Out with the old, In with the new-302 that is

So its (almost) everybodys favorite time of the year, tax time. So my mountaineer is in need of a little help.

The DL.
-98 mountaineer, 4406, 265/75/16s, 16x8 Procomp polished wheels, 4.10 gears
-278k on orignal motor/transmission

So a friend of mine has a bronco 2 w/ a 302 that he put in new a year ago. Hes putting in a 347 so i get a good deal on a short block 302 with just over a thousand miles on it, timing chain set, e303 cam, lifters, oil pump.. etc.

So my question is CAM/HEAD choices. Idealy i would like to keep my heads. He has some knock off edelbrock alum heads he would part with and with my tmhs i highly doubt they would clear the plug location on the alum heads.

And reading through posts here the e cam is a bad choice for the weight and head design of the gt40p heads. (correct me if i'm wrong)

I am planning on talking to a cam grinder and seeing what the best way to go is, but i was hoping for some input from you guys here as you helped me with my tmh install and head recond.

any help>?

there is nothing wrong with using an e-303 with gt40p heads...

Some people piss and moan about the E cam, i've been running one for a year and it's been great. Several others here run them too. Low end is fine, really feels sort of stock, over 2 grand it's awsome. Great power for mud holes.

So i bought my new 5.0 yesterday. It was from an old guy who used to build motors for a local shop and looking over the block it looks like he knew what he was doing. I was planning on using my gt40p heads but the motor (bored .40 over, with .40 over pistons, not just rings) came with a set od 1991 f-150 heads which he had bigger valves installed in. Brand new 1.90 intake and regrouind 1.60 exhaust. & have multi angle valve jobs.

I've seen a set of stock mustang heads and the nasty exh ports (egr bump) and these heads look pretty good, ports are pretty large and mainly unubstructed. But the plug location is not like the gt40p's and i'm worried about my tmhs fitting.

The old man had the motor set up for a low end pretty basic motor, with hyd flat tappet lifters and a flat tappet 4v ford cam. I'm scrapping the flat tappet lifters and cam and going with an e303 and a new set of hyd roller lifters.

I dont have my heads off to compare but i'm pretty sure these new heads have bigger valves than mine. so which heads should i use??

stock gt40 heads


new heads with bigger valves