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Explorer 302

So does the 302 in the Explorer have an actual GT-40 intake or is it a modified version? What about the heads, are they a GT-40 or something similar? I'm guessint they flow better then my stock heads on the 88 302.

Explorer 302

Reply #1 –
the search will pull up a lot of info on both
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
***** Project "EVOLUTION" 1987 Cougar LS  & 1985 Cougar Convertible *****
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5.0 HO 306 roller block, machined GT-40P heads, Wiseco dished forged pistons, Eagle forged floating I-beam connecting rods, Lunati pushrods, ARP bolts, Scorpion aluminum 1.6 rockers, Comp Cams Magnum 266HR, Explorer intake, 65mm TB, MAF Conversion, 19# injectors, Ford Racing stainless P-headers, 2-1/2" cat-less exhaust w/ Flowtech Afterburner lers , SC AOD with 2800 BDR torque converter, 3.73 T-Lok rear, CHE rear control arms, full 2-1/2" frame w/1" jacking rails & seat supports, Rear disk brakes, Turbine wheels, All original interior w/ floor shift upgrade .......
Pretty much every panel on my 87 is new, rebuilt, or re constructed. :D
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Explorer 302

Reply #2 –
I just got a 98 Explorer motor and it has the gt40P heads.

Explorer 302

Reply #3 –
don't know why i didn't see this before.. guess i'm not the only 1 who missed it lol

the heads are GT40P's on 90% of explorer motors.. some of the early 5.0 explorers had the regular GT40's I THINK.. the GT40P's are 1 of the best heads you can get for a windsor motor.. the intake ISN'T a GT40, but it does flow better than what you currently have on your car..

i don't know what's currently done to your motor, whether it's an SO or HO, etc etc.. but whatever it is, if the top end is stock, the explorer setup is better.. if you have an HO, it'll go on without an issue.. if it's SO, you've got some decision making to do, because the GT40P valves are larger and will make contact with your pistons.. you have a few options to make it work, but i'd suggest either a rebuild with new pistons OR a healthy HO shortblock
ShadowMSC.com < < Still Under Construction

R.I.P. 'Zump' 8/29/86 - 11/11/11
3- 87 TC's / 1 really mean 83 Capri RS / 94 Sonoma SAS Project on 37x12.50 TSL Radials / 88 S10 that's LITERALLY cut to pieces / 84 F150 SAS, 351M, 39.5 TSL's / 85 Toyota regular cab, 22R 5spd, 3/4" drop, my little junkyard save/daily driver

Explorer 302

Reply #4 –
Or, its more like the ptv clearance is almost identical between the h.o. and s.o. bottom end, and if you can run the s.o. pistons, you won't need a new motor or bottom end, and you'll have slightly higher compression, giving you more power. A h.o. cam and s.o. pistons with gt40 heads, should clear, but always check you ptv.
Quote from: jcassity
I honestly dont think you could exceed the cost of a new car buy installing new *stock* parts everywhere in your coug our tbird. Its just plain impossible. You could revamp the entire drivetrain/engine/suspenstion and still come out ahead.
Hooligans! 
1988 Crown Vic wagon. 120K California car. Wifes grocery getter. (junked)
1987 Ford Thunderbird LX. 5.0. s.o., sn-95 t-5 and an f-150 clutch. Driven daily and going strong.
1986 cougar.
lilsammywasapunkrocker@yahoo.com

Explorer 302

Reply #5 –
i give up lol.. everyone says different bs about the PTV clearance.. i don't personally know from experience, because SO pistons are trashcan material to me
ShadowMSC.com < < Still Under Construction

R.I.P. 'Zump' 8/29/86 - 11/11/11
3- 87 TC's / 1 really mean 83 Capri RS / 94 Sonoma SAS Project on 37x12.50 TSL Radials / 88 S10 that's LITERALLY cut to pieces / 84 F150 SAS, 351M, 39.5 TSL's / 85 Toyota regular cab, 22R 5spd, 3/4" drop, my little junkyard save/daily driver

Explorer 302

Reply #6 –
You will not have any piston to valve problems with the SO piston IF you're running the stock SO or HO cam. The HO cam has only .440" lift. I wouldn't run the SO pistons with any after market cam because even if you keep the lift low it can still hit if the duration is high enough. You can safely run .500" lift with HO piston IF you keep the duration under 220* at .050". Millions of mustang guys run "E" cams with stock pistons with no issues. The "E" cam has .498" lift and 220* duration at .050". If you have the whole explorer engine just put a HO cam in it and swap the engine, problem solved, no PTV issues.
88 Cougar LS 5.0 .030 over, ported E7s with GT40 valves & trickflow springs, Proform roller rockers, HO cam, removed air silencer, K&N filter, smog pump delete, 2.25" dual flowmasters, Pacestter H-pipe & headers, HO computer, 65mm TB, Explorer intake, 19# injecters, 3.45s, rebuilt posi, and TCI shift kit.

Explorer 302

Reply #7 –
Lots of guys here run the e camand gt40's without ptv on a stock bottom end. I just don't get what all the hate is against the stock s.o. pistons. I have seen many over the years take nitrous till the block split, endure superchargers and rpm's. What makes them so cruddy stock?
Quote from: jcassity
I honestly dont think you could exceed the cost of a new car buy installing new *stock* parts everywhere in your coug our tbird. Its just plain impossible. You could revamp the entire drivetrain/engine/suspenstion and still come out ahead.
Hooligans! 
1988 Crown Vic wagon. 120K California car. Wifes grocery getter. (junked)
1987 Ford Thunderbird LX. 5.0. s.o., sn-95 t-5 and an f-150 clutch. Driven daily and going strong.
1986 cougar.
lilsammywasapunkrocker@yahoo.com

Explorer 302

Reply #8 –
Careful everyone, be mindful of the geometry of camshafts....LIFT does not a good or bad PTV clearance make ;) the entire profile really needs to be known among other things if you want to somehow *calculate* it or do some hand-waving.

I had hoped for this as well for the red cougar's engine. Turned out with the H.O. cam and GT40 non-P, F3ZE heads, S.O. bottom end, there is NOT enough clearance. The bigger valves I determined to be the sole cause of this, but my comment about cam designs still stands.

DONT DESPAIR though....I have to go now but I will link to my build thread where I show you how to easily flycut your S.O.'s so everything will fit, with a valve, a power drill, and sticky sandpaper. If you want to dig yourself it's in here somewhere. Also search google for a thread on http://www.ls1tech.com, that's where I found it.
1987 20th Anniversary Cougar, 302 "5.0" GT-40 heads (F3ZE '93 Cobra) and TMoss Ported H.O. intake, H.O. camshaft
2.5" Duals, no cats, Flowmaster 40s, Richmond 3.73s w/ Trac-Lok, maxed out Baumann shift kit, 3000 RPM Dirty Dog non-lock TC
Aside from the Mustang crinkle headers, still looks like it's only 150 HP...
1988 Black XR7 Trick Flow top end, Tremec 3550
1988 Black XR7 Procharger P600B intercooled, Edelbrock Performer non-RPM heads, GT40 intake AOD, 13 PSI @5000 RPM. 93 octane

Explorer 302

Reply #9 –
they're cast junk.. they've been trashcan material since i had my first bird and i found the edge of the decks were brital, chewed to hell and starting to break away.. i've only used stock HO pistons twice, everything else has been aftermarket
ShadowMSC.com < < Still Under Construction

R.I.P. 'Zump' 8/29/86 - 11/11/11
3- 87 TC's / 1 really mean 83 Capri RS / 94 Sonoma SAS Project on 37x12.50 TSL Radials / 88 S10 that's LITERALLY cut to pieces / 84 F150 SAS, 351M, 39.5 TSL's / 85 Toyota regular cab, 22R 5spd, 3/4" drop, my little junkyard save/daily driver

Explorer 302

Reply #10 –
Quote from: ZondaC12;377411
DONT DESPAIR though....I have to go now but I will link to my build thread where I show you how to easily flycut your S.O.'s so everything will fit, with a valve, a power drill, and sticky sandpaper. If you want to dig yourself it's in here somewhere. Also search google for a thread on http://www.ls1tech.com, that's where I found it.

here it 'tis..

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=flycutting%20pistons&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fls1tech.com%2Fforums%2Fgeneration-iii-internal-engine%2F709183-how-flycut-pistons.html&ei=zMUMT-6xDsKtsQLVo-WMBg&usg=AFQjCNF_m-nki9BFuZDDrfoeSg456l9cUA&cad=rja
ShadowMSC.com < < Still Under Construction

R.I.P. 'Zump' 8/29/86 - 11/11/11
3- 87 TC's / 1 really mean 83 Capri RS / 94 Sonoma SAS Project on 37x12.50 TSL Radials / 88 S10 that's LITERALLY cut to pieces / 84 F150 SAS, 351M, 39.5 TSL's / 85 Toyota regular cab, 22R 5spd, 3/4" drop, my little junkyard save/daily driver

Explorer 302

Reply #11 –
Yup tharr she blows!!!  Really good write-up, follow it to the letter and you'll be mint. Tedious? Yes a bit...my arms were about useless after lifting the heads on and off about 2000 times LOL. But so worth it. And if you just make 'em look like what you see on H.O.pistons, go about 1/4" deep, not like you'll lose enough compression to piss you off, and using a valve that is just slightly bigger than the one that has to go there....you've got it made.

I was soooooo pumped to know that I could keep the entire original bottom end. Hehe.
1987 20th Anniversary Cougar, 302 "5.0" GT-40 heads (F3ZE '93 Cobra) and TMoss Ported H.O. intake, H.O. camshaft
2.5" Duals, no cats, Flowmaster 40s, Richmond 3.73s w/ Trac-Lok, maxed out Baumann shift kit, 3000 RPM Dirty Dog non-lock TC
Aside from the Mustang crinkle headers, still looks like it's only 150 HP...
1988 Black XR7 Trick Flow top end, Tremec 3550
1988 Black XR7 Procharger P600B intercooled, Edelbrock Performer non-RPM heads, GT40 intake AOD, 13 PSI @5000 RPM. 93 octane

Explorer 302

Reply #12 –
for SBF guys using any type of GT40 head, it's been recommended to use chevy valves to do the fly cuts
ShadowMSC.com < < Still Under Construction

R.I.P. 'Zump' 8/29/86 - 11/11/11
3- 87 TC's / 1 really mean 83 Capri RS / 94 Sonoma SAS Project on 37x12.50 TSL Radials / 88 S10 that's LITERALLY cut to pieces / 84 F150 SAS, 351M, 39.5 TSL's / 85 Toyota regular cab, 22R 5spd, 3/4" drop, my little junkyard save/daily driver
 

Explorer 302

Reply #13 –
I just picked up a set of gt40p heads and explorer intake for mine. When I saw this post I was hoping to read they would work without cutting the pistons. lol

Explorer 302

Reply #14 –
They will with the stock cam. But you'll need GT40P headers. The plugs dont fit the exhaust manifold with the P heads. I was going to run a set of P heads on my engine but the stock manifold would'nt clear and I didnt have money for headers so I used E7s. I have a set of GT40P heads and headers I just bought last payday that will recieve big valves and screw in studs.
88 Cougar LS 5.0 .030 over, ported E7s with GT40 valves & trickflow springs, Proform roller rockers, HO cam, removed air silencer, K&N filter, smog pump delete, 2.25" dual flowmasters, Pacestter H-pipe & headers, HO computer, 65mm TB, Explorer intake, 19# injecters, 3.45s, rebuilt posi, and TCI shift kit.