Little more umph.

[Ponymedic]

Sooo I have a MK4 with blueprint stock 302 with flat tappets and non roller cam. Runs greeat no complaints Thinking about swapping heads and cam to get some extra umph. Nothing crazy street use no track. Looking to go from stock 225hp to around 300. Thoughts?

[phils88gt]

Well it may be a roller block regardess. If it is any mustang cam fits. Depending on cam and compression a set or iron gt40 or gt40 can get you there from the junkyrd. If you want aluminum everything is so expensive I would look used. TFS 170s would work well. I would be skeptical of the super cheap offshore units I have seen them that can't hold a valve seat in. The valves and springs are rubbish. They are cheap but they are not good.

If you are going to buy retail some of the new afr 185 enforcer line is lower price than the TFS.

[MB750]

Sooo I have a MK4 with blueprint stock 302 with flat tappets and non roller cam. Runs greeat no complaints Thinking about swapping heads and cam to get some extra umph. Nothing crazy street use no track. Looking to go from stock 225hp to around 300. Thoughts?

My personal suggestion is to get CR up to 10:1, and get used to buying the highest octane pump gas you can in your area (either 91 or 93). Some aluminum heads (CNC porting not necessary for street) with a CC that puts you at the 10:1. Aluminum heads help allowing higher CR's with less ping since they have better heat transfer. If you want to change your pistons go with flat tops so you can have better head options. I'm not sure what pistons Blueprint uses on their 302 but they might already flat tops. Ford uses a piston with a small dish to lower CR on the 302 roller from the fox body era Mustangs. I went with Wiseco flat top 4032 pistons. I'd also go with a cam that has .550" lift and duration somewhere in the high 230's to low 240's. This will keep things manageable on the street at low speeds.


If you are going to buy retail some of the new afr 185 enforcer line is lower price than the TFS.

Those are exactly the heads I'm using on my 306. Haven't run it yet but I'm optimistic.

[Railroad]

Edelbrock and others, used to and probably still offer a heads, cam, intake kits. The kits were rated by hp and tq.
These were designed to be bolt on for stock engines.
I like your desire to put some pep in your engine.
A warning, shop for kits that maintain good tq ratings.
I have done some cam swaps that took the fun out of driving on the street.

[Ford & Jeep Fan]

here is a good cam if you have a roller block. https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?42274-5-0L-Crane-Cam-Hyd-Roller-HR220-311-14

[Just puttering]

What gear ratio do you have ?

[GFX2043mtu]

I built a 302 for a guy with a fox body using Mahle pistons basic eagle forged rods and topped it off with a set of blueprint heads that I did some mild clean up on and Edelbrock performer rpm intake with a quick fuel slayer 600 carb. I ended up cutting the head down a little to lower the cc in order to bump the compression up to 10:1. On 93 octane the motor made 301 to the tires on a mustang dyno so about 337 on a dyno jet. I suggest the blue print heads with new valve springs as they are cost effective and work great. Trick flow does some good cams too. Much better options the say an e303 cam.

[rich grsc]

I agree with staying away from the old Ford "letter" cams, much better options out there, at the same price.

[MB750]

Summit makes a spinoff of the "Letter" cams. Same duration and timing, but more lift. Mid 550's. I went with their version of the "E" cam on my build but I advanced it 4 degrees.

With today's valve and spring technology, getting 550 to 600 lift is much more manageable than when those Ford cams came out in the 90's. As long as your pistons are relieved for it.

[klawrence]

Edelbrock and others, used to and probably still offer a heads, cam, intake kits. The kits were rated by hp and tq.
These were designed to be bolt on for stock engines.
I like your desire to put some pep in your engine.
A warning, shop for kits that maintain good tq ratings.
I have done some cam swaps that took the fun out of driving on the street.

agree on the "top end kit (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/edl-2027)" like this . heads flow much more, dual plane intake for street, worked great in my bronco.

[rich grsc]

Summit makes a spinoff of the "Letter" cams. Same duration and timing, but more lift. Mid 550's. I went with their version of the "E" cam on my build but I advanced it 4 degrees.

With today's valve and spring technology, getting 550 to 600 lift is much more manageable than when those Ford cams came out in the 90's. As long as your pistons are relieved for it.
I think the issue with the 'old' letter cams are the duration between intake and exhaust, they are the same. A split duration cam, longer exhaust duration, is a 'free' way of getting maybe 10 extra horses. It really shows up on SBF's. Letter camshafts are almost as good used as a hammer as they are a cam. :p:rolleyes:

[Ford & Jeep Fan]

I think the issue with the 'old' letter cams are the duration between intake and exhaust, they are the same. A split duration cam, longer exhaust duration, is a 'free' way of getting maybe 10 extra horses. It really shows up on SBF's. Letter camshafts are almost as good used as a hammer as they are a cam. :p:rolleyes:

Most of the Ford 289-302-351W cams have higher exh duration and lift because the exh ports and valve sizes are small, especially compared to the intake side. THe 7Actual letter cams were ground on induction hardened Ford OEM material cam cores , That and the single pattern kept the cost low. Ford also knew that most customers that were buying cams put them in engine with either modified or aftermarket heads, and didn't need the dual pattern cams as much.

[Avalanche325]

The easiest way to get HP in an SBF is aftermarket heads.
I agree that a top end kit is the easy way to go.

These cars, being very light weight, work well with a single plane intake. More HP and TQ, but up higher where you can actually use it.

[Al_C]

Just a few questions: 1. is the goal to go faster or feel like you're going faster? 2. how do you measure that? 3. on a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate your satisfaction level? 4. On the same scale, how much time, effort and money do you want to put into this?

Why am I asking these questions? It all boils down to what you want. If it's really important to have lots of excess power, etc., then go for it. I just remember Mike Forte's advice to me: "even with a 289 with a 2 barrel carb, these cars are still fun". (Yes, he actually did say that). But... being the person I am, I just had to go the coyote route...

So, is it worth the time, effort, money and (dare I say) aggravation to go through all this? If yes, do it. If yes, go all in. Whatever you decide, I for one, support you!

[Ponymedic]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Think i will go with a top end kit from jegs or summit