# Ford 302 engine **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** ford\ **Created:** [February 11, 2013, 7:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289 "2013-02-11T07:05:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Mud](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mud)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/1 "2013-02-11T07:05:39Z")
I’ve got a kit car that was built by Excalibur motors in 1964. Its got a Shelby Cobra (AC) body built on a Mustang frame. The engine is a small block 302 (5.0 HO). My problem is that occationally when I start the car and begin to drive down the road, it feels like there is a governor on the engine since it will not gain speed over a low m.p.h. When this happens I pull over to the side of the road, turn off the engine and restart which fixes whatever problem took place and I can gain speed normally. This lack of power in the engine only happens about 1 in 4 starts and since the car “sits,” around in my garage alot, meaning I don’t drive it more than 2-3 times a month, I wonder if the problem is due to that? ---
**Author:** ![Vhyle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/aeb1de/32.png) [@Vhyle](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Vhyle)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:14am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/2 "2013-02-11T07:14:01Z")
Yeah, a car like that can really benefit from being driven about once a week, if it’s a low usage vehicle. Same goes for any older carb’d car. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:15am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/3 "2013-02-11T07:15:21Z")
You said 5.0 HO. Is it fuel injected? ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:34am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/4 "2013-02-11T07:34:20Z")
There’s no such thing as a 1964 Ford 302 CID engine. Ford didn’t introduce the 302 until 1968. So what year is the engine? Tester ---
**Author:** ![Triedaq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Triedaq](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Triedaq)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 7:57am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/5 "2013-02-11T07:57:53Z")
@Tester–good catch. This is as good as Vinny’s girl friend, the out of work hair dresser in the movie “My Cousin Vinny”. Vinny’s girl friend had worked in her father’s garage and was put on the witness stand to testify about automobiles. The prosecution asked her about the timing setting for a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air with a 327 V-8 engine and a 4 barrel carburetor. She correctly said that this was a trick question–Chevrolet didn’t introduce the 327 until 1962 and the engine wasn’t available with a 4 barrel until 1964. ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/6 "2013-02-11T08:06:07Z")
Could be a stuck needle valve or float. ---
**Author:** ![Rod-Knox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rod-Knox](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rod-Knox)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:46am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/7 "2013-02-11T08:46:57Z")
If the old fuel lines have deteriorated and become porous vacuum can pull air into the fuel line and act similar to a vapor lock and the problem can be sporadic. Also, many Motorcraft carburetors had fine wire mesh screens at the needle valve that can collect rusty scale and cause some outrageous intermittent problems such as yours. ---
**Author:** ![Triedaq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Triedaq](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Triedaq)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:50am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/8 "2013-02-11T08:50:24Z")
I would also suggest that there might be rust in the gasoline tank that gets drawn up into the fuel line. My son had this problem with a Ford pickup truck that had been sitting for about a year that he purchased. ---
**Author:** ![oldbodyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@oldbodyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldbodyman)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/9 "2013-02-11T09:16:13Z")
What he has is 1964 repop of a Cobra. It could be carb or FI motor. They bulit both ways. Gas tank should be Alum or plastic (ie fuel cell). I have not seen one with out a elc fuel pump. My guess is fuel fillter first. Then pump. Then we need to know if its carb or FI. ---
**Author:** ![UncleTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9a140/32.png) [@UncleTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/UncleTurbo)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/10 "2013-02-11T20:30:42Z")
You really need to give more info about the drive train. What year is the motor? What year is the transmission? How much if any computer controls are there on the motor and transmission? If the motor is circa 2000 or later you could be going into “limp mode”. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/11 "2013-02-11T20:35:58Z")
This is much newer, the info I can find has Excalibur making these in the '90s, so it’s probably an EFI engine. It’s a tube frame with a Cobra body, nothing in common with a Mustang. Here’s an example: [http://www.cars-on-line.com/53705.html](http://www.cars-on-line.com/53705.html) ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/12 "2013-02-11T20:42:19Z")
And here’s more info about Excalibur: > **[Is Third Time The Charm For Excalibur?](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-05-15/travel/9405150221_1_excalibur-president-excalibur-automobile-corp-shelby-cobra)** > > We hope it's not an omen that the newest company building a replica of the famed Cobra car is on a dead-end street in this hamlet bordering Milwaukee.Here's where you'll find Excalibur Automobile... I thought that name sounded familliar, they made old car look-alikes in the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Rod-Knox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rod-Knox](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rod-Knox)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/13 "2013-02-11T21:57:51Z")
The nomenclature is quite confusing. Is the engine an actual Ford factory product? ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/14 "2013-02-12T00:19:31Z")
I think the OP is BSing us. Ford never had a 302 in 1964. And the Mustang has never had a frame. It’s a uni-body contruction. Tester ---
**Author:** ![ken\_green](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/ken_green/32/816_2.png) [@ken\_green](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ken_green)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/15 "2013-02-12T00:21:58Z")
I immagine the kit was a 1964 cobra… BUT many 80’ish mustang running chassis were used for many kit cars. We need to know what year was the mustang running chassis. ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/16 "2013-02-12T01:03:32Z")
“Its got a Shelby Cobra (AC) body built on a Mustang frame. The engine is a small block 302 (5.0 HO).” Mustangs did not have “frames”, they are unibody construction. Using the belly-pan for the foundation of a kit car would be VERY difficult…Much of the running gear could be Mustang or Mustang II (Pinto) but the frame is most likely welded up from steel tube… ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ford-302-engine/77289/17 "2013-02-12T01:10:06Z")
@Caddyman - exactly right. All the Cobra look-alikes I know of are built on a tube chassis, ranging from simple: ![](http://www.michaelsmotorcycles.com/ShelbyCobraKit/D.CHASSIS4.jpg) To complex (Factory Five, a major maker of these): ![](http://image.kitcarmag.com/f/9193717+w750+st0/0611kc_25_z+shelby_cobra_replicar+chassis.jpg)