The famed Ford 302 5.0-liter small block engine was made famous by the Ford Mustang in 1968. In 1986 this small block engine had become a work horse V8 serving in various passenger cars and light trucks. The 302 kept serving up until 1995. The engine had a carburetor until 1985 and became electronically fuel injected in 1986. Fuel injection extended the engine's life by making the engine more fuel efficient and powerful. Ford Mustang will bring out a special 302 engine in 2012 to celebrate the power of the 302.
1986 302 Mustang Stats
In 1986 the Mustang 302 engine was referred to as the 302 HO. The "HO" stood for high output and meant a great deal more power. The new computer-controlled induction system had a two-piece cast aluminum intake manifold with tuned runners and speed-density air metering. The engine also featured flat top pistons and redesigned high swirl cylinder heads with a new fast-burn combustion chamber. This gave the engine a compression ratio of 9.2:1 which was higher than the previous year of 8.4:1. The 302-cubic-inch (ci) engine was rated at 200 horsepower (hp) at 4,000 rpm. This was 10 horsepower lower than the previous year but the torque rating of 285 ft.-lb. at 3,000 rpm was raised by 15 ft.-lb.
The Bronco 302
In 1986 the 5.0-liter 302-ci engine was served as one of the V8 engines in the Ford Bronco. The 302 came with multi-port fuel injection bringing better fuel economy and more power to the Bronco. The engine was rated at 190 hp with 285 ft.-lb. of torque. This was a lower output than the Mustang because the Bronco used the low output version of the 302. The Ford Bronco was originally introduced as competition to the Jeep C-J5 and the International Harvester Scout and were sport utility vehicles produced from 1966 to 1996.
The F-series 302
The 1986 302 5.0-liter V8 was used also on the cousin of the Bronco, the F-series trucks. In 1986 the F-series had reached its seventh generation. The 302 engine was used in the F-series trucks and was rated at 185 hp at 3,800 rpm with 270 ft.-lb. of torque at 2,400 rpm. This version of the 302 also featured new electronic fuel injection installed on the engine. The use of fuel injection boosted the horsepower on trucks by 50 hp on the 302 engine used in the F-150. The 302 for trucks had a lower output and in general was a totally different engine than the Mustang version. For example the truck used different headers, cam shaft and even had a different firing order than the Mustang version.