As I continue to research ways to build my car, I've stumbled upon what I consider a golden opportunity. I have 2 complete 302 engines, both of which run fine. Instead of building my 3.8 engine, should I build the 302?
I mean port, polish, cams, a supercharger, etc.
I've found a shop in san antonio to do the work. I figure I can work on the supporting mods on the car itself, and drop the built 302 in once it's done. Good idea? bad idea? will my 4r70w tranny fit? I have 2 t5s with bell housings, but i really want a built auto.
What do I have to do to make this work?

 

if you want a 5.0, find a 94-95 5.0, otherwise keep what you got

 

I already have 2 302 engines. both are 1980s engines. one of them is an 87 with 80k miles on it. can't use that?

 

you can but its gonna cost you alot more to build that then pay for a swap thne just building your car power vs. dollar wise

 

but can I get the same power from my 3.8?

 

yes after u put enough money into it. from the amount of money your looking at for the swap. you could have a mean 3.8 or possible bore alil and have a stroker 4.3. but in anycase im not saying your going to create a monster, but the oportunities r there.

 

Not money invested wise, in short, you can build that 5.0 up a hell of a lot quicker than the 3.8. Port/polish, that's one thing you don't do on a 5.0. The stock intake and heads suck, plain and simple, why do you think the engine makes such little power? If you're gonna do a 5.0 build the best things to do are to stroke the engine to a 306, 331, or 347 (depending on how much power/torque you want and how long you want the block to last, the larger the stroke, the shorter the life, but the better the power). Next get a cam, Steeda #18 is good for foxbody, and Steeda #19 is great for Sn-95 engines (ECU). Next you'll need to get an ECU, your choices are rather limited, but the A-9L is a great choice as it's not as picky as the Sn-95 ECUs tend to be. As far as intake and heads go, it depends on how much you want to build up the engine. I went with the lower to mid end route by using GT-40 intake (which I ported and polished) and GT-40 X-303 heads, which aren't the best flowing heads in the world, but are still 10X better than stock, and about 2X better than the standard iron GT-40s found in old Cobras. Most people tend to use Trickflow or Eddelbrok combos. As far as S/Cs go, Vortech and Paxton FTW, stay away from procharger. Depending on how you set everything up, get everything I listed done, and you'll be in the mid 400s rwhp wise, you'd also need to upgrade your tranny to a TKO 500 or 600 to take the extra torque, because the T-5 doesn't like torque beyond 310lbs.