.6 3V with an old 302 seems like a bad idea but I wouldn't say pushrods are being phased out. Aren't the next gen Mustang V8's supposed to be OHV again?

bob

I dunno about simpler, but OHC valvetrains usually have less mass between the cam and the valve compared to an OHV engine. OHV engines for all thier simplicity are really hard on the valvetrain. OHC engines also tend to be multivalve engines which further allows them to utilize more aggressive cams and/or higher RPM limits. Also things like VVT are easier to implement. The price for all this tends to be size and weight in the OHC engine vs. OHV engine (a fact LSx fan bois love to trumpet).

Bullitt995

Are you on drugs? They're more efficient because they less friction through rotating parts. And also less total rotating mass. And OHC engines are definatly not simpler lol. I'm seriously starting to doubt that you've ever held a torque wrench in your hand.

281GT

Bullitt995, please refrain from the personal attacks. You've done this in the past with myself and others and I am asking you to stop.

Bullitt995

Please refrain from posting gross misinformation like that ever again. Thanks.