Boss 302 myths

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The decision for Chrysler to run the 1970 trans am season was very late. We are talking months.

Not even close the race development of LA compared to small block ford by 1970.

Not much factory race development with LA motor before 1970.

For the 1969 Indy season Chrysler send ONE engineer to Keith Black to develop a stock block program. They ended up with an adapted Westlake head on it. Failed to qualify at Indy. But did win a shorter track race a Dover near end of year. That helped the 1970 T/A motor program get started some.

That’s peanuts compared to the money Ford spent in Trans Am. In ‘68 Ford had a special tunnel port small block T/A race head that never made it public. Wasn’t really successful. And Trans Am made rules more stringent to require production head.

And the money Ford spent at Indy and the Ford vs Ferrari GT40 program when they first had small blocks could make Chrysler pass out thinking about it.

How you been doin? you been racin your junk any?
 
Not real recently. Need brakes and wheel/tire combo to keep up with motor combo. Need baffles in rear end to keep oil inside...

Well those problems are kinda like runnin too fast. Good problems to have cause you're makin some power. lol
 
And even today there motors suck. I think it was about 2001 or so when Ford issued a statement saying that they would never put a Cummins in their trucks cause it is a dinosaur that couldn’t get out of its own way. Emissions will choke it right off. Even though they own Cummins. Kim


Ford does not own Cummins, Cummins Inc. owns Cummins.
 
As far as Ford engines being junk, I have to whole heartily disagree, ya they made some crap over the years but who didnt?
They also made a lot of legends, the Boss motors have a reputation for a reason, and we haven't even got into the super cobra jets yet. As far as there new stuff that new 5.0 is wicked man, and I've got zero complaints about my 6.7 powerstroke, Since the International 6.0 and 6.4 fiasco Ford builds there own diesel, something the other 2 big manufactures can't claim.
 
One more comment while were bashing Ford, they didn't take a bailout and there a American company still. That's why I buy Ford trucks.
 
As far as Ford engines being junk, I have to whole heartily disagree, ya they made some crap over the years but who didnt?
They also made a lot of legends, the Boss motors have a reputation for a reason, and we haven't even got into the super cobra jets yet. As far as there new stuff that new 5.0 is wicked man, and I've got zero complaints about my 6.7 powerstroke, Since the International 6.0 and 6.4 fiasco Ford builds there own diesel, something the other 2 big manufactures can't claim.

I was gonna argue that too. Just look how many vehicles came with the 302. MILLIONS. And who could argue the 300 is perhaps every bit the 6 that the slant is......maybe more? And the flathead? Come on. Hot rodding wouldn't be what it is today. Sure they all built crap of some sort at one time but Ford had some kick butt engines.
 
My dad drove a 4x4 converted delivery van (his tool truck) for years with a 300 six 4 speed, that thing wouldn't quit it wasn't very fast mind you. I also have to agree on the 302's use to run them in enduro races at the cicrle track, what ever we could find with a 302 we would gut it weld it up and stick a bar in the drivers door. We looked for 302's because they seem to keep running the longest after you busted your radiator or plugged it with mud. Our second choice were slant cars for the same reason only they tended to be a little slower.
 
I was gonna argue that too. Just look how many vehicles came with the 302. MILLIONS. And who could argue the 300 is perhaps every bit the 6 that the slant is......maybe more? And the flathead? Come on. Hot rodding wouldn't be what it is today. Sure they all built crap of some sort at one time but Ford had some kick butt engines.
300 6's are a 7 main bearing block, slants only 4. Nuff said there. Nothing wrong with 6 Liter diesels. International put lots of them in medium duty trucks and school buss's with very few issues. Ford had their own injection/turbo set ups due to a different set of emission rules they had to follow.. Thanks EPA!
 
My personal experiences with fomoco products is that the 302 is perhaps the most underrated "small" displacement v8, even in 2v form.

I've seen 302's whip up on many a 350-ish displacement engine.

RE the 351c, however I think a lot is mystique, like the 340 and 327 have.

I had a 351c 4v (with the "good" 4v heads) in a 71 torino and it wasn't really anything to brag about. I'd have no second thoughts about lining up one of my 318-2 cars against a cleveland powered torino.


What I don't like about the blue oval is the oddball angle their column shifers have in D, the loose feeling and likely to slip out of P floor shifters, and some other questionable ergonomic and fit and finish practices. They just feel wrong to me to the point of making me squirm.
 
Boss ports were to large for low rpm's and that was the complaint back in the day. Also valves were 2.2 in that small displacement engine. It was like the Z/28 302 flat at low RPM's but when the thing was wound up it was deadly, and they wound up quickly. They both needed low ratio gears to always be in the zone. I know the 302 in the Z/28 would go to 7 k plus and the Ford wasn't far behind. Light to light they could hold there own with larger cubed engines. As was stated it was really designed for Trans Am racing. Against a 340 ?? ..who knows, I wouldn't want to bet against either. Nothing wrong with saying another manufacturer had a good engine even on a mopar site. Hell in 50 years I've owned them all, as most of us have.
 
I remember back in 1969 watching a guy unload a black Z28 at our local strip.I was 16 at the time and car crazy.I chatted with the owner briefly as he took it off the trailer. It was a 4 speed with headers, 410's and cheater slicks. He ran 13.10 his first past.It was a beautiful car and i was quite taken by the car and it's performance.That was pretty fast in 1969.
I confess..i do like the 55 Chev,Boss 302,Z28 and many other non mopars.
 
Two different motors for two different purposes. The "BOSS 302" was originally designed for Trans Am racing. Those heads had huge intake and exhaust ports not made for low RPM HP. Even when those same design heads were put on the Cleveland, those ports were still too big for low RPM HP. Had Ford made an HP version of the 400 with those heads.......then you wouldda SEED somethin. lol

Even still, the 340 in T/A trim, which was Mopar's answer routinely kicked the BOSS 302's butt and I've always attributed that to the extra cubes.
Mopars short existence in trans am racing? I thought they used a de-stroked 340 to get to 302? (Or close. E-bodies were a little heavier.) I haven’t read those rules in decades.
 
they did destroke the 340 for a 305 version, you can still see those MP short throw cranks every now and then. What would the Mopar 305 (legit motor in MP catalog) been like with W2 heads? Interesting that Chrysler planned on putting W2's on Little red Wagons! Aussie 2v Cleveland heads were the hot ticket on the street, closed chambered got you another point of compression. The 4v Cleveland ports were so big that they offered restrictor plates for the intake and exhaust sides for better flow under 5500 RPM! The intake restrictors were 22cc 'turtles' that you fastened inside the intake ports, exhaust was just a smaller raised port exhaust flange, that's some band-aid engineering!

I don't know how that muscle car article got ~380HP out of a stock Boss 302 when the dyno run I saw was barely above 300 and falling after 6000 RPM?
 
And even today there motors suck. I think it was about 2001 or so when Ford issued a statement saying that they would never put a Cummins in their trucks cause it is a dinosaur that couldn’t get out of its own way. Emissions will choke it right off. Even though they own Cummins. Kim
Ford owns Cummins?
 
300 6's are a 7 main bearing block, slants only 4. Nuff said there. Nothing wrong with 6 Liter diesels. International put lots of them in medium duty trucks and school buss's with very few issues. Ford had their own injection/turbo set ups due to a different set of emission rules they had to follow.. Thanks EPA!

I forget where I read it and what the reasons were, but I read somewhere that the four main thing with the slant was a really big advantage somehow.
 
And even today there motors suck. I think it was about 2001 or so when Ford issued a statement saying that they would never put a Cummins in their trucks cause it is a dinosaur that couldn’t get out of its own way. Emissions will choke it right off. Even though they own Cummins. Kim
That was a Urban Legend. Ford never owned not even 1% of cummins. BUT they were allowed to put them in F-650 and larger
 
Another that wooped up on the boss 302 was the,"considered Mopar now", AMX javelin Penske and Donahue ran, it was a 401 destroked to 304 ci.

IMG_20190614_172134.JPG
 
They had the dumbest exhaust ports.

No kiddin. That's why people were sawing off that whole vertical side of the head and puttin on stuff like this......
cleveland-plates.jpg


I'm not an advocate of doing much of anything to the intake side though. Like those stupid tongues and all that. I think they got that side right. THey had to do what they had to do on the exhaust side to be able to fit the engine where they needed it to go. In order to take advantage of those exhaust plates the heder tubes really need to exit the ports going UP and that would have cause all kinds of problems in the engine bay. THey can be made badass with just port work, but "somebody" would have to know what they were doin. I bet you know somebody like that. ;)
 
One more comment while were bashing Ford, they didn't take a bailout and there a American company still. That's why I buy Ford trucks.

I heard they didn't get bailed out according to the strict definition like Chrysler and GM but they did take a whole crapton of private loans to bail themselves out. An engineer buddy of mine who is a big Ford guy told me that FoMoCo makes most of their money from their credit division financing cars, not producing/selling them! What a crock!
 
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