Help me hit 12's with my 302
 

Hey guys, just joined this board and was wondering if someone could help me make my 302 faster. Current mods are edelbrock 600 cfm carb, torquer intake, mild hyd. crane cam, and longtube headers. Have many more new items i wont list, but that is the main stuff motorwise. Too make a long story short, i want it to go faster. The heads are untouched, and i feel that i am probably going to have to do some head work. Tell me what you guys would recommend....gears, stall?

12's from a 302? Nitro,Nitro,Nitro!!

Heads
 

I would go for heads (TrickFlow, AFR, Edelbrock) and gears 3.25-3.50 if street driven with maybe a shift kit in the C-4 and a 2500-2800 stall convertor. May not be 12's but should get well into 13's naturally aspirated and still be good for the street..

Rev

Thanks for the advice guys, I cant do nitrous though on the stock bottem end, and heads are a little out of my price range right now. I think im gonna save up or just port/polish and a valve job. I want a 3000 rpm stall, and 4.10's. I dont know what rear i have though, the guy i bought it from said it had a ford 8.8 and 3.73's. But that is no way possible as i am driving the car now. Does anyone know what rears came in 72' maverick grabbers? I know i probably don't qualify as a mustang guy yet, but i hope you guys won't mind me asking questions about the mav. BTW, i have an 84 stang, and a 429 waiting to be rebuilt to go in it. Shooting for 11's with a mild setup with it, should have no problem.

The maverick is going to have a 8 or 9 inch in it assuming it is factory setup. Not an 8.8
Ryan

"hobgoblin"...Nitro is Nitro Methane. The top fuel cars run it. N2O is Nitrous. Whole different ball game.

Ron

Well my luck it will be a an 8". When the tires spin, only one wheel spins at a time just about all the time. On some rare occasions both will spin. Odds are it is not a 9".

If only one tire spins, it means it is an open rear end (no posi). That has nothing to do with whether it is an 8 or 9 inch. Here is a site with some dimensional information: http://www.dfwmotorsport.com/fairlane/9inchrearends.htm and also how to identify the 8 from the 9 inch: http://www.kevinstang.com/Ninecase.htm

Ron

Worn out posi's
 

Worn out posi's (limited slip) only spin one tire also. That's how I know mine is shot again (like as of now). That means rebuild time at least for the clutches. Damn, again already, hee, hee.

Rev

Well, looked under the car today and judging by that info it is an 8 inch rear. That sucks, i new i couldn't luck up and have a 9. The roush 200 heads are goin on with roller rockers, 3000 rpm stall, and 4.11 gears this summer. If im not hittin 12.90's with a good tune im selling the *******' car.

Streetable?
 

3000 stall and 4.11's is not a very streetable combo. You will be slipping in the convertor a lot and creating a lot of heat in the tranny while running around town (if you do in fact do that). You will run about 3800 @ 70 mph on the hiway.

Would be good at the drag strip though.

Rev

3800 RPM at 70 mph? My god, that is not horrible at all. 55 would be all i could do on the highway then. But who cares, it will be quick out of the hole.

if he stroked it would it help him out?

Yes, it would help. More CI will make more power. A little higher compression would also help. One other question is why do you want a 3000 stall? The stall is determined by where the car makes peak torque. For example, if you make peak torque at 4000 RPM you would want a converter that had a stall speed of about 3500 RPM. You always set your stall a bit shy of peak torque, and your shift point 200 RPM past peak HP.

Ron

the cam doesn't start makin power till 2500. And you are right, stall speed is different in every engine, the stall speed will be determined how much torque the engine makes, the stall i want is from jegs, its a 2700-3000 rmp stall. I figure i will get somewhere between those lines.

In other words, you believe that your motor makes peak torque between 2500 and 3000 RPM? That might be a bit low, but if the car is a street/strip car, for the street it should be OK.

Ron

Well that is a bit low with the setup i have now, but when i switch intakes and go back to 2.5'' exhaust that should be somewhere between 3000 rpm. Now, with all the mismatched parts i have, its proabably around 6k believe it or not and only lasts a very short time.

I think I can believe it. Mine makes peak torque at 5800 and peak power at 7800. So I launch the car on a rev limiter that is set at 5400 RPM and just let the converter flash up. Do keep in mind that converter's will change with the amount of HP that you put against it.

Ron

I drove it around today a little and messed with the time some also. I think timing has alot to do with it plus it is flooding itself like crazy and smoking like hell at a certain point when i mess with the distributer. Im staying with the gears, they are pretty low. The car twists pretty hard off the line and especially at high rpm in 1st. I think the car would be really quick if i could launch at about 4000 rpm. Anyway, im tryin to a buy a low 6 sec car (1/8) for around 6500 cash, it would take more than that for the mav to hit 6's probably, im also lookin at an 89 gt for dirt cheap, motor is blew but topend is still good, performer intake, carb,cam, and hooker shorties through flowmasters out the back. Car is primered i hope to get it for less than 500 bucks. ill keep it posted.

Sounds like one hell of a deal at $500.00 Parts alone are worth a ton of money. Ebay what you don't need and get some money back.

Keep us posted.

Ron