Vannin' Home Forums Ford Performance (Ford) 4 barrel on a late 70s 302 -Opinions?

Somebody wants my 89 cargo van so I am going to let it go and work on the 79 model that I have. It is a stock 302, getting a little tired as it has some blow by but other than that is is a solid runner. It has sat for a long while so the carb is in need of a cleanout. I am thinking about putting a 4 bbl on it and maybe a set of shorty headers I have lying around to go with the side pipes I also have. On my dodge 318 I installed a factory qjet setup off of a b350 and it was like a different vehicle. Can I expect the same from the 302? Any suggestions on the best setup? BTW, I have not really seen any good spreadbore intakes for the 302 that arent 300.00. I guess they are rare.

On Courtneys mid I used a H.O.302 intake from a Cobra and a Edelbrock 500cfm and it really has some giddy-up now..

I guess you mean like an old school 79 cobra? or mustang II cobra? Was it aluminum or cast iron?

Yes it was aluminum I believe it was from 86 Cobra..

An Edelbrock performer would be a good intake. A Holley 4160 would work well on that. Find a carb off a 80's 4 barrel truck or van. You could also use a carb off a 83-85 Mustang but I would change the secondary spring in the diaphram.

On a stock 302 I would go no bigger than a 500 CFM four barrel carb. Spreadbore would be preferred.

Either 500 or 600 works fine, really no difference on a van. I install 4bbls on 289-302s all the time.Ive put 4bbls on vans dozens of times. I usually use the 600.
I prefer the performers, but dont really like their passing gear linkage contraption.
The holley 600 is a good choice too.
Stay away from those tall style intakes, those are only for higher RPM.
You want torque in your heavy van.
They wake up real nice with a recurved distributor.

I used to run a 450 CFM Holley 4360 on the 351W in my old 84 E-150. It worked a treat and got about 20 MPG on the highway if I kept my foot out of it.

How do you "Keep your foot out of it" ? I am STILL trying to learn that one ! lol