Engine rebuild/mild modifications on my '86 302 EFI

I wanted to start a thread for my engine project. I pulled the engine today and my goal is to fix the many leaks (oil, exhaust manifold, intake manifold, power steering pump, transmission are all leaking) and to also do some mild mods while I have it apart. Right now I'm thinking a speed density-friendly cam and possibly aluminum heads plus headers/new exhaust. I'm shooting for around 300HP with better low end torque.

I'm sure I will have many questions since this is, by far, the deepest I have gotten into an engine but the first question concerns the block. The casting number appears to be E7TE 6015 CA (I'm sure about the E7TE but the rest is hard to read). Question: this should be an '87 block based on the number but my truck is an '86. Can this be right? The PO actually rebuilt the motor about 5000 miles ago but he said it is the original motor. Also, any idea if this is a roller block? I will find out soon when I remove the lower intake but just thought I would ask.

I should add that my truck was built in June of '86.

Sparky wrote

I wanted to start a thread for my engine project. I pulled the engine today and my goal is to fix the many leaks (oil, exhaust manifold, intake manifold, power steering pump, transmission are all leaking) and to also do some mild mods while I have it apart. Right now I'm thinking a speed density-friendly cam and possibly aluminum heads plus headers/new exhaust. I'm shooting for around 300HP with better low end torque.

I'm sure I will have many questions since this is, by far, the deepest I have gotten into an engine but the first question concerns the block. The casting number appears to be E7TE 6015 CA (I'm sure about the E7TE but the rest is hard to read). Question: this should be an '87 block based on the number but my truck is an '86. Can this be right? The PO actually rebuilt the motor about 5000 miles ago but he said it is the original motor. Also, any idea if this is a roller block? I will find out soon when I remove the lower intake but just thought I would ask.

If he took the block to the machine shop it is quite possible there was another 302 block at the shop and they got mixed up and he believes it is the original one to his truck.  There was a post on social media on the small block windsor group I am on, guy and his buddy took their engines in to be rebuilt, he had a roller cam 302 block his buddy had a flat tappet cam block.  His buddies short block was finished first and stopped by at his house on way home thats when he noticed that the shop used his roller block to build his buddies engine.

As far as for performance if you are going aluminum heads I strongly recommend the AFR Renegade 165cc heads.  They are 58cc chambers and they are great heads for stock displacement 302/351W engines and wont harm throttle response.  Those are the heads I am personally running but with upgrades as I am running an aftermarket cam.

What you need to do is look at cams first find what cam you want to run and then build around that as what ever cylinder heads you go with, you will need to know the recommended valve spring rates to have the heads matched to your cam.

Be careful cause something mild can turn quite wild when you are finished.  Mine was going to be a carbed 4V 302 build full roller for my '82 and it ended up being a aftermarket fuel injected 302 build.

Sparky wrote

I should add that my truck was built in June of '86.

 
In a normal year, June would be getting pretty late in the production run, but since this was the last year for the Bullnose, it seems like they ran the production late as I have seen 1986 models with fall of ‘86 build dates.
In any case, if it is the original engine, it definitely isn’t a roller cam engine, and probably not even a roller block. I don’t think the roller blocks showed up until the late 80’s and the roller cams didn’t show up in trucks until the early 1990’s.
I think you are fairly limited with cam and mod selection with speed density, but I’m not an expert on the early EFI systems.

Rembrant wrote

Sparky wrote

I should add that my truck was built in June of '86.

 
In a normal year, June would be getting pretty late in the production run, but since this was the last year for the Bullnose, it seems like they ran the production late as I have seen 1986 models with fall of ‘86 build dates.
In any case, if it is the original engine, it definitely isn’t a roller cam engine, and probably not even a roller block. I don’t think the roller blocks showed up until the late 80’s and the roller cams didn’t show up in trucks until the early 1990’s.
I think you are fairly limited with cam and mod selection with speed density, but I’m not an expert on the early EFI systems.

The 302 roller showed up in 1985, hence the 1985 Mustang GT 5.0HO distributor we use for swaps with a duraspark II ignition system.

Ford trucks didnt get the roller till 1994 with the F4TE roller cam.  His block should be a roller block but it wont have the roller components if it is original to the truck and not a 5.0 HO mustang transplant which would be easy enough to tell based off the 351W firing order.

It's possible that this is not the original engine but maybe Ford had the '87 blocks ready to go before the '86 production run was finished? Anyway, I hope it's a roller block.

Once I know if it's roller or flat tappet I will make a cam selection. I've seen the AFR heads recommended by others. They sound like a good option. The advice I've heard is to keep the intake runners at 170cc max for good low end torque. I will have to decide if they are in the budget because they are pricey. I can definitely see how a build can get out of hand but I will be limited by the speed density EFI since I am planning to keep it, at least for now.

I would have to reply to this in the same way I would any other friends and the way I told my son.
"don't modify until you can afford to do it twice". re engineering on a budget should always be a cause for concern. I'm dealing with this on a daily basis correcting things just finished and improved. now I modify and try new things and combos in the effort of tuning one way or another all the time. the point is take no modification for granted. even if it is popular on you tube. the best recommendation I can make is to do good maintenance and repairs while saving up to do the engine that you really want. if its already been swapped then originality is not the issue. getting a roller block and starting with good machine work will be easy.  remember the 93 lightning? 245 hp factory! 351 gt40 top end. power is more then just the numbers

Good advice. I will try to buy quality stuff that gives me the most bang for my buck. I'm not interested in a speed machine, just trying to wake it up and make it a little more fun to drive. The main areas of improvement seem to be cam, heads and exhaust according to what I have read. I've heard that the factory intake is pretty good. I would like to hear other opinions on what what I should focus on. I have another truck to drive so time is not an issue.

I found a thread on another forum that has a lot of good information for building a speed density 302. Maybe some of you have seen it:

https://www.f150forum.com/f10/bit-info-those-looking-build-300-hp-5-0l-302s-276512/

Sparky wrote

It's possible that this is not the original engine but maybe Ford had the '87 blocks ready to go before the '86 production run was finished? Anyway, I hope it's a roller block.

Once I know if it's roller or flat tappet I will make a cam selection. I've seen the AFR heads recommended by others. They sound like a good option. The advice I've heard is to keep the intake runners at 170cc max for good low end torque. I will have to decide if they are in the budget because they are pricey. I can definitely see how a build can get out of hand but I will be limited by the speed density EFI since I am planning to keep it, at least for now.

It should be a roller block.  Ford introduced the roller 302 in 1985 its just that trucks kept getting the flat tappet cams till 1994 with the F4TE roller cam upgrade done to the 302 which has many people questioning why Ford waited so long to introduced roller cams on their trucks

Rusty_S85 wrote

It should be a roller block.  Ford introduced the roller 302 in 1985 its just that trucks kept getting the flat tappet cams till 1994 with the F4TE roller cam upgrade done to the 302 which has many people questioning why Ford waited so long to introduced roller cams on their trucks

Only the Mustang 5.0's got the roller blocks in 1985. Trucks didn't get roller blocks until the new blocks were introduced in 1987. Being a transition year, anything is possible, so you never really know what you will get. I've taken apart a couple '85-'86 F150 EFI 5.0's, and they were flat tappet blocks. The trucks first got the small base roller cam starting in 1992. They got the larger base circle H.O. firing order roller cams in 1994. This is what I'm running in my '96 5.0 engine. The F4TE cam is about the best you can get for low end torque in a 5.0.

It is entirely possible that a late build 1986 F150 5.0 got a roller block, but it's far from being a sure thing.

Ok, here's what I've got. Is this a roller block that does not have the bosses for the spider tapped? The tops of the lifter bores have been machined but I'm not sure how tall they should be.

not a roller block

this is a roller block core in line for a rebuild. notice the xxx markings. I can not guarantee that earlier versions may or may not have been able to be drilled and tapped in order to be made roller but lifter oiling positions are said to be different. using a roller block to start with can save a lot of headache.

mat in tn wrote

this is a roller block core in line for a rebuild. notice the xxx markings. I can not guarantee that earlier versions may or may not have been able to be drilled and tapped in order to be made roller but lifter oiling positions are said to be different. using a roller block to start with can save a lot of headache.

The xxx are nothing more than strengthening points in the casting.  not all have the xxx markings and my F1SE roller 302 does not have the xxx markings in the lifter valley.



You can drill the mounting points but you have to make a decision.  You will either need a reduced base circle cam to use OE style roller lifters to prevent them from being lifted above the lifter bores, or you have to run a retrofit link bar lifter.

The lifter bores in a roller block are taller to account for the taller lifter body.  If you try to run a roller lifter in a non roller block you will lose oil pressure as the lifter rises above the lifter bore exposing the oil passage collar around the lifter body.

Everything I have seen online seems to say that if the block was cast with the raised spots for the spider then it is a roller block, plus mine already has the lifter bores machined at the top for the dog bones. I gotta believe this is a roller block and I just have to drill and tap for the spider. I would be 100% sure if I knew the dimension of the height of the lifter bore compared to the non roller, then I could measure mine. Anyone know this dimension?

Sparky wrote

Everything I have seen online seems to say that if the block was cast with the raised spots for the spider then it is a roller block, plus mine already has the lifter bores machined at the top for the dog bones. I gotta believe this is a roller block and I just have to drill and tap for the spider. I would be 100% sure if I knew the dimension of the height of the lifter bore compared to the non roller, then I could measure mine. Anyone know this dimension?

It could be yours was early enough that they didnt make it standard practice to drill the mounting points for the spider.  Like I said '85 was when the roller 302 block was introduced, yes I know its been stated that only the mustang had the roller cam but Ford wouldnt have made two different 302 blocks for two different applications.  Ive seen people with '86 trucks with the original block that was already prepped for use with factory roller cams just like Ford was still throwing the two piece fuel pump eccentric on EFI equipped 302s

I'm 99% sure it's a roller block but I measured the height of the lifter boss to verify for sure. It's about 1 3/8" (hard to get an exact measurement). Does anyone have a block available that they can measure to verify for sure? Sorry, image will not rotate no matter what I do.

For the record my engine has E5TE heads. I was expecting E7 heads but it doesn't matter since I am upgrading them anyway. So to summarize, it's an '86 truck with an original (I believe) E7TE ('87) roller block engine with unmachined bosses for the spider but with machined lifter bores for the dogbones and with E5TE heads. Seems like a real mishmash of parts.

100% sure it's the original engine. Just checked and the number stamped on the block matches the last 8 digits of the VIN.