Mods to Mustang 302

[Philm]

I have dart pro 1 heads on my 360 windsor, they were custom ported and flowed with great results.

The range of heads available is fantastic just keep in mind the final compression ratio and piston to valve clearance. Some of the heads will use the larger 2.02 intake valve and unless the pistons have some large fly cuts they wont fit.

My opinion only, if you were to spend money on an engine, start from scratch with a complete package from sump to fuel and induction systems. This does not mean all new parts but a carefully designed specification. I have seen Windsors with stock heads ( ported and flowed) perform better than engines with fancy bolt on parts.

Never use a solid roller cam, they allow you to make lots of power but what a pain in the arse.

Phil

[hogster]

The MassFlo rep was extremely helpful in providing contacts for me to assist in persuading the engineer that I would meet emmissions.....including a contact in the US that met their emissions standard without CATS.

The kit includes injectors, and is very easy to assemble.........even I could work it out.......

Chris will require the details of your intended build to "customise" the tune for you (bore/stroke/cam specs/heads etc). He also sent me the computer file map in case I want to play with tuning myself later.

It was a pleasure doing business and reading the US site blogs there were a couple of cobra owners with exactly my build recipe. They were all very happy with the results.

[Rebel1]

You ford fellas know the success of the mass-flo system relies on a chevy bit don't you?.

All the more reason to get it me thinks.

[NASSTY]

Originally Posted by Philm

My opinion only, if you were to spend money on an engine, start from scratch with a complete package from sump to fuel and induction systems. This does not mean all new parts but a carefully designed specification. I have seen Windsors with stock heads ( ported and flowed) perform better than engines with fancy bolt on parts.

Have to agree with Philm. I got my GT40P heads ported (They had 1.94s intake valves from Tickford) and with my mild cam produced about 420HP at the fly.

[LoBelly]

Originally Posted by Philm

My opinion only, if you were to spend money on an engine, start from scratch with a complete package from sump to fuel and induction systems. This does not mean all new parts but a carefully designed specification. I have seen Windsors with stock heads ( ported and flowed) perform better than engines with fancy bolt on parts.

Never use a solid roller cam, they allow you to make lots of power but what a pain in the arse.

Phil

Great advice.

My original reply on the upgrade mods assumed you were looking for a bit of pep rather than a full build. (you know what they say about assumptions..)

I was looking at an 'upgrade path' but was advised that I'd end up paying more for less - after doing the numbers it may well work out that way for you too.

Beware of the '...for only $50 more I could get....' because;
a) there are a lot of parts and a lot x $50 is real lot, and;
b) an upgrade in some areas is going to require upgrades in other to realise the benefit.

(think $0 to keep your gearbox vs $3000 for the TKO + clutch, bellhousing maybe diff....you get the picture)

Before you start you have to decide where you want to end up, you seem to be a way along this path.

At the risk of sounding like the poster boy for Keith Craft, I have one of his custom cams and am beyond delighted with the results. I told Tony what I wanted to use the car for and what parts I was using - Tony asked a number of questions made some suggestions and at the end I got the reponse (You have to imagine a Arkansas accent) 'We('ve) got some real nice grinds here that you're going to like'. And when it arrived I did like and then even more when I got to use it

I was very impressed with the attention to detail Tony paid to my requests/requirements dispite the fact that I was a very small customer $ wise and half way 'round the world.

(Dispite what I said earlier about spending a bit more here and there... ) A custom cam is only marginally more expensive than a quality performance product and given the cams central role in determining performance characteristics it's probably worth considering.

One last thing - I had originally intended to assemble the engine myself but somewhere along the line (after abandoning restraint) I concluded that my assembly skills were exceeded by my performance expectations. I was in the fortunate position of being able to hand the build over to fellow club member Don Stafford (who's own windsor has a similar EFI configuration to that you're considering). Don found a couple of issues with my block (got me another) and rectified other things I had overlooked like my failing to acquire a baffled sump - Don welded in some gates etc to keep it fed with oil while cornering hard. He also called to see how the install was going and provided all sorts of tips on a variety of items from break-in to spark plugs. (And he got the build done ahead of time )

I found working with someone who provided this sort of support a great help.

OK - didn't expect my post to go on like that - got up at 4am - might be a bit overtired....

LucidBelly?

[Philm]

Merv,
You can increase the output of a 302 without a bunch of new fancy parts.

You can rework the engine you have, new set of pistons and rings give the bores a machine and hone. Clean up the heads to make them flow better.

Then I would increase the comp ratio slightly and with a slightly higher lift cam would see a good gain in performance.

The important thing is to seek advice form good engine builders, this is worth paying a premium for parts and machine work. Get the spec wrong and you have a dog....... get it right and you get a screamer.


If you are not putting it on the track or drag racing this would still be enough to scare you, but then you will have the sound of angles singing that only a 302 windsor produces..... That is for you Les.


Phil

[Rebel1]

Originally Posted by Philm

then you will have the sound of angles singing that only a 302 windsor produces..... That is for you Les.

Phil

Oh my gawd!, Angels singing?. How would you recognize the song of angels?.
Uncle Phil, you have got downright bluddy poetic since your elevation to club Pres.

That aside, cobras have nothing to do with angels. They are meant to strike fear into the lives of others. They are supposed to be the reincarnation of the devil himself.

I like to think of cobras as I do a woman. All sexy curves, seductive, needs regular maintenance, handles well if you are gentle, and goes like hell if you push the right buttons. But under the exterior they are as mean as dog poop.

Having said all the above BS Phil, I gotta however, agree with your advice to Merv .... cept for the angels bit.

[NASSTY]

Originally Posted by Philm

Merv,
You can increase the output of a 302 without a bunch of new fancy parts.

You can rework the engine you have, new set of pistons and rings give the bores a machine and hone. Clean up the heads to make them flow better.

Then I would increase the comp ratio slightly and with a slightly higher lift cam would see a good gain in performance.

then you will have the sound of angles singing that only a 302 windsor produces..... That is for you Les.


Phil

Spot on Phil

hehehe re angles singing, couldn't agree more Time for Uncle Les to clean out his ears again