A Real Project: 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302
The original Boss 302 Mustang was sold in the 1969 and 1970 model years as a street version of the TransAm racer. A large part of the concept is attributed to Larry Shinoda who added the c-stripe (’69) and hockey stick (’70) plus front air dam, rear wing, and deleted faux side scoops — but the real hero is the screaming solid lifter equipped 302 V8 under the hood. Find this 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 here on eBay
bidding for $9,100 with less than one day to go.
The original Boss 302 Mustangs demand a fairly high price when in nice condition, but Ford sold 7,013 examples when new, so the supply is fairly large compared to something like the Boss 429 Mustang with 499 examples sold in 1970. It is however, 99% based on the standard fastback Mustang, which was shipped to dealers across the continent by the boatloads trainloads when new.
Under the hood of the Boss was a 302 cubic inch Ford tunnel port Windsor V8 with specially designed wedge shaped Cleveland heads, domed pistons to give 11:1 compression, forged crank, 4-bolt mains, 780 CFM Holley carb, and a high lift solid lifter cam. This semi-race setup allowed the car to rev to 7000 rpm and produce a rated 290 horsepower, but dyno tests show something closer to 390 horsepower for G-code 302s.
Whoa…what in the world am I looking at…oh…an upside down picture of a torn up Mustang interior with an automatic shifter…which isn’t right because all Boss 302s came from the factory with the heavy duty toploader 4-speed manual. This car is probably missing many original parts, but the current bidding price makes it really tempting.
See another cheap Boss? tips@dailyturismo.com
Oh God! Noooooo….Yeah, I'd do this in about a second, if it were close and convenient enough to lay hands on before the purchase. '70 Boss 302 is dam close to the top of my automotive bucket list, and having one that's just bad enough that I could tweak it a bit on the rebuild would be perfect.
Alas…not hopping on a plane this week to go look, and I don't buy something like this without a very close inspection, so…
Missing original engine. What's the point then?
That's replaceable for restoration purposes, should you decide to go that direction.
Unlike GM, Fords did not have engine numbers 'matched' to the body.