Best Mods for a Ford 302...

[baldboy]

Just for curiosity's sake my girlfriend has asked me to get some opinions about what she can do to make her already fast Mustang even faster...

I know her motor is a 302 with an RV cam. Other than that all I can tell you right now is that it has a Holley Carb (No idea what size etc..) with an Edelbrock Intake manifold and a set of headers.

This car already hauls but she wants more muscle (from the car)....

What can we do with it to see the biggest power gains and still keep it streetable?

Thanks...

 

[fsusteve]

There's some ponies hiding in those heads, take them to a machine shop for clearance.

 

[Mace]

Heads have a lot of potential. Tons actually.

Roller cam helps.

lots of little things that add up quickly

Compression ratio?

 

[Gappy]

I have had 2 mustangs with 302's but both were EFI, I have done a ton of reading on these cars. First recommendation, spend $15 on a subscription to Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords. Get mag!!
If you want to limit it to bolt on, starting from the top, K&N filter (I don't know carbs) like said above, heads, then roller rockers, equal length long tube headers that aren't too big in diameter, I used 1.625". Toss the cats if your state doesn't have testing. 3 chamber flowmasters mufflers. If you have a stick, at least do a short throw shifter. Automatic, put in a shift kit and maybe even a higher stall torque converter. Higher rear gear (numerically higher) can help also. If the car is pre '86 you might want to consider the 8.8 rear axle. The smaller one in all pre'86 are very weak.
Have fun, great bang for your buck with those cars.

 

[Dynosoar]

NO2

Dynosoar

 

[Mace]

NO2

Dynosoar

With a carb that is not dripping fuel at idle..

Not that streetable... But it would make it faster, till it burned a hole in the pistons..

 

[sc40]

FI.

 

[patpend2000]

new heads, don't bother re-working the originals

you can also add a stroker kit up to 347cu

 

[Gumby]

rag in the gas tank


j/k

 

[Brindleboxer]

Baldboy,

Not to disclaim any of the previous response but to accurately tell you anything there need to be more details.

What is the year? Auto or manual? Any suspension mods or stock? Why an RV cam? Who installed it and do you have specs for it? was there other work done while in install the cam (different ratio rockers, any timing advance, etc.). How many miles on the engine? Are the headers four tube or are they three into one and what is their size? Do you have stock exhaust or aftermarket? What is the rear end ratio and what size tires does it have?

That should get in the ballpark for a "baseline" after that you can look at the various options. Gappy had a great suggestion pick up some mags specific to Ford and the Mustang -- these are a wealth of information and will give ideas for your future mods. The good thing about most of the mags is they state what parts where used for each buildup and then you know factually what works and what might not.

I would do the following first:
1. Determine the carb size and type
2. Determine the cam specs
3. Look through paperwork and see if any interals have been modified and check your initial and advance timing
4. Run a compression check to baseline the high and low cyclinders (this will give you a godd idea what mods your motor, if stock, might be able to withstand)

My .02

Glen

 

[bkfj40]

no replacement for displacement...

get some cubic inches in there if you're serious, otherwise, you're just looking for small percentage increases....


bk