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

Well, you know, I have verified that my 351 will power a Ford van to "M" (75-91 Ford van owners will understand- go look at your speedometer).

LOL ! Unfortunatly, my Ford has a Digital Dash, no M, but I can guess. . . . .

Reed what is that Offy intake you are so crazy about?

Offy Dual-Port. The intake functions as a single plane intake with teeny-tiny passages for the primaries and a separate single plane intake with larger passages for the secondaries. It is tailor made for a big heavy vehicle whose engine only ever turns low RPMs, much like out street driven vans. You should be able to find them for a 302.

Reed, do you realize those are almost $400, I know, I looked, I hope to get a 4 barrel for my mid, the 2 barrel carb needs replaced and rebuild candidates are gettin scarce.

I ran the offy 360 on my 77 351w ,van with 70 heads, duals , recurved distributor,Performer cam , 600 performer carb. It ran great pulled Ok, ran great on highway, mileage so so.

I needed the intake for my fairmont, and a friend gave me one of those split port jobs, brand new. He still has it on the same motor. I swapped it, same carb and everything else. It had off the line responsiveness but lost the midrange and top end. It was slower. It ran fine at highway speeds but mileage was cut also.

Those factory Ford 2bbl carbs are around 350 CFM.

I never waste money on new intakes. Every intake I have ever run (including the Offy Dual-Port I ran on my 351) has ben used. I have never paid more than $150 for any intake I have ever bought. Some people are concerned about aluminum aftermarket intakes warping, but I have never had a sealing issue with any of the used intakes I have purchased and used. Dual-Ports have been around since the 70s so they pop up on eBay and swap meets and on car enthusiast websites.

Due to the small runner size, the Offy dual port intake really stops flowing well above 4500 RPM. Hot rodders hate the intake because of this. However, on a van that is street driven the motor rarely goes above 3000 RPM. If you drive with a light foot and don't over-carburate, the dual port is a fine choice of an intake for a van. I would stick with a 500 CFM carburetor maximum if I was still using a dual-port.

Maples- does your mid have a 302 or a 351? I still have the 351 dual port intake and would make you a deal on it.

Holley 500 2-barrel with give optimum performance but mileage will suffer, 600 holley or 625 carter, take my advice and buy a pre-calibrated carburetor from the aftermarket, they are usually only a few dollars but 100x better and will save you lots of time and hassle.

A little off topic here, but I was able to score an Edelbrock LD340 intake for $45 from Craigslist. It will be going on the 318 in my 85 along with a 500 or 600 Performer carb.

Deals are out there.