New Engine or Rebuild Engine Advice Needed

[burnstribe]

I just bought my first bronco - a 1974 - it has in it right now the original 302. It doesnt have a ton of power. I use it mainly as a daily driver but want some extra power.

Should i rebuild the 302 or hunt down a 351 Windsor and rebuild it to go in....or buy a 351 Windsor already prebuilt...

any suggestions would be great!

I also live in canada and want to drive this all year - summer and freezing winter...should i go fuel injected?

 

[recoiljunky]

Buying a 351 already built would probably be the best ($) way to go. I'm building one and the cost is spiraling out of control.

For the cost of building a 302 to compare to a 351, most here will probably tell you that you could just buy a stock 351.

 

[broncnaz]

Welcome
Your asking kinda of a loaded question that has a ton of answers. Need a little more info on your rig tire size? gearing? Tranny? condition of current engine ie how much compression does it have in each cylinder will tell a lot. You may not need a rebuild it could be something easy like. too big of tires. If the engine is in good condition a cam swap could gain you some more power so can a good tune up.

 

[TN1776]

If you go the 351w route... The Ford Racing M-6007-S58 offers pretty good bang for the buck. 250hp, 350 ft-lbs torque. The price looks to have gone up about $30 since I bought mine, but at $2570 to your door, no tax, no shipping its hard to beat.

This is where I bought MINE

I can't yet comment on performance but I have a feeling I won't be disappointed. 70EB speaks highly of this motor as well.

 

[ken75ranger]

One of the decent local machine shops near me keeps 5.0 short blocks rebuilt and ready to go for a good price. It's nice to know your getting a good quailty rebuild for your money. You might want to check with your local shops to see if something like that is available.

 

[Dave]

If you also want to upgrade to SEFI another option is to look for a low milage 97-2000 5.0 Explorer. Lots of them in auctions and at the salvage yards. Good engine for a swap with another 20 some years of 302 evolution and performance. Lots of information on this site on the swap. In my oppinion this is the best bang for the buck unless you have a specific goal for building up an engine which is also a fun project.

What part of Canada? Welcome to the group.

 

[Master Chief]

You never mentioned tire size and gears. A large tire and numerically low gear like a 3.50 will have a detrimental affect on any stock engine. As you are asking engine advice here’s mine.

There is no substitute for cubic inches. Since you are looking for more power now the most bang for your buck would be to do a compression test as broncnaz mentioned.

Get the engine up to operating temp before the check. Your cylinders should come in around 150 - 180 psi. If they are all evenly lower you need rings, rebuild the engine. If two side by side are significantly less you probably need a head gasket so you can go either way, replace the bad gasket and continue or pull the engine.

If your cylinders are good, getting more air moving will increase power and you can spend money elsewhere like gears & tires. Summit Racing list this Edelbrock 2091 Intake/ Heads/ Cam Power Package Engine Kit advertising 367 HP, 340 ft. lbs. torque for $1879.95. You still need to buy the carb.

You can keep prices down by replacing just the cam/lifters, intake and carb. Add a quality set of headers and mufflers like Flowmaster 50’s and you’ll spend about the same for this setup as you would for just the engine kit above and notice the difference first time out. The nice thing with Edelbrock is they dyno match their components.

If you do choose to rebuild find a reputable machine shop. Get a line bore, deck it and ask them to bore the block to the minimum to get the cylinders right. Several shops go right to .030 right off when they could have done a .010 or .020 over. It does not sound like much but boring less first leaves you with the option of another rebuild in the future. When the rest of the world is flying Jetson mobiles you’ll be burning fossil fuels in a Bronco.

As for carb vs. injection in the north that’s another can of worms you’re asking to open. I live in Maine and drive a ’69 with an Edelbrock carb using a manual choke; I’ve never had an issue with cold weather.

Put a refrigerator full of beer in your garage and have fun with your rig,
Senior Chief

 

[Broncobowsher]

OK, now my thoughts. EFI is independient of the engine.
No replacment for displacment. As for economy there is actually little difference between similer set up 302 and 351, just the 351 will have better power.
As for picking an engine, it is your preference. Anything from a junkyard drop in, crate engine, parts store rebuild, local machine shop, do it yourself, and probably something I missed.
Since you are doing the daily driver route, I would NOT recomend a cam that advertises high HP ratings. Look for one that offers low and mid range power (avoid any that claim anything good in the top end). Also look for comments about good drivability and economy. Good breathing heads are also something that can really wake the small block fords up. If you have the budget a set of mild performance aftermarket heads will do wonders that cams wish the could. Be leary of ported factory heads as the porting is often done by hand, is not even from cylinder to cylinder, and often only (if at all) works good at full throttle high RPM runs. Again I will stress that any parts you look for should NOT be race parts but instead parts that list drivability as a feature. Then again is money. Engine builds can spiral out of control very fast. I have a little 330" stroked 5.0 that cost way more then it should. At this point the only stock part left is the block.

If you can live with a carb, it is less expensive then EFI. Properly set up it drives fine too. But I still prefer EFI to the turn key starting and (to a little extent) self adjusting.

 

[needabronco]

A good 'reliable' rebuild will run you about $1500-2500. I would recommend you either rebuild what you have or look for a low mile 5.0 with efi and drop it in. I spend about $3500 on my rebuild only to spend more on efi about 500 miles later.... 351's are a great option if you can find one.

Like Bowsher says 99% of the hipo parts and horsepower claims are at 6000 RPM, and 99% of bronco's never see that number.

Start with an honest evaluation of your budget, and an honest look at what you want it to do. Find out where your current mill stands ie. compression.... Research what your options are before you spend any money.