im sure this has been discussed before but i just spent on google about a half hour writing in different forms of "strogest 302 ford aluminum block" getting pretty much no where. so my question is whats the strogest aluminum block 302 (5.0) FACTORY from my understandign the gts from teh 80's could only hold to 450 fly hp then they crack down the middle i am avoiding that quite a bit but i want to use the 302 block becuase well its freeking light as heck. so is there an aluminum 302 factory that does not haev the cast flaw making it crack at 450hp? if there is what was it in what yrs etc also if you please.

anyhelp would be much appriciated. sorry im just tired of searching google finding nothing. bleh-

 

There were no aluminum factory 302's. Why do you want an aluminum? You do realize by the time the block is prepped and ready for assembly after you buy one you're gonna be into it for over $6,000 JUST for the block, right? You can build an entire engine just for the cost of 1 bare aluminum 302 block. And they're about worthless for street use, There's a LOT of thermal expansion and contraction, and those blocks are designed for race use, so chances are you'd be re torquing things like heads and intakes all the time.

 

I was referring to the 80s mustang 5.0 liter motor which is a 302. Are those not aluminum blocks? I was told those crack at 450hp. I was also told there were stronger castings of that same motor. They were also aluminum. Is that not true? I'm not looking for an after market block. I'm looking for a production block. As far as torquing goes, I don't know what you're making reference to because everything is aluminum. They're all going to have the same torque spec, meaning the heads won't heat stress anymore than the block. So they should expand and contract at the same time. The main reason I want aluminum is because of weight.

 

There were no production 5.0 aluminum blocks. They're all aftermarket race blocks, and they're not designed for regular street use. They expand and contract a great deal from the heat and cause stuff to loosen up over time, and can cause solid valvetrains to require periodic readjustment, basically they need regular maintenance. You're not gonna touch a new aluminum block for under $5,000, and that's before machining.

A factory iron 5.0 block will hold upwards of 500-550hp at the crank if tuned properly and built properly. Otherwise the best option would be a sportsman type iron block that will hold more power. Yeah, the weight savings of aluminum is nice, but you'd be faster by spending the extra $5,000 on a blower setup and still have $$$ left.

 

you need a sportsman block

 

who sells a decent sportsman block then?

 

Ford used to, but now they have the BOSS block, Dart has one, and World I'm pretty sure.