Guest alaskaz Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I was just wondering what others know about a 302 out of a '70 mustang? Basically, I've been planning on doing a LT1 conversion for a while now for my '73 240z, but just got a line on this 302 from a friend for almost nothing. Appearantly it runs and is more of less original. Becuase I've been researching how to do the chevy conversion, I was wondering how much more/less difficult would this one be, in addition, how hard would it be to get a manual tranny to mate up to it? Also, I was going with the LT1 so that I wouldn't have a carb, as it often rather cold up here. I'm not sure - I know that basic mods for the 302 would be fairly cheap, but I'm wondering how much of a cut in performance I'm going to get if I went with the 302? Any thoughts would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 The 302 has been done by several, some searching will turn up the threads. No more difficult necessarily, but there isn't a ready made kit like the SBC. Is it a two or four barrel? The two barrel made 210hp factory, I believe the four was rated at 250hp. I had a 70k mile two barrel from my rusted out '71 Torino. It ran very well, and was strong enough to break the old bias plys loose hitting second gear in that big car. After the Torino expired, I swapped it into my six cylinder '66 Mustang. As is, with zero mods, a two barrel and automatic, I could walk away from my friends new 92 GT (which ran 13.8's). That should be a decent performance comparison, as I would estimate the car weighed around 2500lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy 77zt Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 manual trans-80s or so mustang t5.the main problem with ford vs chevy-it was cylinder head flow.but the after market took care of this problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckelly78z Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I think the only drawback compared to a newer GT Mustang 302 is that a 70 302 has the distributor in the front (like the Chevy) while the newer 302 can be set back further in the frame for better balence. The aftermarket can certainly provide enough propulsion to make this motor everything the LT-1 can be. You could run a carbureator heating unit like some of the older cars had to prevent icing (not fun). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rswilliams Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I have a 69 mach 1 with a 351w. Same basic engine. The distributor is in the front, unlike the chevy, so it can be mounted further back. Not sure what ckelly was talking about. I have a 71 240 that I will be putting a 302 in as well. The 60's and early 70's blocks are the strongest blocks you can start with. However, the newer 84+ 302's do have some advantages. The come stock with a roller lifter cam setup, and some came stock with forged pistons. As far as transmission, a T5 is the way to go. You can use the bellhousing and trans out of any 80's to 90's 5.0 mustang. They're readily availible and cheap. There is one thing you need to watch out for though. The 70 block will need a 28oz imbalance flywheel. The 80's and above use a 50oz. most aftermarket parts and all the stock 80's+ mustangs are 50oz. You can buy a 28oz pretty easily though. A stock 60's to 70's flywheel will work, or you can buy an aftermarket flywheeel that comes with 50oz or 28.5oz weights and have it balanced. They are a great engine though. If you keep the stock lower end, put an intake, cam, carb and decent exhaust, you'll make 300+ hp, and the engine is lighter than the stock l6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8INtheZ Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 The 5.0L is small, light, cheap, easy to find, and makes decent power. Car Craft took a stock short block from a HO Mustang, used headers, a set of AFR Heads, and some ratio roller rockers and made just over 400 HP with 9.0:1 compression at like 6500 RPM. Not bad, cheap, plenty of power and even lighter with the aluminum heads. My car is almost driving, Im using a T5 manual, a HO 302, EFI and it all fits under my hood. I bought a new wiring harness for the engine for less than 500 after shipping from fordfuelinjection.com and its really nice, plug-n-play. After I get a new job I will be replacing the engine with an aluminum block/head 5.0L and a Tremec TKO/600 transmission. Its the only way to go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rswilliams Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Power and weight wise, the 302 can't be beat. The block alone weighs 60lbs less than an sbc or the stock engine. Like v8inthez said, they are cheap, and the aftermarket is great. They are reliable too. a 400hp 5.0 will do way better than a high boost turbo set up. Not to knock the l28DET guys, they're great, but way heavier than a 302 when you add turbo, intercooler, piping, exhaust ext. and you'll spend way more money, have less torque and probably be less reliable. I plan on doing a carbed 302 set up and keeping things as simple as possible. That being said, I've had a 91 turbo mr2, and a turbo Z32, I do love boost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gb20 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 So I would really like to grab a 351W out of a 69-70 mustang. Would this be as easy to find and get to 350hp as the 302 or HO 5.0? And would the trans from the 5.0 work with this engine as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 My advice is to not worry about what year/what the block came from. You can nab an 80's Ford truck 351W for cheap. Throw some 69-70 heads or GT40s on it for cheap, put a cam, intake, carb, and headers. That oughta get you close to your goal. The 351W is the same motor as the 302/5.0, except with a taller deck, and a different firing order(same as 5.0 HO). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWALTER Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Just a quick comment on using a T-5. Be careful buying a used one. There is a wide range of torque rating on WC T-5s (240-330) check the ID tag for the serial number. I'm currently building a track car ('77 280 Z) with a 400 hp 302 and a tremec TKO 500. I also race a Factory Five Challenge car (302 efi with a T-5). We do go through our share of t-5s as a group....mainly 3rd gear failures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rswilliams Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 a few other things to consider, you'll need a rear sump oil pan and pickup for the z conversion. They come on the 80's+ mustang engines. You can probably nab one from a junk yard cheap though, and you'll want to get rid of the points on the 70 engine. I've had great success with the petronix ignitor setups. As far as the t5's go, if you use one off of a 5.0 mustang you should be fine. they under rate their torque specs, I've hear of guys running stock t5's on 600+ hp blown engines with no problems. do check the tag number though, and try to get a higher rated one. Here's a link to all the specs of T5's to their tag numbers. http://www.moderndriveline.com/Technical_Bits/transmission_spec.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I think the only drawback compared to a newer GT Mustang 302 is that a 70 302 has the distributor in the front (like the Chevy) while the newer 302 can be set back further in the frame for better balence. Chevy doesn't have the distributor in the front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8INtheZ Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Yeah Im gonna use a TKO in my car too. A T5 is fine for a stock engine, but who wants a stock engine? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.