Psst, Hey, Want to See Some Boss Mustangs?

"Money Hustard" (moneyhustard) 05/13/2015 at 11:42 • Filed to: Classic Cars, Collector Cars, Mustangs

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Like the Challenger Daytona, Plymouth Superbird and the Camaro Z/28 the Boss 302 and 429 were homologation specials. Their purpose was to satisfy the rules of racing series that required OEMs to actually produce and sell the motors they used in races.

The 302 actually made some sense, in that the motor would actually fit in the Mustang. The 429, was a “semi-hemi” and was made to compete in Nascar races, but it didn’t actually fit in a factory Mustang. For this tight fitting, Ford sent almost-done Mustangs to Kar Kraft.

To get the 429 between the fenders, Kar Kraft had to cut the shock towers, and move them outwards two inches. That required a wider strut tower brace. The suspension was moved forward one inch, and special spindles and control arms were fabricated to improve the car’s steering and handling characteristics because of the additional mass of the 429. A special power brake booster was needed to clear the engine’s left hand valve cover. The battery was moved to the trunk for clearance, and to improve weight distribution.

The Boss had some extra exterior accoutrements but for the most part it was one of those trims that charges a bunch of extra money to remove lot of little bits, and even some major bits like air conditioning. AC wasn’t even an option for the buying public, but the one pictured below has it. It was only available to Ford employees, apparently.

But hood scoops, hood scoops were very available.

As well as spoilers and louvers:

Notice those things at that back that looks like sealed up mufflers? Their reverse lights, which is confusing:

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! are almost always a hoot. Very dangerous hoots. Question: what’s your favorite homo-car?

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 11:47

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I’m a Chevy guy, so the Boss 302’s natural enemy, the Z/28. My dad had a ‘69 and ‘70-1/2. The cool thing with the Z was that if you knew the right option codes, you could get a full Trans Am spec motor - 2x4bbl carbs, high compression angle plug heads, headers, chambered exhaust, “offroad use only” camshaft, all delivered in the backseat and trunk of the car and installed by dealers. Very very few cars were ever setup this way.

Money Hustard > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 11:48

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BTW, the Dodge Challenger is my favorite.

Money Hustard > Snuze: Needs another Swede 05/13/2015 at 11:49

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I worked on a pair of ‘68 Camaros growing up, they have the advantage of being one of the better engineered cars of their kind, as well.

505Turbeaux > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 11:53

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my grandmother had a 302 version in yellow that she bought in the 70’s. She drove it till the late 80’s and sold it for 3 whole thousand dollars against my young wishes and my fathers. Still crying inside

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 11:55

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Yeah, they really are great cars.

Also, regarding the Boss 302, one of the things that I’ve heard was that 302 in that car was a relatively poor performer - my Ford knowledge is not that great so I may be wrong - but I recall reading they used too big a cylinder head. I think they were 351C heads with oversized valves. It ended up being too big, which killed port velocity, resulting in poor cylinder fill and poor throttle response.

Money Hustard > Snuze: Needs another Swede 05/13/2015 at 11:59

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Interesting, my understanding was that they produced way more bhp than their factory rating, somewhere in the ballpark of 350.

Most homologation motors were nothing but a lot of potential, though. You could fairly easily get hundreds more horsepower if you didn’t mind what the car sounded/smelled like.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 12:01

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My dad’s dreamstang; albeit not in Grabber Orange.

Cherry_man1 > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 12:06

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I think the Torino Talladega and Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II were the best homologation cars of their time. They both could be had with BOSS 429’s.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 12:11

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I know that was the case with the Camaro’s DZ302. They were factory rated at 290HP I’ve heard they produced anywhere from 350-365bhp. As I mentioned, there was a Trans Am race pack you could order, all that stuff bumped it up to about 450-460HP.

The Trans Am racers would then take that motor and package and tweak them up to about 500HP through a little port work, carb and distriburtor tweaking, and blueprinting and balancing. Smokey Yunick was allegedly making 525HP out of his “Mystery Motor” which used hemi-heads.

I think the Ford 302 still did well and probably exceeded it’s factory rating by quite a bit as did the Z/28, but I think that due to the cylinder head issue it was never quite as good as the Z.

RallyWrench > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 12:15

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My uncle had a Boss 302 for a few years, needed cosmetics but he got the mechanicals sorted & sold it before they really started appreciating. Badass car.

For Sweden > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 12:18

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Challenger

lone_liberal > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 12:20

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I’ll never understand why the Boss 429 was a Mustang and not a Torino, but I love the result.

RallyWrench > Snuze: Needs another Swede 05/13/2015 at 12:20

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Not so much a poor performer as a poor street engine that needed to have the intake and exhaust freed up post-sale. They didn’t have the grunt down low that buyers had come to expect, but they’d rev for days. I’ve read that that the 429 was regarded similarly, because it was designed to operate at high revs all day in NASCAR, not provide tire shredding torque off the line.

misfitmascots > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 12:36

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Mercedes 190E 2.5 EVO II

Snuze: Needs another Swede > RallyWrench 05/13/2015 at 12:50

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My father had similar things to say about his ‘69 Z/28. He said the only way to launch it was to hold it at 6,000rpm and sidestep the clutch, and even then big-blocks and even some small blocks would jump it off the line. He said you had to wring the snot out of it - shift at 9,000rpms. If you drove it hard like that, there wasn’t much that could keep up.

RallyWrench > Snuze: Needs another Swede 05/13/2015 at 12:53

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Given that the Boss & Z/28 were built for the same purpose, that’s not surprising at all. In street form they were saddled with too-small carbs & exhausts to get past early emissions regulations & to make them somewhat streetable. The T/A cars had sewer pipes for a reason, a 5 liter V8 moves a lot of air at 8000RPM!

BigBlock440 > For Sweden 05/13/2015 at 12:53

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Yup, he used the wrong picture. Can’t say I’ve heard anyone call it their favorite before.

thebigbossyboss > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 13:01

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No. What ever made you think I would enjoy that?

Snuze: Needs another Swede > RallyWrench 05/13/2015 at 13:03

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Definitely, as I mentioned, dad’s 69 had the 2x4’s and all that stuff. They were 585cfm each, so that’s 1170cfm total!!! It also had factory headers and chambered exhaust pipes, which were basically straight pipes with some dimples in them!

Money Hustard > thebigbossyboss 05/13/2015 at 13:07

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http://www.heacockclassic.com/articles/1969-… I lure you in with Mustangs and then spray you with Camaro!!!!

Money Hustard > For Sweden 05/13/2015 at 13:08

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HAHAHHA, I’m an idiot.

Fuck, I’ve been brainwashed...

GUYMANDUDE > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 15:13

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190E cosworth 16v 2.3

Wilsonic > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 16:42

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If only the 427 SOHC wasn’t banned from mostly everything, perhaps it could have found its way into a production car for the sake of homologation. What could have been...

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 17:08

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What I’ve learned in trying to find a smart-ass picture to reply with (to no avail) is that Bruce Springsteen’s daughter rides horses competitively. Enjoy that tidbit of information!

Money Hustard > Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) 05/13/2015 at 17:33

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I’ll take it!

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > Money Hustard 05/13/2015 at 17:35

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Carry it with you always. You never know when Trivia Crack may ask. Also, that color blue on that particular ‘Stang is extraordinary!