i have been told that a 302 will bolt up to my tranny
and a friend of mine has a 400 horse 302 he wants to drop in my f150
he said he would let me have it for $250 cause he isnt gonna use it and we have been friends for a very long time
i know the engine and i know it is a very good motor
but i am wondering what i need to do to get it to run under my hood
it isnt fuel injected it has carb
i guess all i would really need to do is to wire tie up all my electrical plugs and start her up
anyone think of anything i will need to do to my truck?
thanks

 

You're going to need custom motor mounts for that 302. I assume you know you'll be doing all new exhaust and the like. What transmission do you have? An automatic will not bolt up because it is controlled by the PCM, and with a carb engine you have no PCM. Why a carbed 302? All you're going to be getting is poor gas mileage and the need for constant adjustment. EFI is much more stable and efficient, especially in high horsepower setups. In addition to all these worries, you have to see how this swap will affect your ability to pass smog. Does your state do inspections/smog tests? They'll definitely know something is up when they see a carb engine in a truck obviously built for an EFI setup. You should think this over very carefully before proceeding. However, if you do it I'd like to see it. A 302 in newer body style trucks would be pretty sweet.

 

I think its definitely a worthwhile project. Its something different and a challenge. The problems I can see would be the fact that your guages wouldn't work, but you could fab in your own guages that have mechanical leads instead of electrical. A 302 with a non-computer operated tranny could work in my opinion.

 

I say go for it. Of course your getting this from a dude that has a small block chevy and 700r4 trans in a 85 Mazda RX-7.

 

no my state doesnt do inspections of any kind and anything is better than 11 mpg with the engine that is installed and that was after a complete tune up the motor has over 200k so it is do to fail especially since it is a 4.2
i think it will be a fun project and am ready to get underway in about a week and a half
oh yeah the motor has mounts on it that are suppose to fit my truck and the truck is a standard so no problems there either
but if anyone can think of anything what so-ever that i might possiblly need for this swap please chime in
thanks guys/gals

 

Your having no experience at this kind of work will indeed be a challenge.
As already said every areas will have to be custom modified.
You will need an AOD or standard shift trans assembly that adds onto the cost of the bargin engine as well as exhaust, cooling system, charging system etc.
Totaled all up it would almost be better to put a 4.6 or 5.4 in place with a bunch less custom work.
The AOD needs a cable operated from the carb so the internal pressure changes with throttle opening. If this is not set up near correct the trans will be lost the first time you try to drive the rig.
All this still sound intreguing, costly and fun work?
Have fun.