From what I understand there is not much room for more then a older style 302, but like I mentioned above, some frame modifications, and other things could make it possible to fit one.
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So how do you go about making power with a Ford 302 Engine?
- Thread starter 1996BlackBauer
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From what I understand there is not much room for more then a older style 302, but like I mentioned above, some frame modifications, and other things could make it possible to fit one.
The 02+ Body style is substantially wider and comes with the 4.6 mod motor as a factory option. My understanding is basically "If it came with a OHC Mod Motor as an option, the Coyote will fit".
The Lincoln Aviator (Based on the explorer Chassis/Frame/Body), came with the cobra DOHC 4.6 mod motor, so I assume the Coyote would be nearly a drop-in swap.
The Lincoln Aviator (Based on the explorer Chassis/Frame/Body), came with the cobra DOHC 4.6 mod motor, so I assume the Coyote would be nearly a drop-in swap.
If you aren't bothering to upgrade the engine block itself, then there's no need to upgrade the internal rotating assembly either. That would be like putting an elevator in an outhouse; it just doesn't need to happen. I suggest keeping the stock internals, perhaps rebuilding a bit with new seals and bearings as needed, and then doing your intended bolt on mods and a 100-125 shot of wet nitrous with a solid tune for it all. If you are going to bother with a forged rotating assembly then go with a better block too; since there's no point putting parts that can withstand 600+rwhp in a block that still cracks at 450.
Agreed, the 3rd Gens are much more friendly to stuffing a physically bigger engine into them.
It is a night and day difference between engine bay room in a 96-01 4-door Explorer and a 02-05 4 door X. Not even comparable. Also, unless you are a damned good welder and chassis designer, I suggest against your intended frame modifications.
Ok, I will speak frankly here and I hope you do not take it the wrong way. It seems that you are overall pretty new to all of this stuff regardless of what your signature says. Perhaps not a "newb", but probably lacking the knowledge and skill required for some of your aspirations. I am not saying that what you intend to do cannot be done, because I am sure it can, but it will require one hell of a lot of effort, knowledge and skill to accomplish. At this time based upon what my intuition tells me about you so far, I get the distinct impression that you will be in over your head if you start down a path much more complex than the 302 swap into a Sport and bolton mods with nitrous to compliment it all. I could be mistaken in my impression of your skillset and experience, but I am doubtful being that I have been doing this stuff and also advising people on it for quite a long time now. I think I can speak with everyone who has posted here to help you so far, and say that we are happy to assist you with tech information, but part of that assistance also comes in the form of advising a person on when they may be getting in over their head. Biting off more than you can chew is a common happening in the high performance car scene and it usually ends up with the person abandoning the project and selling parts at a loss.
This is essentially the case. Sure, a 4v mod motor can be made to fit into a Gen 2 Explorer, but the sacrifices made to do that will come at a high price. You can pretty much kiss air conditioning bye, which would suck considering that the OP mentioned wanting to keep this a streetable car used for track days. Lots of metal work will be required to fit it including likely extensive modification and re-machining of the front suspension components. The steering column would likely have to be drastically modified and my guess would be that it would basically have to be re-engineered from scratch to make the bends required to route around the wider engine and its exhaust; and also not bind. Sure, you can make custom headers, but if there is plainly zero room once the primaries are built, then no amount of wishing will make a steering column fit. Considering the other options, it seems that there would not be enough benefit to counteract the toil and disadvantages involved in stuffing a 4v mod motor into a 2nd Gen Sport. But that's just my opinion.
I appreciate the input for sure, I promise I did not take it the wrong way, possibly a 3rd gen would be a better option to use for the end result, but for now, I am at least sticking with a second gen Explorer. So If I run nitrous, the bottom end can handle all that extra power? Do I need to upgrade rods or pistons even? I just want it to be reliable, and handle abuse. I have basically realized that a stock 302 can only handle 450-500hp, so that is now my goal, I will be slower of course, but still have a load of fun. If not having a forged rotating assembly, that will save me a ton of money, which I like, I am sort of going the Roadkill method after the powerplant, and driveline, so any money saved is used for better stuff, lol.
BTW, I saw the other post on Explorer Forum, yea I was crazy with those numbers, it was before I really did any research about the engine, and it's limitations.
BTW, I saw the other post on Explorer Forum, yea I was crazy with those numbers, it was before I really did any research about the engine, and it's limitations.
Well, the thing about running a wetshot of nitrous on a stock 302, is that you won't be running much of it. Somewhere around 100-125 shot would do and still allow the engine to remain reliable. Keep in mind that this is assuming you are using an engine that hasn't been "rode hard and put away wet" its whole life. Another assumption I make when I say that it will be reliable with the 100-125 shot and boltons is that the nitrous system is controlled correctly and the whole combo of parts of tuned correctly for in the ECU. With the controller it would be a good idea to start spraying at about 3000rpms which will allow the truck to have started moving before the spray kicks in. This will greatly reduce torque forces within the engine and drivetrain. Bringing the shot in progressively is also another thing that you can do within a good nitrous controller. This will also assist in preventing over-stress on parts; and it can help with dialing in traction too. Having issues maintaining traction in a certain part of the RPM range while launching? Back off the shot % in that area a bit until you achieve traction again; or get a stickier tire.
At this point, I suggest to just get the basic combo all together with your basic boltons and the wet nitrous system in the 302 swapped Sport. Then after you get things all working kosher, which shouldn't take a whole heck of a lot of effort, move on from there. That's just how I like to do things because I like breaking a project up into bite sized chunks in their different natural stages. Going from nothing to super-crazy custom combo puts a hurting on the wallet and your free time real quick!
If you feel like you still want more, then a bigger leap would need to be made into building a proper shortblock by throwing forged rot assy into a better engine block, building the transmission, and switching to a plate-type nitrous system to spray a bigger shot; unless you decide to swap to turbo or supercharger at some point. If you think you will stay with nitrous for a while, then you could just go with a plate system right off the bat, but keep the jetting to that initially mentioned 100-125 shot area with the stock components.
About the only way I would suggest bothering to run any sort of forged internals in a stock engine block 302, is if you got a well taken care of shortblock from an 86-91 Fox body Mustang which had stock forged pistons. Some of the 92's had stock forged pistons as well, but some others didn't. I don't know where the exact cutoff was. Bothering with putting a whole forged aftermarket rotating assembly into the stock Explorer 302 block would be a waste IMO.
Most people have no idea what they are talking about when they say comments like, "You will blow your engine if you run nitrous!" and "It will melt your pistons!". Once a person says something like that to me, I realize that they have nothing of a technical matter to bring to the table, and just end the discussion knowing that they are an under-educated idiot. Whether you burn anything up or grenade the engine has more to do with the tune and how large a shot you go with. Sure, no matter how good a tune you have, if you push 300hp of squeeze through a stock block 302, the pistons will shoot to the moon. However, use a reasonable sized shot that is tuned safely and is controlled in a semi-conservative and logical manner and all will be well for a while.
By the way, I am not just speaking in hypotheticals here. I have personally ran a wet nitrous shot in my old 5.0 Explorer. I also had quite a few friends from the EF forum that ran it regularly on their 5.0 X's too with no issues. Nitrous, like any other power adder, needs to be respected. Use a little common sense and you aren't likely to run into many issues.
Thanks, I just want to avoid having to take the engine apart for any other reason then my own stupidity. Hence all the stupid questions, so basically I have to refresh the block with new gaskets, head studs, and a few bolt ons and be good to go? If thats it, I like the sound of that. Like I said before I want to have the engine an Trans ready to go by the end of the year, and throw it in next spring.
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