Ford's BOSS 302 All Myth or All Legend???
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- čas přidán 24. 04. 2021
- Ford's BOSS 302 came on to the SCCA Trans Am racing scene late in the game. Getting started in 1969 following the dismal performance of the Tunnel Port 302 in 1968. Bud Moore and his crew set out to turn this new engine the "BOSS" on the racetrack. We look back at the history of the "little BOSS" and how it transformed the Trans Am circuit in '69-'70.
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Owned one as a teenager from '69-'72. Only car I've ever owned where you could be cruising at 90mph, punch it, and it would get up and go, not to mention that fact it redlined at 8,000 rpm (yes, I disabled the rev-limiter.) Also loved the posi-traction rear end.Those were the days.
I bet you have some stories! Thanks for Watching please Subscribe as I have more content like this coming
Andy
That's awesome. My Honda redlines at 9k right now, I've got a friend with a B that almost spins to 12. It's addictive to be able to just listen to the revs climb.
"69 Boss 302 had a rev limiter. Only way to reach 8000 rpm was to disconnect the limiter. I bought a "69 Boss 302 Mustang new and I still have it. It's still in near new condition.
@@sergeantmasson3669 Yes, I disconnected it after reading it had 4-bolt mains and was capable of it. Unfortunately, the piston skirts, not so much.
@Animul OG You sound like one cool high-performance enthusiast. Yes, there's one thing the Boss lacked it was low-end ump, but a pretty even powerband making more-and-more horses along the way.
Back in 1979, I was workig in Denver and found a Boss 302/M-21 combo under a piece of carpet in a parts yard, while searching for a set of headers for my '67 fastback 289 Mustang. We agreed upon $1200 (half of what I made from the work I was doing) and I was jumping up and down inside. I had a Boss 302! Another $3K in machine shop fees and some parts and I was in heaven. I had taken every tip on engine building I'd read in the magazines and put it into that engine. Static balanced pistons/rods, chamfered every passage I could get to, along w/ an extensive de-flashing of the block and a month of tedious head work, smoothing and blending the bowls and polishing things like valve and piston heads and exhaust ports. Never had an engine that ran so sweet. I even revved it up to the vaunted 9K RPM mark, just to see if it could be done. The scream/howl that engine let out scared the crap out of me, but she held together w/o a glitch. What a rush for a 17 yr old.
M21??? Not likely... 🙄
I think he probably ment top loader
@@davidcaskey4669 yes of course he meant top loader. Hopefully he isn't making it all up? Just might be?
he meant short ratio top loader which was the standard issue on boss 302, but I'm told the engine worked much better on the street with wide ratio. version.
If true it was a 1 and a million chance of luck considering less then 8500 mustangs where made and I don’t know about the cougars or how many mills were sold to teams or the public . Basically hens teeth now .
Wow, the Trans Am racing circuit looked like real doorslammers duking it out as it should be. Today's racing is a shadow of what was.
Real Cars that you could go and buy at the dealership for the most part! People watched and cared just like Dan Gurney said.. because they could relate to the racing... It was a car just like theirs that was on the track!
I agree. It looks like a blast.
NASCAR’s next car kills all remaining DNA it shares with production cars. They continue to go the wrong direction.
I was there 68,69. 👍👍👍
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I grew up in Detroit. I still remember the Grabber Blue ‘70 Boss 302 in my neighborhood. He was a menace in the neighborhood. We kids, we loved him. He would light ‘em up for us and floor it at a roll for us too, and powershift it from 2nd to 3rd! That was a bad ass high revving motor in that car! I still remember! I was 13. We lived off of Dequindre and Nevada Sts., just north of 6 mile, and east of I-75.
Australia's racing legend, Allan Moffat imported a '69 302 boss Mustang built by Kar Kraft in Michigan USA. He went on to win 101 of 151 races. It now resides in a private car collection in Queensland, Australia. He raced against Cars like Bob Jane’s big block 7.0 litre ZL-1 Camaro, Norm Beechey’s 6.0 litre HT GTS Monaro and Pete Geoghegan’s ferocious 5.8 litre Super Falcon all towered over Moffat’s humble 5.0 litres of small block V8, during the “Improved Production” days of the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) from 1969 to 1972 .
That is an awesome story... talk about a impressive win record! Thanks for sharing and Watching.
Andy
I've seen quite a few features on Allan's Mustang, here's a video czcams.com/video/QBnRqgg_VKE/video.html
The Z-L1 is impressive! The bare aluminum block weighs 110 lbs. WOW! no replacement for displacement AND feather weight!
@@DougsterWolverineGarage I wonder why they didn't race it in Trans Am? Oh yeah not eligible. Cosworth's are even lighter and more powerful, but not a Trans Am class engine either....
Not in Trans Am but Australia circuit still a mighty engine
Big valves and a heavy breather = LEGEND!
Love watching old footage of races
Thanks Jon... I do too!
Andy
In the end the best thing that came out of all this was Boss 351 it turned out to the most powerful small Ford from 1970 to 1973 and legend in it own right.
Jorge, you are correct.... by 1970 the writing was on the wall... With Ford and Chevrolet pulling funding out of the series... One might wonder what could have been....
Andy
Except the Boss 351 configuration was 1971 only. In 1972, they released the 351 H.O. Which was a de-tuned Boss 351 with lower compression and hence lower Hap and Torque. Gone all together by 1973. Sad to say!
@@marksmith6091 The Muscle Car's time had come and gone. Between skyrocketing insurance rates, falling interest, rising gasoline prices, frightening urban pollution and oil embargos...the Muscle Car Era was doomed.
In 1972, I traded my 1969 Mustang 428CJ for a new Javelin/AMX 401. I knew then, as did my fellow car nuts that the party was over for our fast cars. I put over 175k miles on that Javelin/AMX and traded it for a new 1986 Mustang GT EFI, which was quite fast for the time and actually handled quite well.
But that AMC will always be my favorite Muscle/Pony Car.
I used to have a Boss 351 it was kick ass. I had it in a 1968 Fairlane 500. It sounded bad ass when you got it wound up it would scream.
I bet it would! Thanks for sharing and watching!
Andy
In 1980 i had a 440 charger. My ford buddie shows up with 69 boss 302. I fell in love with that car. What music that motor made!
They do sound awful good! Thanks for Watching and sharing!
Andy
Ah yes it did but the weekly dual points adjustment and bi-weekly rocker arm adjustments got old. Of course disconnecting the rev limiter (6250 RPM) and shifting at 6800-7200, depending on my mood tended to loosen up the rockers.
I was 18 in 1968/69?,I was a lot boy @ 3 or more,Ford dealers various times..I had access to ALL New& usedCars&Trucks.I got to drive brand new off the Truck sometimes Mustangs,Galaxys,The New Boss'sI saw and drove I remember the Orange ones best,If I remember dual exaust,Hurst shifters and FAST!,I got to drive a 1969 Mustang 428 Cobra Jet,I had to be careful not getting caught!!,Since I had access everyone knew me.I worked @ AMC then went back to Ford but got to Drive a AMC Scrambler,it was like a rocket on wheels it sort of scared me,Sorry guys but I think faster than a Boss!?.
Small block heaven. It was awesome to be alive then. One of my dream cars is a AAR Cuda.
AAR is one of the best looking factory muscle cars ever made the hood,stripe, spoilers,rims, exhaust Mopar difinintly made the best muscle cars!
@@danielhemple8649 I wouldn't say "Best" muscle cars, the big 3 all had there Top Dogs battling it out on the race tracks on the weekends. Since I'm a Ford guy i can say Ford made the "Best" muscle cars, we all have our favorites, doesn't necessarily mean one brand is better than the others, although some people think that. Certain muscle cars excelled in different types of racing.
Loved that car! A friend of mine from High School owned one so I at least got to drive it a few times!
@@badass6.0powerstroke10 trust me, when I sold my Ford 302, and got a Mopar 528 Hemi, hands down, Mopar was where it was at!
@@duanedahljr1669 Well yeah, comparing a 302 against a Stoked out Hemi built for racing, then yeah hands down the Hemi will take that one. But compare equally set-up up Muscle Cars, like from the 60,s early 70,s i would definitely rather have a 71 Boss 351, or Some 429 SCJ Drag Pack Car, or something along those lines, over Mopars finest.
I was just a kid back then, but those were the cars I drooled over. Trans Am racing had all the different brands of ponycars I dreamed of owning.
Cougars and Firebirds were fleeting participants. Penske really developed the Camaro and Javelin for the series. I think Holman Moody worked with Dan Gurney on the Cougars.
I own a Competition Blue '70 Cougar Eliminator, Boss 302, 4 speed, 3.91 Traction Lok. It is LOTS of fun!!
That is one of my dream Cars! Thanks for Watching...
Andy
Didnt nhra ban cougars from comp
@@kevinshipman6494 Not that I ever heard. Don Nicholson and Eddie Schartman both ran Boss 429 Cougar Eliminators.
I built and drove the 69-70 Boss cars 525 HP at 9600 RPM simple
legend! with Dan gurney one off my favorite drivers! RIP!.... Boss its the heads!... The Boss 302s also showed up at a Laguna Seca with the new Autolite In-Line carburetors, but SCCA officials promptly outlawed them because they violated the "spirit of the law" in keeping the cost of the Trans-Am racing to a minimum.. yeah don't hurt chevy's feelings!
Gurney, Jones, Donahue were all greats... The Autolite Inline carb is a unicorn I've been chasing for a long time... I so would love to get my hands on a set of them to run on a Tunnel Ram! The SCCA put a end to it quick... Now most people don't even know about those carbs..
Thanks for Watching
Andy
@@UnityMotorSportsGarage : The SCCA version of the Autolite Inline carb was the 850 cfm version and not the 1,400 version used primarily on IR (Individual Runner) intake manifolds. Drag racers would take the Cross Boss intake's upper cover's smaller carb mounting bores, enlarge them, and use the 1,400 cfm carb, as they had no need for the lower rpm torque curve of the road racers.
Much like MOPAR in NASCAR and Ferrari in FIA sanctioned events. When you own the government; you control the rules. Otherwise a LOT more people would know about the other Boss engine: the 429.
@@Billhatestheinternet you are so right even more so today!
That would just be terrible for the poor little shiivolay car s and personal 😢and they have always been the favorites 😢 they could get by with more gray areas than enybody else just like B Glidden in drag racing the dirty official s make him add up 250 pounds to his Ford so that the other brands could try to beat him but they never outrun his Fairmont 👋
Great footage! Thanks! I still love the paint scheme on the Javelins, screams AMERICAN!
Those Cleveland heads were a work of art. Still are, actually.
Yes they are.... my next personal build after MIXED UP BOSS will be a hot Cleveland.. @Dragboss has gotten me hooked now on them...
Andy
yep and the aftermarket ones now are unbelievable. The power you can make out of a streetable clevor is staggering
@@dylangrantz8124 the Sky is the limit these days... And your wallet! Lol
Thanks for Watching!
Andy
@@dylangrantz8124 thats my next build with a set of CHI yates heads... add a 454 bottom end and hellcats gona be hurtin at a 351 mustang :3
I have a pair of those closed chamber 4v Cleveland heads that Ive had for 35 years and still havent used them. The Chevy guy across the street had little to say when he saw them and compared them to some 327 "fuelie" heads he had.
When I built a 400 a few years back I ended up using closed chamber Australian Cleveland heads which have smaller valves and ports because I wasnt going for high RPM horsepower which didnt need the flow capabilities of the 4v heads.
This the best Trans-Am film I have ever scene and I'm a Chev guy. Great retro footage.
I agree.
Thanks for the kind words.... Please Subscribe as I'm going to be doing a SBC/BBC video in the near future!
Andy
The legendary late great Bud Moore! All of those historic racing names, many gone now,just like AMC,but never forgotten!❤😎👍🇺🇸
Bud Moore was a true legend.... He really made the Ford team a force to be reckoned with!
Andy
@@UnityMotorSportsGarage Bud Moore engineering with Parnelli Jones driving was a lethal combination
Not sure of the month or year but I remember before the Boss 302 came out Ak Miller bringing a 302 with 351C heads to run on the dyno at Offenhauser. They didn't get to run it because when they put water in it the water just ran out all over the floor. The combination of head, block and gasket just didn't match. I remember because I had to get a bucket and mop up the mess. Don't know if Ak came up with this before Ford and Bud Moore but it was before the Boss 302 was known of publicly.
Moore was also a WW II hero.
Yes he was! Thanks for Watching...
Andy
I always love seeing these ford history videos.
I'm not a huge Ford guy but i'd love a 69 or 70 Mustang Boss. 302 or the 9. I love the 4 headlights of the 69. But love the 70 too. Such beautiful cars.
I think that the 69-70 BOSS cars are some of the best looking cars of all time! Thanks for Watching
Andy
@@UnityMotorSportsGarage You're welcome. I subscribed.
Same here. Back in 1973, I drove a 1969 Boss 302. It went like a bat out of Hell! A nice car.
Great look back at some of the greats in auto racing. I had a drag race boss 302 with the 875 CFM Auolite inline. The first quarter mile run was a 10.50 on a 10.50 national record. Had a great first year. Miss those days.
That is pretty awesome!!! Thanks for Watching and sharing that...
Andy
Tommy. That is awful fast for that setup.
What did you do to it to get it to 10.50?
@@dennisrobinson8008 big roller cam 40 pound flywheel 6.20 rear gear.
@@tomhamilton9140 makes sense. cam and exhaust on that thing would get it to 500+ HP.
Boss 302 was a legend.
Ford needed Special Engines to compete with Chevy's truck engines...
@@BuzzLOLOL here we go again about Fords "special" engines, where the Cleveland style cylinder head turned into the 351 M and 400, Fords "Truck" Engines of the mid to late 70,s.
@@badass6.0powerstroke10 - Yep, Special canted valve heads for small blocks... and the Special "4V" Cleveland heads weren't used on trucks... nor was the Boss 302 heads...
@@BuzzLOLOL Chevy Camaro 302 was NOT a truck engine.
@@sergeantmasson3669 - Just a SBC same as went into trucks...
Very cool vintage racing footage. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for Watching!!!
Andy
If ever there was a series that needs to be reborn , it is the Trans Am .
Thanks Andy! Great job as usual. To bad so many of our young men were busy in Vietnam, it would have been epic for so many more spectators in the sidelines at Watkins glen. The Boss 302 is so much fun to drive, I take it out on the back roads for hours.
Thanks Sir... Yes they are fun.. I would have loved to be able to watch these cars in person.. but old film is as close as I can get...lol
Andy
Imagine racing around the track in those cars ... rear leaf spring suspension, drag link, pitman arm, center link steering,, coils and shocks.. all shoed up with a nice set of E-78 poly ply tires
The true origins of Drifting! Lol... You had to be a Driver that is forsure...
Thanks for Watching
Andy
They were on racing tires!
Drivers were completely insanely good!
I’d rather watch this than NASCAR.
The cars aren’t real anymore.
Got that right!
Me too
Trans am road racing circuit is still active and going strong in the US. Any road racing is better than a left turn track.
Those were the golden years!!!
Man how great would it have been to see these early TA races.
Man how awesome would it be to be watching real Z/28's and Boss 302's turning past 8 grand...
@@UnityMotorSportsGarage I can say first hand it was amazing, Parnelli Jones, Mark Donahue, Sam Posey, etc.
@@wdbressl yeah I don't know how it could get any better! The true Heyday of Trans Am
I drove 67-1973 un believable times Boss 525HP at 9600RPM
@@clayward3512
That's an impressive redline by any standard. How long did it take to find valve springs?
I had factory 302's 351's cleveland, windsor & modified. Of those three the Cleveland was by far the best,....I only wish I could have bossed them,...also had a 429 thunderjet N1....all factory,...that was a bad ass engine....
Yeah in stock trim.. the 351C was miles ahead of the Windsor.. The BBF 385 series is amazing! It has TONS of potential! Thanks for Watching and please Subscribe
Andy
I got mine from a 1968 Thunderbird, for my 1940 Ford coupe (modern suspension) project. I used a great set of factory heads port matched to a BlueThunder dual quad intake w/solid cam. Too much power for an old guy, I could hardly keep the car on the road.. I sold it and the matching TCI C6 tranny to a 20 yr old girl who put it into a 1970 Torino Cobra. I built a 450hp 355 Windsor ..was perfect for my light coupe.
I remember being a little kid in the early 70's, watching autoracing on "Wild World of Sports" with my big Brother. Such a good time.
With Chris Econamackie andJackie Stewart calling the race.
@@davem6685 I didn't remember Chris's name, but Jackie Stewart yeah. I had the AFX Jackie Stewart slot racing set too.
Awesome footage, man! Thanks for sharing
Thanks Brad! Please Subscribe as I have more of this type content coming in the near future
Andy
Trans-Am series seems like it would a blast to run.
Oh yeah... It would be!
Hi Steve!
@@johnwilburn Hi John. Hope things are going well in your neck of the woods.
- Yeah, drivers prolly liked Trans Am with smaller motors and lower speeds than NASCAR or Indy... more like city F1 courses... and manufacturers still loved the product exposure... plus not as boring for spectators as all left turning on an oval...
Legend. The Boss 351 just took it to icon status. A little too much port for the 302 displacement but that got fixed in 1970.
The ports of the '70 BOSS 302 heads are the same as the OEM '69s, but came with smaller intake valves: 2.19" for 1970's. 2.23" for the OEM 1969's.
I write "OEM", as only the production engines in the '69 models had the larger valves. If a cylinder head needed replacement under warranty, or some other reason, the 'Service Part' head came with four(4) 2.19" replacement intake valves.
The cylinder heads were not the only unique OEM-installed parts in 1969.
The cylinder blocks were 1968 "C8FE" Tunnel Port 302 "leftovers", as were the forged steel, cross-drilled, hollow-throw crankshafts: neither of which could be obtained from the dealership 'Parts and Service' distribution system.
I know this for two reasons: 1) back then I was a Ford Registered Service Technician; and, 2) I raced the BOSS 302 from 1969 on.
Oh, as an aside; numerous of my "extra" '69 OEM parts were "leftovers" from warranty repairs made on Mickey Mantle Jr's 1969 BOSS 302, as he was "hard on parts", and Ford started just having us install "crate" engines pulled off the assembly line. [Notoriety has its privileges 😏]
@@johnjohnsn7633 thanks for the correction.....Ive been rockin' Fords for years.....brain glitch👍
I knew that there was a reduction in size in either valve or port size.
@@johnjohnsn7633 If you go over the numerous 70s magazine discussions from Charles Landers and some of the other arm chair critics, it's easy to buy into the concept that 4.4 sq inches of port area at the gasket face was too much for a 5 liter engine from almost zero mph off the armco. In reality, as Ford developed the canted valve 335 heads in 351 NASCAR racing, they got more power and torque with less port area...by the mid 1980s, the Yates aluminum heads had 13 % less port area than Q codes and Boss 302s, yet flowed more hp. The truth is the Boss 302 cylinder heads were almost perfect, a true quantum leep over any GM 302 or TP 302 head. Fords development team in Macara, Phillips, Gay and two others decided to loose total CFM flow and gain air speed and those Canted Valve heads in alloy are still winning races in nearly the same configuration today. Fords withdrawal from Total Performance and TransAm was most likely because a new arms race would have started if Ford continued fueling the competion. Iron 4V Boss 302 style heads won the Group C Touring Car Championship down here in Australia for 1983 in a 450 hp Falcon 351. 100% factory iron heads and with the same chambers and similar C9 style castings as the 1969 heads. Down in Australia, the 1981 race Chevys had the fuellie headed Z28 350 Camaro engine, a stroked DZ 302 basically, and in race form suffered the same fate. Loss against canted valve heads despite dynometer ratings the same as Boss headed 351s. Same canted valve Port area and flow characteristics...14 years later...still proof in my opinion that the development and casting team at Ford aced the class in the dyno room in 1968. Thanks for sharing Mr Johnsn.
@@deanstevenson6527 the thing that gets me about Ford's engineering philosophy is that it sometimes doesn't make sense, at least to me initially, then you back up a bit.
My thought was that the velocity through those big ports was kinda slow with that small shortblock and that the power and response was lazy relative to the Chevy.
Am I wrong in that assessment? I then looked at the 303ci Pontiac which had
tunnel port heads ( Ram Air V ) that almost were copies of the Ford Tunnel Ports.
Gearing maybe?
@@hoost3056 I cannot comment on the briilance of Pontiacs basic 287-455 head design, nor the 303 or Super Duty development Phases were PMD seamed to get way with tiny ports on smaller bore engines relative to Fords engines. Bill Taylor has said the Pontiac heads arent deonation prone, so I suspect its mixture motion advatages, and how the valve in the chamber is unshroaded by the development team at Pontiac. One thing common is the advent of the term Venturi. It is what others have used to decribe the difference between TP 302 and Boss 302/ 351C 4V head development. That is sectional size reduction or change from the intake gasket to the intake valve throat. In 1996 LS1 release blurb GM speak, its SAE paddle wheel mixture motion. The canted valve heads put spin on the mixture even with closed chamber 302 2V and 302 Boss /351 Boss 4V heads with tight 57 to 62 cc chambers. Ford had mixture motion problems with all its small block 302 Tunnel Ports. Pontiac used Air Flow Research to sort out its mixture motion issues. Ford traced the problems on the 302 TP to mixture motion. No section change and long runners with a big 0.70 drag factor guide forced Ford to go for very big ports to reach the target 295 cfm they were aiming for. It made peak power higher in the Rev range than a 275 cfm C9 Cleveland head. The 302 Boss gained bulk torque as well as keeping the high end power, especially with those port on port dual 4500 Dominator carbs. Fords Lee Morse and other guys spent more time on the dyno making sure valve springs and oil supply assured 300 hour power runs kept making hp numbers and then others developed the Boss 302 on the circuit. The JB Weld and Expoxy intake port size reduction experiments were valuable. I'm not sure if it was untill the open chamber 351 4V heads that Fords dyno guys actually understood what a gem they had created in the closed chamber 4V heads. The NASCAR era proved that peak flow CFM's weren't what won races. It was all about chamber design and how you tailor the mixture motion. The trench port piston SVO used to direct the spark through was all the NASCAR guys needed to make a closed chamber Boss 302 style head produce power in a 12.5 to 14:1 compression environment. Between 2012 to 2016 I spent bulk time re-reading Larry Widmeyr on the NASCAR 351C and David Vizard's development of the apple port on the Pinto 2000 SOHC. Both refused to increase port size, and used welded up chambers in development heads that kept into Venturi designs with cross sectional changes. Ford eventually played off mixture motion verses CFM. Pontiac and Chevrolet kept to the basic designs and spent even more time measuring mixture spin and air flow. What Ford achieved, it did through serendipity on the dyno and race track.Im not saying they were against the science, but they sure did a lot more in field test work than GM and Chryslet and AMC to win racea. Kenneth Duckworth of Cosworth Engineering was asked to suggest improvements on many 70s Ford heads. He sarcastically said "cast in arrows so the air knows what direction to flow...". He said to Dearborn guys, your intake ports are too big. All three Ford guys mentioned above ( Larry W, David V, Kenneth D ) said the ports were not the right shape. The size was often too big for production cars, but fine for the Super Speedway or the mild cams the Boss 302 and 351's had. Very much like A series production British Leyland Cooper S Minis, the engines had quite small came durations with very big carburetion. The head CFM flow was off the charts compared to other engines. When the racers camped them up beyond the stock competion cam figures, they always lost torque out of turns in the circuits. That's just learning about cam lift and duration needs, not an indictment against port size. The problem was always big cams on Cleveland and Winsdor Boss engines, stalling the air speed at low rpm. The dilligent reprofiling of the intake port to chamber and the exhaust hump designs gave the canted valve head engines the edge over the next 15 to 25 years. High porting the exhausts by Bob Glidden allowed intake port area reduction with the same horsepower. All this peak flow SuperFlow CFM focus probably caused Ford to go into huge ports, and less cam duration with very intense lift to make up the fact that a Boss 302 would carry 36 degrees less duration than a DZ 302 . After GT40 Lemans big block wins, Ford then had to experimented with making the same power with 2 liters less engine size, and it outsourced that to Weslake. The Canted Valve engines miised the foray into LeMans, but had only marginally less intake port size than a TP head, but it wasn't until 1985 that Roush and Yates Ford started port size reduction on Canted Valve engines. Four valve per cylinder bans by NASCAR on Mopars DOHC 426 ment Ford spent more time on learning to deal with 91 Octane fuel from 71 to 81, and fuel injection development with Honda and Texaco. Ford bailed on any Cleveland/335 head development from the PROCO Windsor 351 and 400 engines of 1975 to 1976 to the A3 Yates heads of 1983. That ment any advantages were what was won during the 1968 development phase. I'm still not sure how FoMoCo were so far ahead of the pack when those 351C heads surfaced on the TP 302 block. They really were something....
Had a 1970 bought new. Changed to the Ford Muscle Parts LeMans camshaft , headers , 7” drag slicks and a 5.43 gear and the car ran 12.40’s at 110 MPH with no suspension changes and even though it was hell with that rear end gear it was never tailored to the race track. Drove it daily. Heads and short block was 100% stock as was the carburetor and intake. For that day and time that was very respectable. I was young and not real savvy on the tune up and it possibly had more in it had I had more knowledge. Distributor also was factory. Showroom stock with a 3.90 rear gear it ran 14.10 at 102.00 MPH.
While these Mustangs weren’t built to be drag cars they did do well in a straight line too.
That is awesome... Thanks for Watching and Sharing!
Andy
Live to race race to live!! The good old days..love this vid brother👍👍✌✌
Thanks for the Kind words.. Thank you for watching, please subscribe as I have more of these coming!
Andy
A great reminder of a great race series. All the cars in the series were just flat beautiful too.
The worlds best drivers too. There hasn’t been a series like it.
Good video.
Thanks David for the kind words... It was truly the Golden Era of Racing....
Andy
Great video!
I had a chance to buy a 70 boss 302 back in 1983 when I was in college.
It was an 11k mile boss for $8500.
She was like a new car...but couldn't come up with that much money while in school 😪
My buddies thought I was crazy to even consider buying a "Mustang"
for that much...I tried to explain that this car is special.
Oh well, I hope that boss lives on with someone who loved her too!
If only a guy had car money when he was young hey! The jewels we would have bought! Now I'm older and financially able, I was fortunate enough to get a 2013 Boss. Different car, similar concept, and exciting to drive. Old guy living youthful dreams, lol. And it's still fun :-)
There is nothing like hearing a 302 boss screaming at high RPM
I agree! they sound amazing turning 8000 rpm... Thanks for watching!
Andy
@@UnityMotorSportsGarage oh I don't miss anything y'all put out..... I live vicariously through y'all.... I wish I could afford this hobby/life
You would have absolutely *loved* hearing my BOSS 302 during a 1/4 mile run at the drag strip. When the Christmas Tree counted down, I dropped the clutch with my cable-driven Jones Motrola 10,000 RPM tach's "Tattle Tale" pegged, then shifts were made at 8,500-to-9,000 RPMs, based upon the climate conditions and track altitudes. The 39 foot ASL altitude at the Houston/Baytown strip made for *great* cylinder packing and revs. 🙂
302's are great even in a big 1981 Town Car as my brother had, the passing power TQ was all low end and very surprising. I kept imagining 300hp, but it never happen after my brother committed suicide inside the car.
My buddy had a 1969 Mustang fastback. Cammed, headwork. 302 4 spd. That car would pull and scream to the heavens!
I use to watch Norm Beechy, Moffat et el race at the Hume weir great days I did not realise they were part of the best days of my life..ended up owing 3 XYGT's,, Drove from Brisbane to TVL in about 13 hrs
Love the Cougars
Racing scene back then was awesome
Look at those old boats float! Everybody thinks drift racing is a new invention.
On every turn they were on the verge of being out of control... They were REAL race car drivers for sure...
Andy
Let's give a little credit to bias-ply tires for the drifting back in the day.
@@RSDX99 and they were treaded tires not slicks.
AMC really had a very nice program for having the least money.
I fully agree... People took them as a joke at first but soon realized that they were a serious contender.. Having Penske come over in 1970 was a HUGE Plus too...
Andy
Yeah, I've always wondered how they were able to compete given their cylinder head limitations. I guess Mark Donahue was the equalizer.
Those Javlins were sick!!! Gorgeous!
@@neighborscomplaint6859 😂😂😂 Donahue coulda ben in a Datsun 510 an woulda ben in the hunt! Met him at Riversde. Quiet reserved an animal behind the wheel
wel those AMC were a mark to reckon wiht.... if only they hat the money.....but that is how history go's....pardon my bad englisch......oh BTW why ford stopd race involvmend?.....off the rekcord AMC Came in to close....and the big companys would not liked to lose there face against a minor competetor...
Love this video. The Boss 302 is definitely a legendary car! One of my favorites (right behind the Boss 429! 😜)!
I agree, I would take either one!
I miss the Trans Am Series . It’s a shame
Ken Miles was not there in the late 1960’s and 1970 . I’m sure he would’ve been victorious. 💪🏻
Great video. Legend indeed. I own the 1970 Boss 302 Mustang built and raced in SCCA competition by Ford Principal Design Engineer Bill Barr who was lead on the development of the Boss 302 engine. It was a Ford test car before being raced by Bill.
Already know it’s a Total Legend as it was restricted by the SCCA just like all the Sanctioning Bodies do in every so called race series are doing to this very day when it comes to anything & everything powered by Ford. Oh and I’ve built, raced and run the snot out of BOSS 302’s and they are absolutely awesome and punch WAY above their weight.
This is pretty common in racing, not just for Ford.
Corvettes and Ford GTs have both faced it recently and Nissan's Skyline GT-Rs back in the 90s were so unstoppable Australian racing ended up just banning them; same thing happened to the Audis in IMSA and Trans-Am.
If they don't do it the other works teams leave and it turns into a one-make series
It was certainly a shame that Ford pulled out of all factory backing after 1970 in all forms of racing. But make no mistake the Boss 302 is a legend. And it was more popular than the Yanko Camaros of the same period, maybe largely due to the fact that the Mustang continues to be more popular to this day than the Camaro.
Like that joke called NASCAR. They've slowed down the Fords when Chevrolet couldn't keep up, but never the other way around.
The Trans Am series was the best American racing ever IMO. I liked "Stock Car " (today's Nascar, which is a whole different animal) too, but T/A was like the Grand Prix American style! You actually had to shift the vehicle going into corners, left, right, going uphill, going downhill, hairpin turns, just throwing the vehicle all over the track, THAT'S RACING!! The amount of force placed on those cars (and drivers) was monumental! That's why many didn't finish because of breakdown! Once again THAT'S RACING!!!!!!!!!
roger penske did well in 68 and 69 with the acid dipped bodies. when chevrolet quit backing him in 1970, his team fell apart. thanks for the great vintage video Andy.
Thanks... When Penske went to American Motors it hurt Chevrolet for sure... The AMC team went from underdog to Champion in a short amount of time! It's funny because if you look close at the cars they didn't even have rollbars in the cars... Which is crazy to me . Thanks for Watching Kurt!
Rodger Penske also admitted recently that in 69 he used 1 car that was underweight to win, then switched numbers between team cars ( the other car being legal weight ) before being weighed after the race. ''We couldn't beet the Fords''. We were under pressure from GM to ''win or else''. ''Ford really won the title in 69''.
@@UnityMotorSportsGarage
The Javelin's big problem in 68, 69 and 70 was the oiling system. Plus in 68 and 69 they were stuck using the 290 punched out to around 304 cid with a longer stroke than the Fords and Camaros. In 70 SCCA allowed the destroking of larger engines to meet the 5 liter displacement limit. Hence the destroked 340s in the Challenger/Cuda and the AMC 360* being destroked to 305cid. In 71 they allowed dry dumps but to a large degree the party was over.
*the blocks were actually Special Service Blocks that were basically 390 blocks cast with 360 cast diameter cylinders. The 390 had thicker crank webs allowing 4 bolt mains. And no the 390 is not the Ford FE 390. That's one of those stories people will keep repeating until the Sun quits shining.
As to Penske cheating. Well, I doubt he was the only one.
@@thewolf3889 Yeah, once Penske couldn't play games with the rules, Ford kicked their Chevy Camaro's ass.
that was the mopar trick too,same with the ford guys....racing is about not being caught interpreting the rules.....anyone racing cheats and pushes the rules..EVERYONE ford included
Good job with narration, videos, photos and sound. The sound of each of the Trans Am cars was wonderful. Did anyone notice Mark Donahue actually opened the door of his race Camaro? No one thinks of American Motors as being competitive in motor sports but they were. In 72 I bought a 70 Boss 302, 0F02G125461. Both Chevy and Ford made impressive 302’s
Thank you for the kind words! Yes they were real showroom cars that were made into race cars... No tube chassis cars... Leaf spring solid axles and bias ply tires... Talk bout fun! That is awesome about your BOSS.. I'm sure you have plenty of stories! Thanks for Watching
Andy
All about the heads, cams, intake & tune!!
Excellent footage I have never seen before! Thanks for the great video.
Thanks Eric for Watching! Please Subscribe as I have more of this type stuff coming
Andy
I've owned a 1970 Grabber Blue Mustang Boss 302, bought at McFayden Ford, since my brother sold it to me in 1972, him being the 1st owner of a great machine. The winter of 1972 is one of the coldest winters on record in Omaha, NE. My parents took me on a 3 week trip to the west coast and I asked my brother to start the car every day. Not knowing he was doped up, he never started it at all. When we returned home my father & I went to pick up my car and the battery was dead. My brother attested to not starting the car since we left, since he was just divorced a few months earlier and was despondent. I had it towed to our mechanics at Arbor Garage in Omaha and they said two piston skirts had cracked and scored the walls lining it up for a rebuild. I told them to do it and I wanted the fastest "B" Stock car on the streets, as well as the track. It cost me $4581 to have my aluminum block prepped for the new TRW Stainless Steel High Domed Pistons to fit. George Roseland & Duane Burson, both Master Mechanics, took 9 months to make my Boss right and when it was finished, they gave my dad the keys and said "George, we will not take the responsibility for having Kirk wipe himself out. My dad said "Happy Birthday son" and gave me the keys. I was told to let the rings seat for at least 500 miles and after doing so, I let it loose. I raced at Cornhusker Dragway in "B" Stock and turned an 11.38. After learning how to power shift I unhooked my hydraulic secondaries for the Holley carb and put a little wire on it to run what we call in Omaha as WFO! Wow! It ran a 10.88 and as time went on it ran better all the time. I still own this car and it runs at Bandimere quite often. Race 'em if you got 'em!
That is a great story! Thanks for sharing... 10.80's pretty stout!
Thanks for Watching
Andy
@@UnityMotorSportsGarage Love the show Andy!
Thank you!!! It means alot to me.
Andy
I had a ‘67 Mustang 289 with Boss 302 heads and a nice Cam! With A 411 Detroit Locker made the little small block a beast from stop light to stoplight!
I'm sure it did... It would never quit pulling I would guess!! Thanks for Watching
Andy
I never saw one of these 302 Ford's that could hang with a 302 Camaro. Anytime or place. Since then I learned more about these special Ford 302s.
Great History Andy, love it for sure.
Thanks Tim! I love Old school racing...
THANK YOU SO MUCH. GREAT HISTORY LESSON. GREAT VIDEO. A MUST WATCH. ORIGINALLY, I WANTED TO INSTALL A BOSS 302 IN THE EDSEL. BUT IT IS HARD TO FIND MUSTANG EXHAUST MANIFOLDS. THAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING PART OF THE PROJECT.
Fun stuff! Back when real men raced real cars.
Back in the day "when racing was dangerous and sex was safe!"
When ships were of wood... And men of steel 👍🏻
I was just wistfully recalling how I miss a lot about those days.
Lmao
Truth
My uncle raced a 56 Ford couple on a 3/8 paved oval with a boss 302 hardly any competition what amazing power
351 Boss was what I heard about the a buddy bought a Ford and when he pulled the heads.
Those valves were huge!
Turned out it was Boss 302.
Cool video!!! I never followed can am but for sure it was a very rich part of racing history. Thanks Andy
The "Trans Am" series was 1 of the best racing series ever !!!
I saw several Can Am and Trans Am races at Bridgehampton back in the day. A great time was had by all and the racing was spectacular.
Man that would have been awesome to see! Thanks for watching and sharing!
Andy
I bet that was a sight to behold.
I had a 1970 Ford Maverick with a crate bone stock Boss 302 with a top loader four speed with 4:11 gear in rear. Street raced and never lost list a 68 Dodge Charger RT with 440, 67 Chevelle SS with 396, 72 Pontiac Trans Am with 455 among the victims. That maverick would literally jump when barking the tires, N50 15, when banging third. Grew up in north east Ohio and a friend of mines Dad worked at engine plant and I remember him telling me how they ran that prototype Boss full throttle for days.
nice story,ive got readers digest on the line.....
Great historic video!👍
I love watching these cars run out here at Road Atlanta during the "Walter Mitty" historic racing, now called HSR Mitty. Seen quite a few of them from "81 up until 2000 & at the '04-'06 events but it's nothing like watching them race back in the day from what I've heard. Only got to see the recorded footage of the races.
For me the 67-71 era was Golden... Those cars sound so good turning 8000 rpms... Love it.. Thanks for Watching Big Bear!
Andy
Yup. Door slammers. Took two days scraping the undercoating off. Weld body seams and roll cage after. SCCA mandated carb was limited by throttle plate size and was a special order Holley that flowed 830CFM.
Great job on the video man! This history is getting lost, its tragic and more tragic many these days dont even care about this history! I love your content keep it up! If the average person could afford to run in trans am this is the racing i would love to get into!!!
Sheldon thanks for the kind words... Most people don't realize that the BOSS 302 was make up for the Tunnel Port disaster of 1968... To me History is important and I hope to not let it pass by and not be documented somehow... Trans Am racing seems like it would be a blast...
Andy
@@UnityMotorSportsGarage thats partly why i have such an interest in seeing what can be done with stock blocks and iron factory heads. No its not really worth it when china aluminum heads can out pace them but seeing all iron factory engines running 9s to 11s is great when people ask why do it? When you see the look on someone's face when they seen an all factory engine thats been massaged by a good mechanic crush a new aluminium crate engine for half the price thats why! Lol i have a friend with a falcon building a hot rodded 250 six cylinder we put an Australian head and intake on hes building an eaten m90 blow through setup to put on it 4.11 gears 5 speed manual hoping to end up in the 450hp 500+ lb ft tq range as a stoplight too stop light car i love old school hot rodding!
had too give my dad a ride in my BOSS 302 . hit 4th at 7.100 rpms = 99 mph . in a 35 zone . he did not say a word . he had a 67 cougar 3 - speed 289
Another great video.... Thanks Andy
302 IS STILL MY FAV ENGINE...GM...OK...FORD...ALL RIGHT!!! I HAD A SVO FORD FACTORY BOOK THAT SHOWED HOW TO BUILĎ MOST ANY COMBINATION & WHAT PART #'s TO USE AND OR MODIFY TO GET IT TO WORK...LONG GONE IS THAT BOOK...I TREASURED IT...GAVE ME A LOT OF INSIGHT...TODAY...THE 302 COYOTE ENGINE IS UNTOUCHABLE SO FAR...GREAT DESIGN...!!!
Thank you Andy for this great feature. At the risk of sounding like an old fogie, this era was exciting due to the personalities and "everyman" innovation that still existed in racing. It aligned with the hot rodding spirit in all of us more so than the technologically advanced times that followed IMHO.
Brian I fully agree... Thanks for the Kind words... I have more of these type videos I'm planning for the future Covering all of the different brands...
Andy
Great video 👍 Love watching how it used to be done
Thank you for watching! Please Subscribe as I have more vids like this coming..
Andy
I had a 70 used and be a t up boss mustang as my 1st car in 1976. I could powershift. That car in a race. I NEVER lost.
I was at Laguna Seca watching Parnelli Jones driving like a wildman, followed by a more conservative and peaceful Donahue in the red white and blue AMC. At one point Donahue had his left arm on the windowsill. A friend of mine was able to buy the Boss 302 performance parts and assemble a complete racing engine that he dropped in a ‘65 or ‘66 Ranchero. I talked to him about his first drive in that beast and all he would say was it wound out far enough to float the valves. He never spoke of it again. I think it was too much engine for the Ranchero and it actually scared him. Or maybe it blew up.
I read somewhere that race teams/FORD would take them out to 9600 rpm on the dyno. No wonder they had a rev limiter on the street although most were disconnected and ultimately put a leg out of bed.
Great Video.
Thank you
Thanks for the kind words and Thank you for Watching!
Andy
If you want a project engine, build a “Boss Six”. A Boss/Cleveland head on a Ford 300” straight six.
2 unneeded cylinders...
That would be awesome
Why spend the money when the power output surely isn’t worth the cash outlay?
@@gearhead682010 If you ask that question, you don’t get the point of building one
Yeah, few bucks into a Ford 400 gives lots more power... in a compact package...
I was at the Kent raceway in 2018. It is a wild track up and down hills and around huge pacific trees. A great track to test the very capable Boss 302
I’m glad you made this video. There are so many misinformed Ford people out there.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for Watching
Andy
Hi Andy, I've been a Ford guy most of my life. I've worked at four different shops three of four were current or former Pro Stock drag racers. I started at Booth-Arons and finally ended up at Andy Mannarino's Total Automotive Engineering. Anyway the first guy to take over the engine building was at Andy's place was a guy named Greg Coleman. His history was he came form Jack Roush's as "foot up on pit wall for Nascar's Mark Martin as the Engine Guy." His words. He WAS very talented and he told me about a 70 Mustang Boss 302 he was involved with for a while. He'd built a boss engine for these guys and filled the intake & culinder head floors with epoxy (I guess) ported the heads & intake and it really rocked he said and at the MIS track they were on a parade lap along side of an original GT 40 and when the flag dropped the boss 302 didn't stumble as they were prone to do and ripped away from the GT 40! Oh, it did in fact pass the Boss 302 on a straight away, but what a story! (He used to tell me all the time "Learn To Turn!") As I was Huge drag race fan. Still talk to him occasionally.... I'm retired now, at age 69 & all I can do anymore is Bench Race! (and ride my Sportster!) 😊
Freak’n awesome !…….love the greasy grittiness of racing in this time period.
Glad you liked it! Thanks for Watching
Andy
Great video, thanks man!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching
Andy
I love these videos. Even though our Plymouth and challenger didn't do well , i at least tried to make them the best. Actually a barracuda needed a driver and was almost the choice but when it was discovered that i was only with Chrysler for a vary short time they didn't know if i could be counted on.
i bleed chevy orange and loved the AAR cuda and T/A challenger the most back then....the snake and the mongoose helped too.
lots of acid dipping going on back then i guess,cars were pretty floppy..no,dont lean on the roof please!!!
My mom's '63 Falcon with a whopping 144 cubic inch buzzin' half dozen. Now that was a legend.
would be with a top loader and a 289 or 302 stuffed in it...
Rev son and Donahue kicked butt in those Javelins!
Yes they Did...
At one of the big races they camped in our race shop. 👍👍
Love that era.
Hey just coming across your channel. I Love the Clevelands and especially the 429-460,s. I'm Ford through and through, just subscribed. Lot's of nice Ford stuff on your channel, looks like I'm gonna enjoy the Ford content.
Thanks for coming over! I have plenty more in the works
Yeah me too always have been a Ford nut
Ole Parnelli... Good video 👍
I bought my '70 Boss in '76 and owned it till '82. Selling it at the time seemed like a good idea. Mistake :-( Was hot in Oklahoma with no A/C. My best friend had a 340 AAR 6-pack Cuda. We used to work on them together. The good ol days 🙂
The cars that we let get away!
Andy
Great footage of what had to be an awesome time to race. Love my cleveland it makes short work of getting my replica cobra down the road.
Thanks for Watching! Those were some amazing cars... I bet that Cleveland gets that Cobra down the road pretty good!
Andy
The massive Cleveland heads on top of the Windsor block was a winner they dynoed @390 horsepower in race trim.
Nice video!
I have a friend who bought a “Boss 302, for a screaming good deal.” I rushed over to see it right after he got it in his Mustang, blown away at the possibilities....there it was, right there on the valve cover it said “Boss 302,” but it was on a regular 302 valve cover. Smh
Another great video. 👍
Paul 😎
Thanks for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed it
Andy
Great video! Legend for sure 🙌🏻
I'm a 302 guy, have been since the 80's. Every one I have has 14° to 16° of timing advance and good flowing headers and intakes, running on 100% ethanol free gas and a big 4 bbl carb. That's how you make em quick without dumping your bank account in em. Gotta get the carbs up at least a few inches from the intake manifold to keep the temperature down in the bowls. On the stock setup, the gas will boil and cause serious performance problems and stalling.
So true.. a few tweaks really wake them up!
Andy
About the AMC Javelin: In 1969, Alabama state troopers were assigned the 390 CID and 4 speed, without the red/white/blue scheme. The cars were replaced in '71 because of interior space restrictions.
Very well done.
I grew up in the 60’s and when these motors came to be I saw a lot of car owners and cars for sale that claimed to have a Boss 302 under the hood. Raise the hood; Windsor heads. I’ve been around all types of muscle cars from back in the day and I can honestly say I’ve probably seen maybe 2 of these in my lifetime. Jack Roush built his version of this engine for Hot Rod magazine back in the 70’s using all Ford parts and if I remember right in made over 600 horsepower. I’ve always been very intrigued by these engines; especially after reading about Jack Roush’s version.
I agree! I have seen many 302's that claimed to be a BOSS... Only to find Windsor heads.
Thanks for Watching!
Andy
I need to show this video to my Mustang...LOL!
I even like the 302 5.0 in my 2012 mustang, holds it's own very well a very powerful engine.
The Coyote engine is an Awesome engine! That is forsure...
You can make some big power with just bolt-ons... Im a huge Mod Motor fan BTW...lol Thanks for watching and please subscribe
Andy
Not saying they were the best, or fastest, but I've always thought the SB Ford was the sweetest sounding engine. Lots of my Mopar and Bowtie buddies agree.
@@jeffhale2278 I agree when you run the 13726548 351w firing order cam.. it sounds like magic!