450 horse 302 Ford motor in the '70's?

[Gary Wells]

My manager told me that ther was a 450 horse Ford 302 motor in the late '60's-early '70's. that was sold over the counter or installed in a few cars from the factory in the this time frame. This was supposedly a dual carburated, normally aspirated, no squeeze motor. Anybody ever hear of such a thing. 1.5 horse per cubic inch was only attainable by Offy, I thought. I have never heard of any street or normal production, or even limited production motors attaining this. First he told me that it was an option on the Boss 302, and I told him that was definitely incorrect, and then I queried that on this board, and got no vouchers for that one.

 

[UNGN]

A Trans Am motor (Boss 302) with a dual Inline 4 bbl (Cross Boss) would make 450 HP in race trim (at 8000 RPM). No way would it be considered emissions legal, even back then.

Ford NEVER offered such a thing for a street car. Even the "fabled" 290 HP Boss 302 aren't as fast on the street as every one remembers. Mid 14's was the best any road test recorded for a stock one.

 

[GNVAIR]

The boss 302 in Trans Am spec was capable of atleast 450 horses. Many were fitted with the dual Autolite inline carburetors (available from Ford over the counter). The Boss 302 was severely underated at 290 horse just like the Chevrolet 302. But unlike the Chevrolet 302 with its production style inline valve heads; the boss came equipt with the Cleveland style heads (left over from Ford's tunnel port program). These are a canted valve heads had enormous ports and valves that allowed shifts in the 10,000+ rpm range.
They were really too much for the street and made the drivability of a boss soggy to say the least.
Even though Chevrolet grabbed the Trans Am titles in 67,68 and 69
Ford grabbed the title in 1970 with the Boss 302.

 

[strikeeagle]

As the former owner of a '70 Boss 302, I can attest to their "sogginess" on the street. They were AWFUL street cars, not especially fast, ill riding, and ill handlng - not what one would imagine when one sees that pristine example in HRM or whatever now and then.

Did you know that Ford REDUCED the valve sizes between '69 and '70 to try to improve street manners?

 

[Randy Greenoe]

I thought in Trans Am competition that you could not run mutilple carbs.? That is why the competition AAR Cuda and Z/28 ran single four barrells?

 

[strikeeagle]

"The rules were changed in 1970. The minimum production of cars was raised from the 1,000 minimum in 1969 to 1/250th of the manufacturers total production in the prior year- a minimum of 2,500 cars. Rules were relaxed in other areas. More flexibility was allowed with engines, rear ends and suspension. The dual 4 barrel carbs, allowed in 1969, were restricted to a single 4 barrel. Ford developed the Autolite In-Line carb to take advantage of this rule."

 

[Gary Wells]

Ok, could a car be bought from a Ford dealership or from the Ford factory with the Autolite inline carb set-up installed, or was this an over the counter purchased motor?

 

[UNGN]

Originally posted by Wells
Ok, could a car be bought from a Ford dealership or from the Ford factory with the Autolite inline carb set-up installed, or was this an over the counter purchased motor?

No. Never emissions certified. Over the counter for the carb and carb set-up, possibly. As far as the motor being available from Ford, no. Bud Moore, maybe. Ford Factory itself, never.

 

[turbobuickman]

The "70 AAR 'cudas and T/A challengers had 3 two-barrels.

 

[UNGN]

Originally posted by turbobuickman
The "70 AAR 'cudas and T/A challengers had 3 two-barrels.

Right, but the trans am car's were all single 4 bbls.

In '69 GM and AMC dual 4 bbl crossrams on their T/A motors.

 

[Gary Wells]

I wish to thank everybody for all of the great info and timely responses.

 

[Pressure-Less]

Here is a list of the top 50 muscle cars from the 60's & 70's and their stats. It says 50 but only lists 49 of them?

50 Fastest Muscle Cars



These are the fastest muscle cars of all time, as ranked by Muscle Car Review Magazine, the source on muscle cars. This ranking was developed by comparing muscle cars as measured by different, respected sources, which were then ranked by their respective quarter mile elapsed times.

50 FASTEST MUSCLECARS

# YEAR/MODEL ET/MPH ENGINE HP TRANS GEAR SOURCE
1 1966 427 Cobra 12.20@118 427 8V 425 4-Speed 3.54 CC 11/65
2 1966 Corvette 427 12.8@112 L72 427 425 4-Speed 3.36 CD 11/65
3 1969 Road Runner 12.91@111.8 440 Six BBL 390 4-Speed 4.10 SS 6/69
4 1970 Hemi Cuda 13.10@107.12 426 Hemi 425 4-Speed 3.54 CC 11/69
5 1970 Chevelle SS454 13.12@107.01 454 LS6 450 4-Speed 3.55 CC 11/69
6 1969 Camaro 13.16@110.21 427 ZL1 430 4-Speed 4.10 HC 6/69
7 1968 Corvette 13.30@108 427 6V 435 4-Speed 3.70 HC 5/68
8 1970 Road Runner 13.34@107.5 426 Hemi 425 automatic 4.10 SS 12/69
9 1970 Buick GS Stage I 13.38@105.5 455 Stage I 360 automatic 3.64 MT 1/70
10 1968 Corvette 427 13.41@109.5 L72 427 425 4-Speed 3.55 CD 6/68
11 1969 Charger 500 13.48@109 426 Hemi 425 4-Speed 4.10 HR 2/69
12 1968 Charger 13.50@105 426 Hemi 425 automatic 3.23 CD 11/67
12 1970 Plymouth Superbird 13.50@105 426 Hemi 425 ? ? ?
14 1968 Road Runner 13.54@105.1 426 Hemi 425 automatic 3.55 CD 1/69
15 1973 Trans Am 13.54@104.29 455 SD 310 automatic 3.42 HR 6/73
16 1969 Corvette 13.56@111.1 427 L88 430 automatic 3.36 HR 4/69
17 1969 Super Bee 13.56@105.6 440 Six Pack 390 automatic 4.10 HR 8/69
18 1969 Boss 429 Mustang 13.60@106 Boss 429 375 4-Speed 3.91 HC 9/69
19 1970 Challenger R/T 13.62@104.3 440 Six Pack 390 automatic 3.23 CC 11/69
20 1970 Torino Cobra 13.63@105.9 429 SCJ 370 automatic 3.91 SS 3/70
21 1968 Biscayne 13.65@105 427 L72 425 4-Speed 4.56 SS 4/68
22 1964 Polara 500 13.70@107.37 426 4V 365 4-Speed 3.23 HC 2/64
23 1969 GTX 13.70@102.8 440 4V 375 automatic 4.10 MT 1/69
24 1969 Dart 440 13.71@105 440 4V 375 automatic 3.55 CC 5/69
25 1971 Road Runner 13.71@101.2 440 Six BBL 390 automatic 4.10 CC 1/71
26 1971 Cuda 13.72@106 440 Six BBL 390 automatic 4.10 SS 4/71
27 1971 Corvette 13.72@102.04 454 LS6 450 4-Speed 3.36 CL 8/71
28 1971 Super Bee 13.73@104 426 Hemi 425 automatic 4.10 MT 12/70
29 1968 Hurst/Olds 13.77@103.91 455 W-30 390 automatic 3.91 SS 8/68
30 1970 Hemi 'Cuda 13.78@101.2 426 Hemi 425 automatic 4.10 MT 9/69
31 1968 Firebird 13.79@106 400 HO 335 4-Speed N/A HR 3/68
32 1967 Corvette 13.80@108 427 6V 435 4-Speed 3.55 HR 5/67
33 1965 Catalina 13.80@106 421 6V ? 4-Speed 3.42 CD 3/65
34 1969 Super Bee Six Pack 13.80@104.2 440 Six BBL 390 automatic 4.10 CD 7/69
35 1971 Boss 351 Mustang 13.80@104 Boss 351 330 4-Speed 3.91 MT 1/71
36 1966 Satellite 13.81@104 426 Hemi 425 4-Speed 3.54 CD 4/66
37 1969 Coronet R/T 13.83@102.27 440 4V 375 4-Speed 4.10 SS 4/69
38 1968 Cyclone GT 13.86@101.69 428 CJ 335 automatic 4.11 MT 8/68
39 1969 Nova SS 396 13.87@105.1 396 4V 375 automatic 3.55 HR 7/69
40 1969 Shelby GT-500 13.87@104.52 428 CJ 335 4-Speed 3.91 SS 9/69
41 1969 Cyclone Cobra Jet 13.88@101.7 428 CJ 335 automatic 4.11 MT 1/69
42 1970 Olds 4-4-2 W-30 13.88@95.84 455 W-30 370 automatic 3.42 CC 11/69
43 1962 Corvette 13.89@105.14 327 FI 360 4-Speed 4.10 HR 1/62
44 1969 Barracuda 13.89@103.21 440 4V 375 automatic 4.10 SS 8/69
45 1962 Catalina 13.90@107 421 4V ? 4-Speed 4.30 MT 5/62
46 1969 Mustang Mach I 13.90@103.32 428 CJ 335 automatic 3.50 CL 3/69
47 1967 GTO 13.90@102.8 400 RA 360 automatic 4.33 CL 10/67
48 1970 Trans Am 13.90@102 400 RA 345 4-Speed 3.91 HR 2/70
49 1970 Torino Cobra 13.99@101 429 4V ? 4-Speed 3.91 MT 2/70


Legend: CC=Car Craft, CD=Car and Driver, CL=Car Life, HC=Hi Performance Cars, HR=Hot Rod, MCR=Muscle Car Review, MM=Mopar Muscle, MT=Motor Trend, SS=Super Stock