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 Last month we assembled the...  Last month we assembled the 302 short-block using Summit Racing's Engine Rebuild kit. This month Bob Oster of B&B Performance Machine completed the job and we dropped the engine back in the car. |
 Oster installed the oil pump...  Oster installed the oil pump driveshaft, which is driven by the distributor. We used a hardened shaft from Ford Racing (PN M-6605-B302) rather than a stock 5.0 shaft. Priced around $20, the hardened shaft is cheap insurance and should be used in any high-performance application. |
 The oil pump was fitted, but...  The oil pump was fitted, but not installed permanently at this time. After making sure it would clear the Canton main girdle, Oster removed the unit and disassembled it so he could inspect the pump and make sure no foreign matter was inside. |
 The pump was clean so he squirted...  The pump was clean so he squirted in some assembly lube and then bolted it back to the engine along with the Canton windage tray and the Canton pick-up tube. |
 The oil pan was test fitted...  The oil pan was test fitted to make certain that the pick-up was between 1/4-inch and 3/8-inch away from the bottom of the pan. If the pick-up is more than 3/8-inch from bottom of the pan the result may be oil starvation. The pick-up was right on so the pan was blown clean with compressed air and bolted down. |
They called it Poopy, they really did, those foul-mouthed editors down the hall. They said my project car didn't have chance at becoming a hot-to-trot 5-liter with a lion's heart beating beneath. But Poopy, which I prefer to call Project Hot Handler, wouldn't be denied an opportunity at MM&FF project car stardom.
I'll admit, when I first purchased the '87 5.0 it was in sad shape. But I had a plan. The 165,000-mile LX begged for new paint and we gave it to her. It cried for an interior rebop, and we upgraded the office with a new rug, much nicer seats and we painted the plastic interior panels, too. As for the suspension, it was so old that the car wiggled and wallowed in the turns, so we ripped out the old springs, shocks and struts and bolted in a complete HP Motorsports suspension package. And when the engine bearings showed signs of weakness, well, we changed them too.
Today, I'm glad to announce that after a brief vacation, our little Mustang is back in action and making great power. Most importantly, I can proudly proclaim she is Poopy no more!
Hot Handler, as we'll call the trusty LX from this point on (Yo, you hear that Hedenburg, Baur and Campy?) was the beneficiary of a rebuilt 302 that we've been assembling in the past two issues and now she makes a great noise. As you can see, we've completed stage three of the engine buildup and then installed and tested the Mustang before the deadline. And while we haven't tuned the engine for optimum power (yet), we did break in the mill and make a few pulls just to baseline the 302.
With all the bolts tight and the wiring hooked up, we turned the key and the 302 came to life. Glenn Knell of Crazy Horse Racing set the base timing (with the spout connector removed) to 14 degrees BTDC and then we set the idle to 850 rpm. Idle quality is often a concern with modified EEC-equipped engines so we took precaution and cleaned the caked-in carbon out of the IAC (idle air control) motor and we connected all the necessary vacuum lines, replacing the ones that were in bad shape.
The only problem we encountered was a bad ground from the battery to the engine block because of the freshly painted block. Once we scraped away some of the paint the battery grounded properly.
Next, we let the engine get up to temperature and poured in the correct amount of coolant. Within a few minutes the coolant temp stabilized and Knell set the fuel pressure to 42 psi with the vacuum line removed from the regulator. All systems were go, so we drove the LX directly to the dyno and strapped it down. Before making any pulls I ran the car on the rollers to get the transmission and rearend fluid up to operating temperature. This is important, especially on cold days. Then I shut down the engine so it could cool down to about 125 degrees.
When the 302 was cooled off Chris Winter took over and made three pulls. On the first pull he only ran the engine up to 4,000 rpm. Knell and I looked on, watching for smoke and leaks, and listening for any off sounds. Winter also listened on and paid close attention to the air/fuel meter on the screen. Everything look good so he cut it at 4,000, reset the dyno and let it rip. Hot Handler cranked out 274 hp and 314 lb-ft of torque. The air/fuel meter read 12.3:1 for most of the pull (about a full point rich), so I decided the one change I would make was to knock out some fuel pressure.
I didn't have a gauge hooked up anymore, so I backed off the regulator by 3/4 of a turn, just to play it safe. And on the very next pull the 302 made 286 hp at 5,400 rpm and 319.9 lb-ft of torque from 3,600-4,500 rpm. With tuning we hope to close in the 300-rwhp mark and we expect to gain a little torque as well.
Judging by the dyno sheet, I think we accomplished our goal of building a budget-minded engine that's emission-legal, idles well and has lots of low- and mid-range get up and go. Now, all we have left is a little fine tuning and we're off to the races. See you there.
 The engine was turned upright...  The engine was turned upright and we slipped on the new Summit Racing SFI harmonic balancer. |  Next, we brought the engine...  Next, we brought the engine to top dead center (TDC) on the number one cylinder (using a dial indicator) to see if the mark on the timing pointer lined up with the zero degree mark on the balancer. |  The pointer was two degrees...  The pointer was two degrees off so we modified the pointer to make point at the zero, which you can see is marked with the white line. |
 With the bottom end sealed...  With the bottom end sealed up, B&B's Dave Radomski installed new dowels on the decks and laid on the new Air Flow Reasearch 165cc cylinder heads. In a previous test the heads flowed 250 at .600-inch lift on the intake (28 inches of water) and 191 cfm on the exhaust. The heads are CNC-ported, feature 1.90/1.60-inch valves and should be a perfect match for our "E" cam and GT-40 intake. |  The heads were secured using...  The heads were secured using ARP hardware. Since the bottom five bolt holes run into the water jacket, we applied pipe sealer to prevent leaks. |  To get a proper torque reading...  To get a proper torque reading we applied ARP Moly Lube to the top five bolts. |
 Radomski torqued the heads...  Radomski torqued the heads using the sequence that Oster recommends. First he set all the ARP bolts to 30 lb-ft, working from the innermost bolts outward. Then the bolts got torqued to 50, then 70 lb-ft. Next, each bolt is backed off and re-torqued to 70 lb-ft. Lastly, he tightens the top row of bolts to 85 lb-ft and the bottom bolts to 80. |  The next step was to set up...  The next step was to set up the valvetrain. We squirted thick assembly lube in the lifter bores and also on the roller part of the lifters. It's important to use assembly lube and not grease during assembly because grease will not break down properly. |  Each of the 16 lifters was...  Each of the 16 lifters was slipped in and the guide bars were installed. The guide bars are clearly marked "up" so it's virtually impossible to botch the job when putting them on. |
 The lifter retaining bar or...  The lifter retaining bar or "spider" holds the lifters in place. Always install the guide bar with the proper hardware. If you use bolts that are too long, they can actually contact the camshaft bearings, causing them to squeeze down on the cam. The result will not be good. |  Next on the assembly list...  Next on the assembly list is the pushrods. Before installing them, Oster recommends that you look through each one to make sure there is no debris inside. Oil flows through the pushrods in order to lube the top end of the engine, so clean pushrods are critical. |  Place the pushrods in the...  Place the pushrods in the pushrod guide holes and make sure they sit in the center of the lifters. |
 Now it's time to install and...  Now it's time to install and adjust the rockers. Spin the engine by hand until the cam is on the base circle for the lifter you are going to adjust. Or, to adjust the intake valve, spin the engine until the exhaust valve opens. This will ensure that the intake is completely closed. For the exhaust, watch the intake valve and stop when it begins to close. Clean off the rockers and assemble one at a time using the aluminum rocker stand and the bolt. Place the bolt through the hole in the rocker and make sure the head of the bolt sits on the flat side of the fulcrum. |  Tighten the bolt while simultaneously...  Tighten the bolt while simultaneously spinning the pushrod with your other hand. Once the slack is taken up, use a wrench and an Allen socket to tighten the bolt. It should not take more than a full turn of the wrench to tighten. If it takes more than one turn, you will need to remove the rocker and install a shim (shown in the previous photo) between the aluminum stand and the stand guide. A small shim was needed for almost of our rockers. |  Next, torque each rocker to...  Next, torque each rocker to 22-24 lb-ft. |
 Finally, we had a built long-block...  Finally, we had a built long-block that was just about ready to go in the car. |  Chris Winter of Crazy Horse...  Chris Winter of Crazy Horse Racing refurbished our dingy valve covers. Before installing them he removed the baffles so they would clear the rockers. At this time we also bolted on the lower GT-40 intake manifold. |  We then installed the Energy...  We then installed the Energy Suspension polyurethane motor mounts in place of the broken 165,000-mile stockers. |
 Glenn Knell slipped in the...  Glenn Knell slipped in the new 24-psi injectors along with a fuel rail that did time on Project Stocker. The rail is stock, save for the Kenne Bell adjustable fuel regulator. |  Just before dropping in the...  Just before dropping in the engine we bolted up the alternator bracket and the coolant lines that feed the heater core. |  Hot Handler's 302 will breathe...  Hot Handler's 302 will breathe through these BBK 1 5/8-inch long-tube headers that will be connected to a 2 1/2-inch catalytic-equipped BBK X-pipe and Dynomax mufflers. |
 We lowered the engine and...  We lowered the engine and the headers in at the same time. |  I dumped in 6 1/2 quarts of...  I dumped in 6 1/2 quarts of oil (we now have a 7-quart pan) and Knell primed the oiling system using a distributor shaft and a hand drill. At this time we also put on all new hoses. |  He then installed the GT-40...  He then installed the GT-40 upper... |
 ...and the BBK 70mm throttle...  ...and the BBK 70mm throttle body and spacer. |  The X-pipe helped the 302...  The X-pipe helped the 302 make lots of torque, while keeping the Mustang emissions compliant and sounding good. |  Before firing the engine,...  Before firing the engine, Knell extended the wiring to the 02 sensors. |
 After finding a bad ground,...  After finding a bad ground, the engine fired up and sounded good. We let the 302 warm up to temperature (180 degrees) and then we headed straight for the dyno. The graph (shown) is only the second pull on the engine. On the first shot it made 275 hp and 315 lb-ft of torque. We only had time for one change, so we took one turn out of the fuel pressure regulator and found 10 ponies and a little torque. Timing was at 14 degrees and fuel pressure was at 42 pounds In the near future we'll do more tuning and try to crack the 300hp mark. | | |