Engine pros and cons

[Ike]

So I'm looking at the my options for a replacement or rebuilding of my 302, due to a lack of oil pressure and 247000km's of love and abuse.

what would you do ....

a light rebuild ( same heads crank etc. replace the broken parts but keep whats there) on the existing 302 or find one with less km's

a 302 ** ( and if a 302 ** will one out of a car stand up to the abuses of mud and rocks? )

a 347 stroker vastly more expensive on the verge of outside the budget but ... a 347 stroker

a 351 either running or light rebuild

I fully intend to take this truck off road and still have a reliable driver ( it is not my daily driver ) in the short term will a 302 cut it while i do the suspension, drive line, rock sliders, under body armor, bumpers, cage, etc all the things a good truck needs to tackle the Canadian shield with a smile ?

I believe in doing it once and doing it right ....but there's more to be done the just the engine, that said there's no replacement for displacement and more power will come in time.

compression test, and investigation into what exactly is in a stock 88 ford bronco 302 is obviously in need and to come.

Being new to 4x4's and off road any experience and advice and what not to do and or directions to resources for decoding what i have would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ike]

oops didn't mean to post twice

 

[Justshootme84]

As a first option, I would say have your 302 block checked for any cracks, and rebuild it. But don't leave out the option of swapping in a 460 cid motor to wake up the Bronco, JSM84

 

[Ike]

Did that by chance come in the f250?

One long term build option / thought I've had is chopping the frame on an f250 4x4 to fit the body mounts on a bronco body, as its rather a new thought (to me) i have a lot more investigating to ......

An f250 donor too swap everything but the frame and body is my second thought.

thoughts ? keep the bronco frame or just the body ?

I have the equpiemt to crack check it at work ( ultra sound / magna-glow at work ), so I'm thinking just pull it and see how bad it is and go from there.

 

[Yardape]

I would keep the 302 til you get the truck built to what you want. then swap in a 460. yes they did come in an f250. I considered chopping the frame down of a 250 like you suggested but that would create a weak link, and its much easier to swap the 460 into the Bronco.

 

[Justshootme84]

Did that by chance come in the f250?
One long term build option / thought I've had is chopping the frame on an f250 4x4 to fit the body mounts on a bronco body, as its rather a new thought (to me) i have a lot more investigating to ......

An f250 donor too swap everything but the frame and body is my second thought.

thoughts ? keep the bronco frame or just the body ?

I have the equpiemt to crack check it at work ( ultra sound / magna-glow at work ), so I'm thinking just pull it and see how bad it is and go from there.

Yes, the 460 was offered for many years on the F-250/ F-350 series trucks, I wanna say 76-ish to 97 models, as well as several cars models. I searched for about a year and a half to find a RUNNING 460, with the C6 auto, so that I could drop it into the 84 Bronco without too much work.

I think there's no better time to do this swap than when your current boat anchor is taken out.

I've looked quite abit on the topic of chopping the F-series frame to fit the Bronco body, bot he regular cab and 4-door versions of the trucks. There is a fellow wheeler here in Texas that's actually cut the bed down on a 4-dr F-350, and 4-linked the rear. But I know of only one person that's actually swapped a Bronco body onto an F-250 frame. There are too many fitment issues for my taste, even though you'd think the truck cab and Bronco mounts would be alike. They're not alike enough to make the swap a direct bolt-in.

my final thought is this: You can spend $500-$700 to overhaul the 302, or pic up a 460 for a few hundred bucks and throw the same amount of money into it to make one heck of a wheeling motor. If you ever desire to run the local mud drags or any kind of mud bog events, the guy you're running against most likely has a 460.

JSM84