302=boom bitch. What rebuild options?

[ZYouL8R]

My BIL has been driving my wife's 94 GT for years now since she kind of passed it down to him. This week, he exited the highway, clicked off the cruise control, and BOOM! Knocking and a hole in the pan. We haven't pulled anything apart yet, but this motor has 230k miles on it so we're not too upset.

The car is in overall rough shape. Our plan is to fix it up over the next 15.69 years and pass it down to our daughter for her first car.

I'm not a Ford guy, so I have limited knowledge about the 302. Right now I'm weighing the options for a new engine considering the goal is to have this thing running good enough in 16 years. So, which one of the options would you choose:

a. Find used motor to get by for now, but keep original for later rebuild
b. New crate motor
c. Rebuild original

I'd like to keep the original motor in there so it can be "numbers matching" in the future, so I'm leaning towards a stock rebuild. For you guys that know the 302, would a stock rebuild today be a stupid idea since the goal is to have it running in 16 years? I'm not expecting a rebuild to last 230k, but I don't know how much I can expect to get out of it. What stock rebuild options exist?

Thanks.

[Captain Crawfish]

take it over to max at LRE have him rebuild it with some good parts.

[TEAMJACOB]

Sounds like the ideal situation for a 4v swap

[Txstang1]

I think a stock rebuild will be fine.

[Unicorn Jeff]

Sounds like the ideal situation for a 4v swap

Horrible idea.



Option C.

[46Tbird]

I'd probably go with option B. New parts with tight tolerances will last a long time and they are priced about the same as parts+labor for a rebuild.

Unless it's some special car, the 'numbers matching' engine won't mean much. Plus you can always keep the original engine in the garage as whatever you do now will probably need to be done again in 15 years.

[JC316]

Just go to a junkyard and get a motor for it. The 5.0L runs forever and is dirt cheap used. Oh and for what it's worth, a numbers matching ford has never meant jack shit, it was the Chevys that had to have numbers matching.

[mk5.0]

You can get a new stock shortblock from 50 resto for around $600

[bcoop]

With that high of miles on it already, I don't think the numbers matching means anything.

[YALE]

You can get a new stock shortblock from 50 resto for around $600

This. PM 46foxcoupe. He's good people.

[Z06killinsbf]

I'd say one of the ready to drop in motor would be best. Little down time and not very expensive.

[46Tbird]

Just go to a junkyard and get a motor for it. The 5.0L runs forever and is dirt cheap used.

This was true about ten years ago, but the newest junkyard 302 you're going to find now will be 17 years old, and probably 20 or more.

[Chas_svo]

Just go to a junkyard and get a motor for it. The 5.0L runs forever and is dirt cheap used. Oh and for what it's worth, a numbers matching ford has never meant jack shit, it was the Chevys that had to have numbers matching.

I bet a number of Boss 302, Boss 429, and such owners would prove this to be a very naive statement.

In the case, it is correct.

[ZYouL8R]

Thanks for the responses.

Downtime isn't a factor here since we don't need the car running any time soon. I know numbers matching won't mean shit since the miles are so high, but I just thought it would be cool to have the original engine in there.

Also since we're going to spend an ass load of money restoring the entire car, I didn't want to go overboard with the engine. I don't know much about the 5.0, but I was thinking the GT40P heads with the Explorer intake or something on top, with a decent durable bottom end.

[Whiteboy]

I have a 306 zero miles forged pistons,new lifters,e-cam,balancer,timing cover oil pan $1,000