302 Mods for my 79' Fox Body Platform

[Mitchymoo]

I am currently trying to upgrade/mod my factory 302 to get some extra horse power. I was looking into getting the Edelbrock 2091 Top End Kit for simplistic reasons and everything matching and ready to set up. The E Top End Kit seems to also have some very decent reviews as well as results. Engine work is not really my most knowledgeable part of a vehicle unfortunately so, a lot of my ideas come from chatting with friends and lots of research online, therefore, I am looking for some opinions from more experienced members that could point me in the right direction.

Budget really isn't a concern for me but at the same time I'm really only looking for about 300ish horse power. I've seen a lot of reviews where the model 2091 E Top End Kit has been tested on dyno and as been true and accurate. I have also seen 1 or 2 reviews where it hasn't been accurate at all. I have a mechanic who is a family friend who works on my car but he is very busy to answer all my questions and concerns and once again.. I like other opinions and options as well. At the end of the day, nothing beats experience and the good old trial and error method from other members on this forum. Once I get an idea of what I'm going to do with this engine and my friend sets it all up, I will be taking it to a specialist to get the engine tuned.

This is what I was thinking so far,
since I am moding the engine with the E Top End Kit, I was also thinking that I should probably change out my factory exhaust manifold to some nice shorty headers and add a 600CFM Holley carb. I've been trying to find out the best shorty headers to get but I am having a hard time finding the right answer. Other than the headers and carb, I'm not sure what else I really need or what else to add to this build to make it better. I will consider all options, ideas and criticism of course!

Thanks in advance guys!
- vroom, vroom

 

[347HO]

Sounds solid.
Only suggestion I have is to go with a 750 or even the Holly Sniper EFI if that's in the budget.

The 600 will work, but not if you upgrade the engine's bottom end in the future.

 

[Mitchymoo]

Sounds solid.
Only suggestion I have is to go with a 750 or even the Holly Sniper EFI if that's in the budget.

The 600 will work, but not if you upgrade the engine's bottom end in the future.

Thank you for your reply!

I think after I do this modification to it, I won't be touching it for a couple years. I will for sure keep this in mind though as one day I will probably want more ponies under the hood. Do you happen to have any suggestions in regards to replacing the exhaust manifold with commonly used shorty header for the Fox's?

Also, last year my friend and I replaced the whole rear end in order to prepare for some more horse power and torque. Not sure what kind of horse power and torque my set up could safely handle to be honest with you but, I am hoping this set up could handle the claimed " 367HP " of the E Top End Kit. Especially after the tune. Ill list some of the changes I've mad to the set up already.

- Ford 8.8" rear end
- 3.55 gears
- 2.5" custom off road H-pipe dual exhaust with straight Glass Pak and custom exhaust tips
- 275 60 15 rear tires
- Bilstein struts
- UPR upper and lower control arms
- Steeda rear sway bar ( Not even sure why.. thought it looked cool and would help with handling)
- Also replaced the rear drum brakes etc..

Thanks!

 

[347HO]

IMO...
if I had to use "shorty" headers...i'd find a set of MAC 1-5/8".
These are built better than bbk, jba...

Haven't needed to buy any for a long time so maybe there are even better units to be had currently?

 

[broncojunkie]

Sounds like you have a good plan. Are you sure the engine is stock? 79 would be a flat tappet cam. The kit you're looking at will work fine, if that's the case. I know a lot of these old Fords have had replacement engines and could already have a roller cam. If it still has the flat tappet setup, then it would be a shame to spend a bunch of money and not upgrade to roller. The conversion lifters (link-bar style) are pretty expensive, but you're already buying new lifters, regardless. So you'll just be out the difference in cost. Last I checked, that difference is about $250-300. The cam might cost a little more too, but the peace-of-mind is worth a lot.

I wanted to bring this up because I understand there has been a rash of poor-quality flat tappet lifters in recent years. During the break-in run (or shortly after), a bad lifter can wipe out a cam lobe and cause an expensive problem. I know of a guy that went through it. He had to pull the freshly rebuilt engine and pull it apart. He replaced the bad stuff and reinstalled only to have it happen again. He switched to roller and never looked back.

 

[Mitchymoo]

Thanks for the reply!

Super informative; this is the kind of information I knew I’d miss while perusing the internet late at night as the caffeine in my body slowly dwindles down.

Okay, so I took what you said and did some research. Basically the consensus on every Fox Body or Ford 302 forum and website is saying that the majority of owners are mentioning the same thing; ‘ Roller Cam instead of Flat Tappet ‘ all of which is for the exact reason you’ve stated above.

With that being said , I have absolutely no problem switching out the cam from the E Top End Kit to a Roller. Sure I’ll be out some money but, I’d rather be out money on a long lasting Cam than a whole engine later on in life. I want to do everything right now so I don’t have problems in the future. Plus I could just plop the E Top End Kit Tappet Cam on Kijiji or Craigs list for someone to grab off me cheap.

The car is 100% original factory 5.0 so whatever Mercury put in the 5.0 in 79’ is what it has in it now. I was blessed to have boughten the car from an older gentlemen who was the soul owner of the car. When I bought it 2 years ago it didn’t even have 100km’s on it yet. Very mint so to speak.

With that being said, I am now thinking of this as an option to replace the Cam:

Trick Flow Specialties TFS-51403001 - Trick Flow® Track Max® Hydraulic Roller Camshafts for Ford 5.0L ( 2,000-5,500 )​

Or

Ford Performance Parts M-6250-E303 - Ford Performance Part ( 2,500-5,500 )​

Or

COMP Cams Comp Cams Xtreme Energy Hydraulic Roller Camshaft for Ford 5.0L [1500-5500 RPM]​

Moving forward, here comes the part where my knowledge lacks and as hard as I try , my brain just won’t comprehend. So, with one of these set up’s , I am not sure where my RPM range will be, should be at or what cam will be the best for my ideal setup in relation to idle and good power range for the street. I don’t intend on taking this car to the strip or anything like that. It’s my summer car, not a daily driver but every weekend in the summer my Step Dad and I usually find a car show 50-100km away that we attend Fridays and Saturdays. I want to enjoy it, not it be a pain in my ass every time I hop in it.

Lastly, here is my rookie question. If one of these Roller Cams would work better than the Flat Tappet the kit comes with, would a roller cam still work with the E Top End Kit as long as I got the conversion lifters?
Also, I know nothing about lifters, but what conversion lifters would you suggest I look further into? If you have any recommendations.

Thank you for the video and your time!
Much appreciated.
Cheers!

 

[broncojunkie]

I'll go ahead and address your retrofit lifters first. Due to the current economic "woes" we're going through (I'll refrain from dipping into politics here), this stuff is getting really expensive. I always thought the link bar lifters were overpriced, but they're borderline crazy now. Since you're building a street car, you might look into buying the retrofit spider and dog bones. I found a good video for installation:

 

[broncojunkie]

As for cam selection and rpm, there's a few things you need to consider. The first and most important is to choose the right heads. If you go to a head with smaller intake runners, it will pair well with cams in the lower rpm power band (generally speaking). I know the AFR 165 heads are popular for street cars. I'm glad you're taking this into consideration, because a lot of people just buy the biggest cam and heads they can and then complain when it's a dog on the street. I can tell you from experience that my one running/driving 79 fox has heads with 185 intake runners and a Ford x303. I wouldn't suggest the Ford "letter" cams for reasons I won't go into. They're not bad cams. There are just better options. I swapped this one in chasing down an issue I thought was cam related. I'll be changing it back at some point.

I would keep the heads at under 200cc intake runner and you should have a healthy street car, as long as you match the cam and intake manifold and gearing appropriately.

The performance top-end kits are fine, as long as everything will work with your setup and puts you in the right rpm range. Don't be afraid to mix and match, though. A good option is to choose your heads, intake, carb, gearing, transmission, etc and then contact a cam manufacturer for a suggestion. The kits do take some guess-work out, though. I believe a cam that brings you into the power band at 1500 to 2000 rpm is where you really want to be. The valve springs need to work with your cam choice and you always need to measure for correct pushrod length.

 

[broncojunkie]

You might also check out the Summit branded carbs. The get great reviews and are cheaper than the Holleys. I like my Holleys/Brawler/ProForm but I plan on getting one of these next.