maximum horsepower for '86 302?
 

I have a 86 F-150 with a 302, and EFI, 2WD It was my grandfather's truck and I plan on fixing it up. What will increase the horsepower the most? I don't have alot of money so I need to make what I do increase it alot. And would it be that difficult to get positive traction? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

A blower would probably increase the power "the most". However, they cost around $3,000 plus installation labor (if necessary). The usual intake & exhaust mods work OK. The heads could use a lot of work (port & polish) and really pick up the power from what I hear.

Luckily, parts for the 302 are relatively cheap because of the Mustang crowd. You might check some of the 'stang sites & see what they've done.

Also-

WELCOME to the site!

Most of it is geared towards the newer trucks, but there are some of the "oldies" too. Plus, others, like myself, used to own a pre-'97 before we got a new one!

do compression test first. if everything is even, put a slightly bigger cam in. open up the intake and the exhaust. change the rear
gears.

One reminder-

If you decide to work on the heads & cam, you'll most likely need a custom "chip" made. If I remember correctly, the trucks engine management systems were "speed density" until 1995-ish. Add another cost into your speed budget. https://www.f150online.com/f150board/frown.gif

the great thing about your engine is it shares alot of parts with the 5.0 mustang. be careful of a cam change as it uses speed density which does not alow for a lot of changes. depending on your budget 2 thing come to mind. first is (if it will work) an edelbrock intake manifold, on a stock mustang this was worth between 20 to 30 h.p.(around $450) second is set of ford gt-40 heads iron heads (around $700). you can do a bunch of bolt on thing but these 2 items really cut to the chase. so for $1200 you can pick up an honest 50 h.p. than latter you can add headers , pulleys, throttle body, a cam can work but a custom chip would be required. if your budget is tight i would look into just the intake.

sometime u need to feed for your speed
try a bigger thottle body and k& n filter with a good exhaust sytem should be plenty granpa's might need to change his depends on the next ride