What is the best way to upgrade my 71 mustang with a 302 engine?

 

engine swap?

 

something that adds onto this engine, i was thinking 4 brrl carb, with a new intake manifold or something

 

Bolt ons can only get you so far if you want over 300hp plan for a full rebuild with upgrades.

 

How much do you want to spend?

IMO, the biggest bang for the buck for these engines is a good set of aftermarket heads and an intake..... Pricy up front, but they make all other mods worth much more...

 

I agree with JMD but you'd be surprised how much a set of headers and a dual exhaust will wake up an stock engine. the stck 2 bbl carb actually flows better than a 4bbl so unless you want to do heads, cam & intake just go with the headers - you won't be dissapointed.

 

The stock two barrel flows 300 - 350 cfm and the standard four barrel (Holley 1850) flows 600 cfm. It inly flows 300 cfm if you don't open the econdaries though.

The "best" way to upgrade depends on your budget, how far you want to "upgrade" and what you will be using it for.
Power upgrade can be headers and a carb or headers, cam, intake, carb and a distributor or a 460 and C6 swap with new disc brakes, 6 speed manual, taking 1000 pounds out of the car, installing a roll-cage in it and tubs and shortened axles.

For cheap upgrades (the two don't actually go together) new ignition, headers and a dyno tune will give you a bit more.
Paul

 

Pretty much what everyone else suggested above. Get that motor to breath better and you'll see a great inprovment in perfomance.

 

Let the engine breathe better, in - out. Not only will you get better power you can feel but the car will sound stronger. The carb shouldn't bigger than a 600cfm, the stock 302HO motor from the 80's had a throttle body comparable to 550 CFM with crappy headers and 2.25" exhaust and it made 225HP.

 

The word upgrade is pretty open ended.

budget: carb, intake, air cleaner, headers, exhaust.

bigger budget: add aluminum heads

BIGGER BUDGET: swap out the motor for a 351W stroker or big block