Ford Racing Peformance Parts Boss 302 Engine Build - Reptile Resuscitation

With the rocker optimally placed on the valve stem tip as shown, the Comp Cams adjustable pushrod measured 6.85 inches. Comp has these in its Hi-Tech series as PN 7930-16.

We've been taking inventory of the bolts and other fasteners that we still had for project Stolen Goods. We came up short on quite a few of them and called MPS Auto Salvage in Winder, Georgia. MPS has everything from bellhousing bolts to throttle-body studs.

We consulted AFM's Rick Anderson on a number of possible mods for our Boss motor, one of which was an electric water pump. "I'd never build another motor without one," he says. This highly trick piece from Meziere Enterprises (PN WP312) features an idler pulley to keep the stock serpentine-belt arrangement for standard '93-and-older 5.0 engines. Meziere says the WP312 will cut parasitic drag by up to 11.3 hp while flowing 55 gpm.

Installation of Meziere's electric water pump is extremely simple using the provided stainless steel fasteners. Under normal use the standard pump will draw 11-12 amps.

We were a bit worried when we mocked up the intake manifold on the motor without gaskets, as the water pump made contact with the Meziere aluminum water neck. All was well, though, once the gaskets were in place.

The pump comes complete with stainless hardware, fittings, and gaskets. The supplied heater/bypass fittings, which will replace these plugs once we get the motor in, match the stock configuration of the heater hoses.

Our Boss block came with this engraved plate that fastens to the top of the rear block wall. According to FRPP's Jesse Kershaw, about the first 150 blocks or so will get these with each being numbered in succession.

Next up is the Trick Flow lower intake manifold. You'll need to install the coolant plugs, the heater hard line, the inlet air temperature sensor, the injectors, and the fuel rails. Note that the '93 Cobra hard heater line does not have the EGR spacer coolant provision. The EGR connection was built into the Cobra intake manifold and the coolant supply, which was designed to keep the throttle shaft from sticking in cold weather, was omitted.

To get a handle on the engine's fuel pressure, we ditched the stock piece for an adjustable unit. Just remove the three Allen-head bolts and pull the stocker off of the fuel rail.

We called up Brothers Performance for all of our fuel supply needs. They supplied this BBK billet adjustable fuel-pressure regulator, as well as the 38-lb-hr fuel injectors and 255-lph in-tank fuel pump.

By ordering the Fel-Pro gasket kit, it was comforting knowing we had all of the gaskets that we needed. More importantly, the kit includes the top-of-the-line, one-piece rubber gaskets for the oil pan and valve covers. While we had MPS Auto Salvage send us a set of upper and lower intake manifold bolts, we were able to get a set of polished stainless fasteners for the lower from ARP, and the Trick Flow intake came with its own studs and bolts for the upper plenum.

We called Ford Racing Performance Parts for a set of its black crinkle Cobra valve covers (PN M-6000-C302). We figured these would look pretty bitchin' with the black Trick Flow Track Heat manifold. Here, HP tech Jason Combs has installed the Lucas 38-lb-hr injectors in the lower manifold followed by the original factory fuel rails, which we still had.