Building A 306 On A Budget

[revcor]

Hey guys, new to this site and trying to get as much information and suggestions on this build before I start it. I have an '89 5.0 LX with a 5spd and 3.73 gears. It has 150k miles and leaks some oil, so I am picking up a fresh 306 tomorrow, and plan on building that while it's out of the car and then swapping it in. My dad is a mechanic and I have a decent basic knowledge of cars, but he's a Mopar guy and I've never built a Ford motor before so I'm open to all the input and experience from others I can get.

My budget is about $5000-ish (a little leeway). The car is my daily driver first and foremost but I take it to the dragstrip on wednesdays during the season, and it needs to be able to pass CA smog.

One route I've heard is the Trickflow top end kit (which seems to be suggested frequently on forums). Another route suggested by some Mustang guys my dad works with via my dad is the Edelbrock Performer 5.0 heads and intake. My dad suggested since i'm on a budget, keeping it a low end torquey motor that will stay below 6000rpm. With this latter combo I'd need a cam (have heard the comp cams Xe264hr recommended), and with any combo I'd do the clutch and exhaust, and I assume I would be best off having a shop dynotune the car after all is said and done, although I'm not sure what my options are there.

I realize this is a pretty open ended post, but you have my budget (~$5000) and my requirements (daily driver, race it on wednesdays, CA smoggable), and I would love to hear you guys' input, suggestions, experience, etc.

Thanks in advance,
Jonathan

 

[mikestang63]

welcome- first thing to do is fix the swiss cheese subframe with a set of full length subframe connectors. @richker for his good post on motor builds.

With $5000 for the motor, you should be able to build a nice engine. Personally, I would build a 331 or 347 as the machining is not that much more than for a 306- just notching of the cylinder walls for the extra stroke. Your extra cubes will make more hp. Don't bother spending high buck forged cranks on a stock block. Get a good eagle or scat rotating assembly from CHP or Woody at fordstroker. For the top end, I would pick a TFS kit over an Edelbrock kit 9 out of 10 times as they jsut make more power. For a 347 I would get a set of AFR or TFS 205 heads and also a cam from Ed Curtis. For the intake, either a Holley Systemaz II or Performer II. Spend the most money on the heads as that is what makes the power.

Know that you will also need to address the other components of the car like cooling, transmission, suspension and braking when you're done. Very easy to drop $10k in one of these cars .

 

[revcor]

welcome- first thing to do is fix the swiss cheese subframe with a set of full length subframe connectors. @richker for his good post on motor builds.

With $5000 for the motor, you should be able to build a nice engine. Personally, I would build a 331 or 347 as the machining is not that much more than for a 306- just notching of the cylinder walls for the extra stroke. Your extra cubes will make more hp. Don't bother spending high buck forged cranks on a stock block. Get a good eagle or scat rotating assembly from CHP or Woody at fordstroker. For the top end, I would pick a TFS kit over an Edelbrock kit 9 out of 10 times as they jsut make more power. For a 347 I would get a set of AFR or TFS 205 heads and also a cam from Ed Curtis. For the intake, either a Holley Systemaz II or Performer II. Spend the most money on the heads as that is what makes the power.

Know that you will also need to address the other components of the car like cooling, transmission, suspension and braking when you're done. Very easy to drop $10k in one of these cars .

Thanks man appreciate the in-depth response. Yeah sub frame connectors are definitely something I will be doing before I put the motor in. For this build I will be sticking with the stock stroke, I already got an amazing deal on a fresh motor (family friend) that has already been rebuilt and bored .030 over so I want to stick with that bottom end and focus on heads, intake and cam. I hear the TFS kit suggested a lot, for sticking with a stock bottom end motor would that be your suggestion vs piecing together a combo? Like i said I want to stick with components that will keep the motor below 6000rpm

Any suggestions for a clutch too? and if you have any experience with the computer side of things i'd welcome any advice there as well

 

[coupestang2]

Yes the TFS top end kit added to a 306, can and will make good power. Computer side of things, take it to a tuner and have it Dino tuned with a chip burned.

 

[coupestang2]

.....sorry....Dyno tuned

 

[mikestang63]

Thanks man appreciate the in-depth response. Yeah sub frame connectors are definitely something I will be doing before I put the motor in. For this build I will be sticking with the stock stroke, I already got an amazing deal on a fresh motor (family friend) that has already been rebuilt and bored .030 over so I want to stick with that bottom end and focus on heads, intake and cam. I hear the TFS kit suggested a lot, for sticking with a stock bottom end motor would that be your suggestion vs piecing together a combo? Like i said I want to stick with components that will keep the motor below 6000rpm

Any suggestions for a clutch too? and if you have any experience with the computer side of things i'd welcome any advice there as well

Before you buy anything get the build sheet for the short block. You need to see what parts are in it before you buy a top end kit.Depending on what pistons, I would either get the TFS 170 or AFR 165 or 185 heads with an Ed Curtis custom cam. If you want to take all the guesswork out of it, then get the TFS street heat top end kit. I like the Felpro 9333pt1 headgasket, but the TFS kit comes with pretty much everything needed. Late Model Restoration is a vendor here and offers us a discount. Also contact Art at JD's performance on the Corral as he has good prices.

Before you buy anything get the build sheet for the short block. You need to see what parts are in it before you buy a top end kit.

For clutch, I like either a Centerforce or Spec clutch. You will also want to get a new maximum motorsports clutch cable and firewall adjuster.

 

[A5literMan]

Like posted above...don't cheap out on the heads! They are the most important part of the combo for power potential. With a 5k budget you can put together a very healthy h/c/i with all the supporting mods.

 

[hoopty5.0]

The TFS top end kit is good, but with your budget you could do better. Look into the 11r heads. hard to argue with the proven power they've been making.

 

[A5literMan]

The TFS top end kit is good, but with your budget you could do better. Look into the 11r heads. hard to argue with the proven power they've been making.

Completely agree! But I might be biased

 

[hoopty5.0]

That's what I am saving for. Not sure when it will happen, but I can dream, right?

 

[revcor]

Before you buy anything get the build sheet for the short block. You need to see what parts are in it before you buy a top end kit.Depending on what pistons, I would either get the TFS 170 or AFR 165 or 185 heads with an Ed Curtis custom cam. If you want to take all the guesswork out of it, then get the TFS street heat top end kit. I like the Felpro 9333pt1 headgasket, but the TFS kit comes with pretty much everything needed. Late Model Restoration is a vendor here and offers us a discount. Also contact Art at JD's performance on the Corral as he has good prices.

Before you buy anything get the build sheet for the short block. You need to see what parts are in it before you buy a top end kit.

For clutch, I like either a Centerforce or Spec clutch. You will also want to get a new maximum motorsports clutch cable and firewall adjuster.

According to the build sheet, the motor has Sealed Power flat top hypereutectic pistons. How does that information push you towards either the TFS 170's or AFR 165's? I'm also going to look into finding an explorer intake and porting it to save money.

 

[A5literMan]

Those pistons are fine. Run any head you want. They are limited in forced induction/nitrous situations but with a n/a motor they work good.

 

[A5literMan]

I'm not sure if the 11r heads are smog legal but if they are that's what I'd run. The AFR 165's are a great head for 302 and are legal. For what you want I'd get a custom cam for it and a Holley systemax intake. Go with a Pro M MAF,24-30#inj,190-255 lph fuel pump,and get a dyno tune. You could have 300+rwhp and pass emissions with great daily driver manners.

 

[revcor]

I'm not sure if the 11r heads are smog legal but if they are that's what I'd run. The AFR 165's are a great head for 302 and are legal. For what you want I'd get a custom cam for it and a Holley systemax intake. Go with a Pro M MAF,24-30#inj,190-255 lph fuel pump,and get a dyno tune. You could have 300+rwhp and pass emissions with great daily driver manners.

Who would you recommend for a custom cam? And what exactly does a "custom" cam mean because I was under the impression a true custom cam would be a huge amount of money, but I hear people talking about custom cams for barely over 300 which seems like it'd have to be an off the shelf cam..

 

[A5literMan]

Ed Curtis @ Flow Tech Inductions,Brian Freezy,Buddy Rawls,and Bullet cams all do them. I personally had Freezy do mine. For a price point they start around 325-413$ I paid 402$ for mine. The #1 reason I recommend a custom for you is the dual nature of your build. You need smog/DD capability while making as much power as possible. About any ots cam can get you some descent performance but the other requirements are more complicated. To give you an idea they can design timing events into the lobe design to maximize your combo. I highly recommend one. Freezy and Ed have a ton of happy customers. Ed can be prickly but is very good. I can't say anything bad about Brian's service. I should have my cam in 2 weeks after contacting him. Quick turnaround imo. Also a off the shelf cam is almost 300$ so basically an extra 100$ for an optimized cam for anyone's build. Money well spent imo.

 

[A5literMan]

If you buy a Holley intake I recommend going to holleys website. You can buy it cheaper there than at a vendor(I got mine for 589$). If you want to save an extra 100$+ look for a used intake.

 

[revcor]

can I use the stock rockers? or will i need new ones

 

[A5literMan]

can I use the stock rockers? or will i need new ones

You can if you use pedestal mounted heads but most aftermarket heads are stud mount. I highly recommend going with aftermarket rockers. I like Comp Cams ultras but there are plenty out there that are good and cheaper.

 

[revcor]

it would probably be a good idea to get some new roller rockers. and i asked this on another forum but i have been getting useful information here too. so lets say i was going to go with the explorer intake, and a cam that made its power below 6,000rpm. between the AFR 165's and TFS Twisted Wedge 170's, does anyone have a preference? for a torquey, peak at 5500-ish RPM motor would one or the other work better? or are they close enough to not make a difference?

and using the TFS heads as an example, they come with a choice of a 58cc or 61cc combustion chamber, and also with either 1.46in dual valve springs or 1.47in single springs? i'm assuming with a mild motor such as the one im trying to build i'd want the 61cc combustion chamber, is this correct? and what about between the valve spring options?

 

[A5literMan]

I do have a question. Why are you worried/limiting rpms to 5500? Not saying you have to have a high winding motor but 6k isn't exactly a screamer. Unless you mean make peak power at 55 and shift @6? I would go with the smaller cc head to bump compression up a little. Either head would be perfect for your build. Personal preference is TFS 170's because they have the bigger valves and can be ported later if desired. Also a little cheaper the last time I looked. I don't remember the exact specs on the springs. Talk to your cam tech and match them to the spring choice.