any old school ford guys?

[Rich46yo]

The beauty of the Pony was it brought "sport" to the average working guys. All in all, and still today, American made muscle is the best value in automobiles. The Pony was a big contributor to that.

[Masherbrum]

As much as I've always preferred Fords, I have a '92 Blazer these days. It's more with trucks...

But Mustangs pfffft; it's really hard to compete with your biggest rival on looks. Corvettes hands down imo have almost always had it on beauty.

Now, Cobras    Different deal there.


On safety though, your Mustang, I'd rather be in than a 'Vette.

The Corvette is not the Mustang's competitor and it cracks me up people still make that same mistake.  The Camaro is the Mustang's competitor and always has been. 

[morfiend]

As skuzzy said the "boss" 302 had it's flaws!   

  While it could breath well and would windup the revs there were issues with oiling and cooling!  The little 02's were known to toss an unneeded rod or 2 and also had the habit of bending valves.

   If I was going to build it I would go all matching numbers and in a stock config or I would do a restomod and upgrade breaks and suspension then stick as much crate motor as I could afford!

  You can make a backyard "boss" but why?  It will get terrible gas milage,it wont make the HP of a crate motor and then you will always have issues with finding a fuel that will actually work,because todays gas isnt the same stuff they used back then!   The hitest I remember was RED in color and the "regular" was about 95 octane.

   I have a thing for the 66 fastback,cant say exactly why but it's always been my fav.


   

[homersipes]

yeah I have read that they had issues.  I would do a resto on it to original if it were me.  Yeah I have discussed the fuel issue with him but dang he is stuck on doing a boss, so figured I would help him get a bit of info the suspension could use a redo, from what I have have gathered they handled like a turd 

[SFRT - Frenchy]

I'm with ROC all the way.

A Boss 302 is not a WOW factor anymore. We have so many aftermarket parts and builders nowadays that performance parts and engines from the days are blown away. Some old gizers at gas stations still try to patronize me with their factory dual exhaust systems. It must be my accent .

If your dad is after a WOW factor, build a Bullitt replica with the 390, the car is still timeless cool. We stroked the Tomatoe's 302 to a 347 and this is how she sounds, (if your dad wants some musical incentive)  :

[RotBaron]

The Corvette is not the Mustang's competitor and it cracks me up people still make that same mistake.  The Camaro is the Mustang's competitor and always has been.

And what makes you the authority on that? What facts of your back up what you say?

A mistake?    I've never heard two guys ever argue about the Camaro vs the Mustang, Vettes and Stangs...countless times.

[Masherbrum]

And what makes you the authority on that? What facts of your back up what you say?

A mistake?    I've never heard two guys ever argue about the Camaro vs the Mustang, Vettes and Stangs...countless times.

If you heard the incorrect comparison countless times, it is because those people were just as misinformed.   

[Hajo]

Corvette since its' inception has been regarded as Americas Sports Car. It is not a muscle car as is the Mustang.

[Masherbrum]

Corvette since its' inception has been regarded as Americas Sports Car. It is not a muscle car as is the Mustang.

Correct and the Corvettes competitor was the Thunderbird.   

[eagl]

That makes the current corvette "sports car" competitor the focus ST

[CAP1]

my dad is in process of building a 67 fastback and wants some wow factor in a wow factor car so he wants to build up a true boss engine, but he's having problems locating parts and info.  I don't know much about fords but he called it a clevor 302.  I guess it takes a windsor block and cleveland heads.  any of you gus have any info or know a legit place to get parts for this thing??

boss 302 was produced for 2 years. 1969, and 1970. you can tell the block by the 4 bolt mains, and the screw on core plugs. the casting number on a 69 block should start with "C9", and on the 70 block with "D0". the rods are heavier, and the crank is forged.
 the heads. in 69 they had 2.25" intake valves with (i think) 1.95" exhaust valves. in 70 they cut the intakes to 2.19", as that was more drivable on the street.

 you could suggest to your dad to swap a modern boss302 into that car. based on the coyote engine, it's nearly 450hp right outta the box, and you both will have something truly unique, while outperforming the original boss in every way.

[Skuzzy]

And what makes you the authority on that? What facts of your back up what you say?

A mistake?    I've never heard two guys ever argue about the Camaro vs the Mustang, Vettes and Stangs...countless times.

Not sure about the circles you run about in, but every car rag and cay guy I know never compares a Mustang to a Corvette.  It is a completely inappropriate comparison. 

The Camaro/Mustang wars were legendary.

Here is a prety well written article about the history of that rivalry.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/mustang-vs-camaro-the-ultimate-american-car-rivalry/

The only time there was a legitimate comparison between a Corvette and a Ford product was the 1955-1957 Thunderbirds and Corvettes, and even then Ford took it on the chin and gave up quite quickly.

[Randy1]

I grew up in those days.  I remember well going to see the first Mustang.  There were articles of the day saying things like, "The Mustang is no Corvette."  Keep in mind too, on the car lot, the common Mustang was a straight 6 when it first hit the market.

The Boss was beat up pretty  bad in a lot of the articles and school ground arguments of the day but mostly because the Boss was never meant to be a 0-60 stellar performer being more of a handling or Sports like car. 

Then the EPA and compression ratios dropped ending the pony wars.

[Skuzzy]

Actually, the Boss 302 was meant to be a drag racer.  It had lousy low end performance.  You had to get the engine to 5,000 RPM before it came to life.  It was a horrible street car.

The Mustangs were not known for handling either.  Even the Shelby version of the Mustangs involved a strictly brute force approach to handling.  They just put big enough sway bars and harsh enough springs on it to keep the body from rolling, but then they bounced all over the place on anything but the smoothest streets.

[hgtonyvi]

No one likes old school pontiacs? Lol