Its a 5 spd and first gear is real short. I know this car has nothing on pretty much anything out there but I like it anyway its really fun to drive and eventually ill rebuild to something more powerful in the end I want 350-400 hp car but I also want it to be a daily driver so lets see what o have to do to pull this off. I believe when u rebuild a 302 it becomes a 306 right? Is it more powerful? When I rebuild I want to do a H/C/I swap and possibly a turbo of some sort nothing crazy but like I said I want 350 hp to the wheels
Starting with the rebuild, typically it's not worth it unless you're rebuilding it for performance in my opinion. You can find a low mile full engine for cheaper than the rebuild alllll day. If you do get it rebuilt it will still be a 302 unless you have it stroked to 306, which is more costly. I don't see the point in keeping it to such a small displacement as 306 when you can stroke it to a 347 under the same rebuild for just about the same money. a 306 is slightly more powerful though, it's the equivalent to a slightly larger engine, it's measurement of cubic inches. These 302s can be stroked as far as 363s I believe, but as I've read, it's not great for engine life or a daily driver, so the furthest, comfortable stroke is 347.
302 cubic inches=4.948 Liter
306 cubic inches=5.01 Liter
331 cubic inches=5.24 Liter
347 cubic inches=5.69 Liter
363 cubic inches=5.95 Liter
So potentially, you could have a 6.0 in your car. Which would be pretty sick.
A good H/C/I swap on these ole' 5.0s can make 350-400 horsepower, just remember the limitations of the block are around 500 horsepower, unless you go aftermarket block.
To get an idea of what it takes to make that power range, here's a kit that is sold specifically for that horsepower range.
http://www.trickflow.com/pressreleases/twistedwedge46l/
However, I think it's lame as
to buy a kit and slap it on and know the numbers, you should avoid that and piece together a real machine.
But anyways, H/C/I can get you to that horsepower range as well as a stand alone turbo.
and of course with either an H/C/I swap or turbo or both you're going to need supporting mods like fuel injectors and so on.
The turbo alone could make the power you're looking for, with the supporting mods. In my opinion, an H/C/I swap or 'all naturelle" is way better than dealing with a turbo (not that it doesn't have its merit).