The Truth About The Small Block Chevy 302

1967 blocks (3892657) were MO or MP coded and small journal. 1968 blocks (3914678) were MO but large journal. Only the 1969s were DZ (3956618 or 3970010). Most of the early cars had the 618s and 0010s were mixed in later in the model run.

I had one. Great engine. Had 12.5 domed pistons,202fueler heads,solid lift cam. Balanced reved to 9500 rpm. Raced it. Fantastic engine.

I have a '67 z-28 with the 302. The truth, build it for the sound, not the performance. It is one of the best sounding engines ever made. It really starts pulling around the rpm's you normally expect parts to be flying out of the hood. The parts you need to turn it like it wants to turn don't come cheap, and even the good parts don't hold up long turning 9 grand.

302 Had that DZ code in 1969. In 1967 it was a small journal MO or MP code. In 1968 it was a large journal MO code. So keep your eyes open for the codes also. Great video.

A 1969 Z28 302, with a set of headers probably made over 400 HP ; but the sound of that little motor winding out to 7,500 RPM was pure music, that was guaranteed to put a huge smile on your face !!! 😮😊😊

We built a 302 in the 60’s when I was in high school that ran 10 flat and redlined at 10,000 rpm. Sounded sooooo good.

Thanks so much for this review. The 302 little mouse that could...has always been my fav.

I built a small block 327 in 71 with 11.25 pistons and a Dontov 30-30 cam in a 55 Chevrolet ,Edelbrock 2 x 4 with 2 x 600 carters, it would rev past 7000 rpm and tote the front wheels for about 3 car lengths. Broke the motor mounts on the Bellhousing continuously. Put solid steel ones on and stopped that. I was really impressed with that Engine. Clacked like it was coming apart at idle if you can call 1100 rpm a idle but would snap to a really loud roar very quickly. Ported the heads to a round tube Mikey Thompson headers, Had two Edelbrock oval mufflers, it deformed the back of them. Ran good with mufflers but really ran with mufflers off. The good old days.

Hotrodders were building 302's long before Chevy brought out the Z28 302. Yu left out one of the most important parts about building a 302 and that is the choice of heads. For te street the early fuelie heads (1.97" intakes as I remember) are a great choice. My personal favorite SB though was the 350hp 327 found in the 66 Chevy II SS......

Get a late 80's roller 350 block and add a 1994 L99 3 inch stroke crank. I used 6.25 inch rods and 350 pistons designed for 6.00 inch rods. This thing with a mini ram and 276 duration cam made 400 HP on the tires and ran with the AC on. Have fun

MO 302 for 1967 Z28 and early 68 Z28s, after which the DZs started..Great little high RPM screamers.

I built one back in the '70s. Started with a '60 Corvette base 283 engine that had a cracked block, used the a block from a '65 327 Chevelle and a set of flat top pistons and the rest was from the 283 except the intake which was an Edelbrock Torker topped with a Holley 600 double pumper. Put it in a '71 Nova and that thing would flat out run until I let a buddy borrow the car while I was working one night and he blew the engine up trying to street race it.

Built a repro 302 50 years ago. Used a 59 Corvette 283 punched out to 4”. The block would take the overbore, I used flat top pistons Fulie heads etc. Ran it in a 39 Ford with 4.11s it weighed 2980 and ran like hell. Used and abused it for over a decade. Still have the car now 350ci

A good friend of mine's Dad was into Drag racing back when i was in School back in the 1960's. They were racing a 1940 Willies the engine was a 283 Bores out to 302 way back in 1963! Dragracers used the 302 long before Chevy made the Z/28.

In the early '60s, hot rodders were boring out 283s to 4 inch and also using 327 pistons for performance. The results were called 301s because it was actually 301.59 cubic inches. Chevy decided to call their engine a 302.

Very cool video, always wanted 1. My buddy has one I rode with him once that thing is nuts.

I had a 1969 Z. The very best performance add-on was a 4.88 gear. Talk about a red light bandit, color me gone.

I think you did an excellent job with this video you had a lot of information that not many people understand. I did want to mention people that talk about getting 9000 + RPMs are not talking about the painstaking effort going into Blueprinting the engine, Making sure every piston, every connecting rod and all the components not only measuring as close to exact sizes but weight the same is key along with the small Journal blocks in allowing for such high rev speeds safely without causing engines to blow before their time.

You got great knowledge, please sharing!

302 runs like a 2 stroke dirt bike and needs to be run through the gears like that to really rip. Soggy on low end but strong from 4000 on up. It will outrun bigger inch longer stroke small blocks like 350/400 that can't spin like a 302, from 6000 to 8000 the 302 spools up quick.