hi guys, it's been awhile since i was on the forums, but still anxious to get the stang going again.
so therefore, a few questions:

i found an engine to replace my lemon 302:

a 302 that supposedly came out of a 86 thunderbird, but that could well be a 94 thunderbird, the guy doesn't remember exactly.
so the question is, can anyone give me some info on an 86 or 94 302? the EFI has been taken off and replaced with a holley 750 carb, edelbrock intake, and hooker headers. behind it is a prostreet C4 tranny with a very small looking torque converter, so i guess he's telling the truth. he says he put the original cam back in the engine, because he was running a pro street cam and said that it was too wild to drive normally.

the info i'm looking for is any major pro's or cons for these years of engines, cam type (roller or flat), rocker style and so forth...

he will also give me a pair of aluminum heads he's got (he reckons the valves are huge, but i haven't seen em yet) with what, to my understanding of his explanation over the phone, should be roller rockers on a pedestal mount.

the plan is more or less to get this engine in the stang, with the heads (after a rebuild) and a, let's say, 280 or 290 cam, and then swap my rebuilt tranny for his pro street tranny to drop behind the engine.

any suggestions and info are very welcome and thanks in advance guys

 

The 86 engines could have rollercams, and possibly could be without. Some had them, some didnt. 94 would be a roller cam, no doubt about it. The XE274 does good with a manual trans or a 3000+ stall and 3.73/4.11 gears. Blowers seem to like it a bit too. If you like Old school, then the E303 or X303 would work. They are more for EFI engines though.

The Stock heads on T birds werent so hot, Mustangs had better heads and Explorers had the best. Go figure. The Rockers are a pain in the rear for the late engines. They bolt down cleveland style and arent adjustable. Kits are available to make them adjustable, but usually an aftermarket aluminum head will have provisions for decent roller rockers and guide plates.

84-92 5.0/302's had forged pistons where as 93-94 had hypereutectic, a type of cast piston that has more silicon in it than typical cast pistons, but is cheaper to manufacture than forged slugs. Pretty much any 302 block is a decent foundation for a small block build, provided it isnt cracked or broken. The power is made in the heads and valve timing, so as long as it is in good shape and not about to chuck a rod thru the pan it should work.

 

that's exactly the kind of info i needed.

turns out, after alot of emailing and calling people, the t-bird was an 88 model.

so that's a forged piston then, the NOS kit will like that....

in your opinion, what would you do with a roller cam setup on a stock engine? toss it and go for a full flat tappet setup or just change the cam but keep it roller? i'm just worried about the higher lift on roller cams, especially since with a 280 you're already at .560 lift. wouldn't like to kill the pistons ...

what's more, the point you bring up on the non adjustable rockers is a good one: how do you adjust 'em after a cam change? you're obligated to buy rods witha specific length then?

hope you can clear these questions up for me...

thx already

 

The head is the determining factor in the valvetrain. Sumitt has a kit that converts the stock head to adjustable roller rockers. If it has aftermarket heads with guide plates, then its a no brainer, and the work is done for you. Different length pushrods are one way of seting the preload. I would have the heads machined for screw in studs and guide plates. That is what I am workin on with my Cleveland.

I would keep the hyd roller, get a cam for it and stick it in there. You can reuse the roller lifters. Cam choise would depend on everything else, weight, gears, stall/or clutch, intake, carb/efi, how much vacuum you need for brakes and accessories.