Exploder 302

[Tannerm]

My buddy talked me into just building a explorer 302. I kicked around the idea of converting the shed into a FI, but thought better of it. So, outside of the GT40 heads that come on those motors, what size carb should I slap on it? Cam? My 289 now has a edelbrock performer manifold and Holley 600cfm 4bbl on it now. Figured Id transplant that to the 302. Would like to make 300-320HP motor for a fun cruiser.
Next project would be to replace my column shift 3 spd with a better manual (toploader, T5).

[shumpertdavid]

That carb and intake should be fine with your combo.

[Tannerm]

awesome, thanks.

[dangerous_sep]

that 600 should work fine

edit:david beat me to it

[shumpertdavid]

It's going to take more than a stock 302, carb and intake to get in the 300 hp range I think. Might be a good one to contact shaunT to see about a cam profile to fit your combo and hp range.

[Tannerm]

True, and the gt40 heads prolly arent gunna add alot. Thats why I posted, to get yalls feedback on what to do.
Basically Im making a list in Word on the items I should stow away for this build. So far i got the engine, a cam, longtubes... What else do I need to add to achieve 320-350HP? 1.7 roller rockers? New pistons? Bigger carb? Better intake manifold? Hell, rebuild the GT40 heads and have them port n polished?

[dumpycapri85]

Do a home port job , upgrade the springs and stab a good cam in it . You could mill the heads a bit to bump the compression a little and add a little power . Even with just the cam and springs and your intake and carb I bet it will run great . Don't forget to change your dist gear so it will work with the roller .

[dangerous_sep]

you could do a victor jr style intake and maybe a better carb such as a mighty demon or the like. add an x-cam, long tubes and you should be set

[shumpertdavid]

I think he's looking for a nice balance between a little power and torque and a nice street cruiser. The x-cam will be a long way from that goal i'm pretty sure.

[2cammer97]

That intake and carb should work fine for a GT40P Explorer motor. I'd stick a cam in, upgrade the valve springs, and maybe add some roller rockers and call it a day. You should be able to make 300-320 flywheel horsepower and have a nice street driver.

For what it's worth here's an overview of the combo in my '92 LX: stock 78k mile shortblock, GT40 heads (TFS .550 valve springs), Explorer intake, Crane 1.7 rockers, Crane 2031 cam (.513/.529 lift, 214/220 dur, 112 lsa), BBK longtubes, BBK catted h-pipe, Dynomax catback, tuned with an SCT chip on the dyno.

It put down 262 rwhp / 303 rwtq. If you used a 15% drivetrain loss that would be about 310 hp / 350 tq. The car sounds great and has a nice cam lope at idle but has stock like driveability and even passed the sniffer for emmissions (not that you have to worry about that but that cam is CARB legal). It's really a lot of fun to drive and has nice lower end power, which is important since i'm only running 3.27 gears and it's just a street cruiser.

Other good streetable cams are the TFS-1, the E303, AFM N-21, and Comp has some good cams in their XE line. Or contact Ed Curtis at FTI for a custom. Keep in mind lift characteristics will change depending on if you use the stock 1.6 stamped rockers or aftermarket 1.6 or 1.7 roller rockers.

Marcus

[Tannerm]

Cammer, that sounds perfect. I wanted to keep it mainly bolt on stuff. That sounds like my goal. The 302 will be gt40 (not "p") Explorer motor. I was also thinking a e303 cam due to the availablity and price. Ill also have to either clean up my 8 inch rearend and put some 3.55's in it, or go with a 8.8 (if that fits) or 9 inch already with decent gears.

[2cammer97]

Looks like there is a barely used E303 in the classifieds for $100....

http://dfwmustangs.net/class/showproduct.php?product=222&title=fms-e-cam&cat=9

Marcus