Engine Rebuilding

[EveBYoung]

It's possible I may be getting a new EB, and maybe one that'll need an engine rebuild so I've been researching that quite a bit, but I've really only learned enough to have a lot of questions haha.
It'll be a 302, and so far I'm pretty sure I want hypereutectic pistons, moly rings, motorcraft spark plugs and wires, a new timing chain from edelbrock or comp cams, a replacement oil pump and oil pan kit from WH, new gaskets and bearings, an explorer serpentine setup (power steering pump and bracket, timing cover, alternator with pulley, water pump with pulley, crank pulley, harmonic balancer, passenger side alternator bracket with tensioner and lower idler pulley, driver side power steering and A/C compressor bracket with upper idler pulley, clutch and fan, ALL of the mounting bolts, Felpro TCS 45449 Gasket kit, high pressure hose for the power steering), a bosch electric fuel pump, new bearings and gaskets, a bcb heavy duty 3-core copper radiator and a holley 470 cfm truck avenger carb.

The truck would be mostly street and a little light trails. I'd want it to be a very reliable driver.

Here are my questions:
1) Will Aeuroquip high pressure hoses work with the explorer serpentine system and hydroboost? I know custom hoses are required.
2) I've read that AFR 165 aluminum heads are the best but I've also read that they aren't necessary and the GT40s are just as good. Which is true?
3) Eventually I want to go EFI but I don't know when that will be, so what should I do about the cam, intake and ignition? I'd like to get a comp cams custom ground cam but I'm not sure how to do it since eventually the engine will be fuel injected (but that could be far in the future). As for intake I've read that while edelbrock is the best for a carb setup that GT40 is best on EFI, and for ignition I've read that duraspark is best for carb'd but tfi is best for efi (and impossible on carb'd). So I'm a little unsure what I should and shouldn't spend money on until EFI happens (but once again, that could be a long time).
4) Finally I'm wondering how everything should be matched to get the right performance and also the right compression to use regular gas - heads, valves, pistons, cam etc.

It's a pretty involved set of questions I know; hope someone can help me out a little. Right now this is all just planning so I can crunch numbers and see if I can handle/afford this haha. Thanks a lot
Rett

 

[broncnaz]

Big order for a nonexistant bronco. But we can all dream. Its very hard to tell you exactly what to go with as you dont have a engine or bronco yet. You should probably slow down a bit and wait until you actually get something. But I'll give you a few ideas.
Since EFI is in your future you may want to start off with a complete EFI engine you'll have the EFI part covered and you'll get a roller cam which even in stock form is about right for a bronco.
As for heads well AFR's are good heads as are most aftermarket heads but the AFR's tend to cost a bit more than the others and I dont think they are any better than any of the other compareable heads. But you've heard correct you really dont need top of the line heads for a bronco application. The big numbers aftermarket heads pull is normally at topend and broncos rarely are built for those topend HP numbers. Good heads will help make power but the camshafts we run is what tends to limit the power. Gt40 heads are well suited for a bronco application. That said I run TFS heads on my 302 and think they are great plus if I ever build a 351W they will be perfect for it.

If EFI is in your future and you get a bronco with a complete engine just stay with the stock intake and carb until you swap to EFI no sense in spending $$ on something you dont plan on staying with. As for iginition the duraspark is very good and you can change the gear if needed to match a roller cam if you go that route.

As for compression ratio and pump gas well I would try to stay below 10-1 best bet is somewhere around 9 - 9.5-1. This is all dependent on what size the combustion chamber is on the heads you end up running so you have to be careful on picking pistons without knowing what heads you will run. Most cams we run in broncos will be fine with 9-1 compression.

 

[EveBYoung]

Thanks for the reply. FYI there's a particular bronco I may be purchasing; I'm trying to determine what needs to be done and if I can afford it after the changes. The truck is almost entirely stock and has never been rebuilt, but is running fairly well.

 

[broncnaz]

Well once you actually get it then you'll need to decide what the best route to take is if its running well then I'd leave it alone and start collecting parts to do a EFI swap at which point a lot of guys buy a donor car and go from there that way you have pretty much everything you need from the start and can still drive the bronco until your ready to do the swap.

 

[73azbronco]

Are you doing the work or will a shop be doing it?