A low mileage BOSS 302 with Gapp & Roush modifed NASCAR cylinder heads
with kind permission by Peter van Tol"Hi, I am Peter van Tol and I am living in the Netherlands, so not really BOSS land, but superflat and straight roads over here.
Wish I could have a T/A racing ground in the neighbourhood, but back to the story of my BOSS.
When I bought the car, the roof and quarterpanels where painted over with brown primer. It is basically and hardly a car for a presentation on a website, but many BOSS and Mustang enthusiasts would be probably interested in a restoration story, so why not.
Wolfgang urged me to do so and here's more on my soon to be finished project BOSS 302.
I work on a ground up restoration of the car. I bought it as an unfinished project from a guy in the USA. The car has shaker, rear deck spoiler, louvres, Magnum 500 wheels and is Grabber Green.A somewhat rare feature is the Wide ratio T4 transmission. Most Boss302s were fitted with the Close ratio T4.
Special note for BOSS 302 enthusiasts wanting to buy a BOSS:
Speaking for myself: I would not anymore recommend a project car. Boss 302 are well known to have a lot of parts that are unique to it's engine and body. Depending on the level of how hard to find them, the prices can be pretty unreal. If you are interested in buying a Boss project car, first read ALL the available books, of which Donald Farr's book "Boss302 Fords Trans Am Pony Car" is the major and most recommendable publication.Bogus Boss's are in existence and put up for sale now and then so be aware!!!!!
Boss302 odometer readings as well as previous owner and other history details can be verified with the US based Boss302 registry (if the car's VIN is registered)
How it all began:
When I was a 12 year old boy, I was sort of "In Love" with the Shelby GT350
racecar. You know, the white one with the blue GT stripes running over
the top and sides. I have a Road & Track issued scale model of which even
the side windows open with small window slings.This affection shifted more and more over time to the '70 Boss302 (because of Parnelli Jones's # 15 who filled the intakes of the bowtie guys' Z28s with dust, back in 1970? I think, it is because of the looks of the '70 T/A combined with the screaming 9,200 RPM redline staggered valve headed 302 motor with side exhaust.
Does this engine scream? You would fear for your life driving one of these.
Now that I finally could turn my "boys dream" into reality I started looking for a project car on the internet. Internet?
Yeah, Internet, you know why? Classic car dealers overhere in the Netherlands didn't have a Boss 302 for sale and the only dealer that did have one for sale, still has it sitting in his showroom after one and a half years, since he's asking a premium price for it. (66.000 NGL = approx. 30.000 EURO). Update 2019 - well they are running in the 60-80.000 Euro range today, so it would have been a good investment.
I found an ad for the car of my dreams on the internet and sent an e-mail saying that I was interested. The previous owner responded and we spoke on the phone the other day. On this occasion he asked me whether I was a "Tire Kicker" because he didn't want no tire kickers on his yard. The guy mailed me some pictures and in November '99 I found myself on a Delta Airlines flight heading for StLouis, where I booked a hotel and a rental car.
BTW, while in Illinois, I also had the opportunity to see an unrestored, original Shelby GT500 and a restored RR Cuda with a Hemi engine.
After checking out the car for all the Boss goodies (as per Donald Farr's book and the Boss302 registry details) I made a test drive.
The '70 Boss302 is indeed a good handling car, even with worn out bushings this car handles so well. The seller appeared to be the second owner and offered me to have a chat with the first owner who happened to live in the same town.
The first owner told me that the Magnums, shaker, rear deck spoiler, tach dash and rear louvers were factory equipment. The paint is Grabber Green, which is also the original factory color.
Details about this car / purchase:
Cons:
- Boss302 engine was not complete.
- Crankshaft supplied with the pile of engine parts appeared to be a 1M, i.e. 289 nodular iron crank.
- Pistons seemed like a bowtie type since they were flattops and notched with 4 valve relieves. The rods were fortunate enough the correct shotpeened C3AE's with football type bolt heads. Crankshaft, carburetor, fuel pump, heads, camshaft and distributor were missing!!
- Car was equipped with a (sorry to maybe offend some Mach 1 owners)1972 LoPo 351-2v Cleveland engine weighing 245Kilogramms and putting out a (disappointing 196BHP on paper).
Pros:
- Fair "project car" price (33,000 original miles)
- Interior needs only a new roofliner rest is amazingly looking good
- Drivetrain and options are original factory equipment
- No chassis, body and or suspension modifications
- Cleveland engine carried the original Boss flywheel, clutch disc and pressure plate as well as the Boss302 pulleys and alternator and power steering brackets.
Engine of Peters BOSS 302
My current project - rebuilding the Boss engine:
I purchased some D0ZE cylinder heads that appeared to be NASCAR heads*, massaged by the former Gapp & Roush. The heads are marked with SK numbers but also carry the D0ZE casting number. They have 427 GT40 valves* right now and a serious porting and polishing job has been done to them. The diameter of the intake valve dishes is 57mm!!!* Randy Gillis recognized in 2019 his own hand writing on these heads. His comment on the Shelby forum:
Those were "stock" used '70 heads I bought from G&R back in the '70s . I STILL have the receipt for them. "I" used my trusty electric pencil to put the Gapp and Roush name on them so I would know which set they were when installed on one of the four complete engines I was using for drag racing in my '66 Shelby. IIRC , I sold them through Ford Power Parts in the '80s. Other than some porting they are NOT special in any way, and have NOTHING to do with Nascar engines. I used DOZX valves in them, NOT 427 valves. " Editors note: Tried to reach out for Peter or a new owner, yet it is said to be still in Peters hands, the other grabber green Boss 302 in the Netherlands currently on sale at a Mustang dealer is not this very same car, I was told.
The Boss motor is coming together piece by piece and is projected to an output of approximately 400HP. However running my engine datas through the Desktop Dyno, I found out, it will be good for 512HP. Crane sells a cam that has it's powerband starting @ 4,500 RPM, redline @8,500 but this will be overkill for a car that also needs to be driveable on the street. Here is where the word compromise comes in. Current cam has it's powerzone starting @ 3,000 RPM, redline @ 7,000 RPM, which should be driveable with a Wide ratio transmission hooked up to a 3.50 final drive ratio in stop and go traffic.
In theory, the Crane bumpstick with it's redline of 8,500 RPM would be able to give this car a topspeed of 280 KMH!!! Not bad for a 30 year old guy. However, todays city traffic doesn't allow bumpsticks of this caliber.
BOSS 302 engine - How much can it stand?
I just found out about a nice detail regarding the strength of a Boss302
block.
I was having a telephone conversation with Red Johnson @ Roush Engineering,
trying to get the flow numbers of the Gapp & Roush massaged cylinder heads
that I have for my car. There are no records of those days.
Red also told me that the Boss302 blocks started to crack @ 600 to 650 HP.
Now the T/A motors were rated as 520HP and the street Boss was rated as
290HP and later re-rated by the NHRA as a 330HP motor. The Boss302 block's
strenght was more than capable to do the job.
Assembly of engine parts waiting for final assembly or restoration
and the domed TRW pistons I am going to use
Soon you will see here more pictures of 4 bolt main bearing caps,
780 Cfm Holley carb, shaker details, Hurst T-shifter, Rev Limiter, PS pump oil cooler.
What options came with my BOSS 302?
- Grabber green paint
- Wide ratio T4 transmission
- Shaker Hood
- Sports Slats
- Rear Spoiler
- Hurst Shifter
- Magnum 500 original wheel rims
- PS pump oil cooler
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