I hope you can view this article. Has some great cars – although the saying “keep the shiny side up” doesn’t really translate – these just don’t have one.
I’d love to spend time wandering around Cuba, just to look at the cars.
The Cars of Cuba: Photos and stories from Havana.
This is from Hagerty Insurance Company.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Of course your new Boss 302 needs upgrades…duh!!!
From over on http://www.stangnet.com
Whether you’ve seen a Ford Mustang Boss 302 in shambles, one tearing up the track, or perhaps another upon the showroom floor–it doesn’t matter. Bottom line is, we’ re pretty sure anyone with a blue-blooded pulse wants one. So, if you are one of the lucky ones to get your paws upon the steering wheel consistently, then you might want to listen up. Steeda Autosports now has a complete line of aftermarket parts to amp up the already awesome 2012 Boss 302 in order to tweak the suspension, intake, and some additional custom tuning to make every droplet of atomized fuel count.
So just what all’s in store? Keep reading to get the rest of the story via Steeda & be sure to check out their site loaded with offerings!
Steeda Offers a Full Line of Boss 302 Performance Products
The new Ford Mustang Boss 302 is viewed by many as the best overall Mustang Ford has ever produced. As good as it is in original form Steeda has found ways to improve it and take it to the next level.
Starting with the suspension, the Steeda Boss springs are designed to slightly lower the vehicle in the front and lower the rear approximately 3/4”. With the front height remaining largely unchanged, the front roll center geometry remains optimal. However, by substantially increasing spring rates, body roll is reduced as is nose diving during heavy braking. Thanks to our years of experience with Mustangs, we are able to do this and still maintain near stock ride quality characteristics.
2012 Boss 302 Laguna Seca
We have also designed several levels of suspension packages that include our awesome Boss springs, adjustable front and rear swaybars , adjustable upper strut mounts and more to achieve the maximum handling potential of the Boss 302 Mustang.With the new Boss 302 Mustang comes the new Boss 302 engine. We took our years of experience building performance proven cold air induction kits and designed a kit tailor made for this heavy breathing new engine. Starting with a high flow filter we added our “race tested” velocity stack” entry, this is located within a stainless steel heat shield with a rubber gasket to seal it against the hood. We also retain the factory cold air feed duct from the front bumper. We then added a 101mm MAF housing which is coupled to a new high flow inlet tube with our Cool-Tube technology. All of this adds up to 30 plus horsepower when combined with the required custom tune that compensates for the increased airflow.
So, if you are looking to get the most out of your Boss 302 Mustang, look no further than Steeda Autosports!
Source: Steeda
Tags: 2012, 2012 Mustang, 5.0 Mustang, Aftermarket, boss, boss 302, Boss Mustang, Ford, performance, tech
Any Alice Cooper fans out there? If you worship Mr. Cooper plus love classic ‘Stangs, the best of both worlds is about to cross the auction block at Barrett-Jackson this month. A red 1965 classic Ford Mustang with a 4-speed automatic 289 V-8 and only 35,915 miles. Supposedly fit his golf clubs in the trunk perfectly!
Here is an opportunity to own Alice Cooper’s 1965 Ford Mustang fastback with 35,915 original miles. Alice used this car for the Golf courses, going to the mall and dinner from time to time. We will include a set of Calloway golf clubs for the new owner of the car.
Source: [Barrett-Jackson]
When the Ford Mustang Boss 302 debuted as a 2012 model, Ford threw out many of the standard options in favor of performance-specific parts. This also included a number of color options, leaving buyers with fewer palette choices than a comparable Mustang GT. One of the most popular colors, Grabber Blue, was unavailable on the 2012 Boss 302 Mustang.
But it will be available on the 2013 Boss 302, as the recently-released 2013 Mustang guide revealed. Now we have the first pictures of a Grabber Blue Boss 302, thanks to eagle-eyed forum members over at The Mustang Source.
Grabber Blue first appeared on Boss 302 Mustangs in 1970, and it remains popular with Mustang buyers today who flock towards the traditional pony car color. So it raised more than a few eyebrows when Ford did not offer Grabber Blue on the 2012 Boss 302 Mustangs. Rather, Ford offered five other colors; Competition Orange, Race Red, Yellow Blaze Tri-Coat, Kona Blue Metallic, and Performance White.
 |
Yet Ford did sell a one-of-one Grabber Blue Boss 302 Laguna Seca Edition Mustang at the Barrett-Jackson auctions earlier this year. And judging from these pictures, the standard Boss 302 Mustang looks just as great in Grabber Blue as we thought it would. Grabber Blue will be joined by School Bus Yellow as well. Gotta Have It Green will also be offered on 2013 Mustangs, though no word on if the Boss 302 will also have the option. However, if Ford is keeping with the tradition of offering Grabber colors in the second year of Boss Mustang production, well why wouldn’t they offer a Gotta Have It Green option?
Ok…I sorry (not really) but I have to consider what my readers like. And to date one of the most read articles on my blog is the piece I did on the Mustang II King Cobra http://wp.me/pKHNM-uY . (Go ahead you know are going to go read it!!)
So I’m going to do a series on the Mustang II (after all I’m project managing the restoration of a 1975 VW, I could spend sometime on that era Mustang). We’ll touch on the 4 and 6 cylinders and yes there was a 302.
So we’ll start with a history lesson.
1973 was the last year for the more powerful and larger bodies Mustangs. Ford may have thought they were going back to the original size Mustang and the 1974 version was in fact close to that size. The 1966 Mustang had a wheelbase of about 108 inches ( 181.6 inches in total) and the 1974 was 96.2 (175.0 inches over all). Compare to the 1973 which (depend on which version) was 187.5-190.0 inches over all.
The generation ran from 1974 to 1978 and sported some collectible cars, the King Cobra and Mach I…yes Mach I’s in a Mustang II.
Here is a quick look.
 1974 Cobra II – You Love it…I know you do. |
 1974 Mach I ok…sure..Pinto like. |
 1978 Mustang Cobra II – Excellent Looking |
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Well, I’m officially depressed. No it’s not because of the holidays, or the rapidly approaching June when I’ll move too far into the 50’s to be able to fool myself that I’m just barely 50, nope none of those things.
I’m looking at GM’s (bastards!!) Performance Catalog and all the shiny things in it. Like the ported LS3 heads, and the LS376 – 525…yes 525 hp in a crate engine, drop in and drive. I realize two things, I need an older Chevy to play with (or upgrade the C6 Vette) and that I’ll need a second job if I even want to touch any of this stuff and where will I live when the better half finds this stuff laying around the garage? (Tell me you aren’t depressed now?!?!!…It’s ok…admin it!!!)
Note: It’s gonna get worse… I have the Ford performance parts catalog as well…all I can say is thank GOD!!! I don’t have a Morpar to drive around….oh….the therapy…bills….!!! Why, OH Why didn’t I drink the family KoolAide when I was a kid..I would have been able to shun the Fords and Mopars and just be a normal one brand car guy??
There is some awesome stuff the Chevrolet Performance Team is put out, everything from small block crates to LSX monsters, to circle track crate engines.
Over the next few post I’m going to cover a few highlights and a couple unexpected – like engines for the Chevy Cobalt and some V6 engines. (Have just read some specs for the upcoming 2013 Mustang V6 – I want to see what Chevy’s got.)
In fact let’s start with something off the wall. Like the 900 V6 Intake for a 4 barrel carb!! What???!!!! It’s an aluminum high-performance for the 3.8 or 4.3 liter V6. So go ahead bolt on that 390 cfm carb..oh heck….grab that 600 cfm 4150 and drop it on top.
Chevy's V6 - 4 BBL Intake Manifold - about $265.00 (Part 10134390).
That is not a bad price. Of course it’s not for all heads, like it won’t fit the 3800 V6 or the 18 degree heads and you might have add a bump to your hood for clearance!!!
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Dec 16, 2011 the last produced Ford Ranger. This isn’t just the end of the Ford Ranger, its the end of the Cologne V6 and the closing of a plant that has been producing car since 1925 – over 25 million. The last Ranger was a fleet car going to Orkin Pest Control – yawn – couldn’t have been a Raptor or and F150 Harley Davison version.
2012 V6 Ford Ranger - The last one.
The plant produced armored cars during WW II and 50’s Fords, early Crown Vics and Galazies. It also produced one of my favorite cars the Ford Sunliner.
1955 Ford Sunliner
Sunliner
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Next up are the Ford 400’s that were available for 1973.
There were 3 options when it can to Ford’s biggest power plants in 1973, the 400 Cleveland the Thunderbird 429 and the Thunderbird 460. If you are thinking…YES!!! More Horse Power!!!! …you are going to be a bit disappointed, compared to today’s standard and the 1960’s standards.
The Cleveland had a cast iron block, over head valves and displaced 400 cubic inches. Its bore and stroke (4.00 x 4.00) and compression ratio (8.0: 1) were choked to death by the two barrel Motocraft carb. It produced only 163 hps
Wimpy - 400 2 barrel intake...needs a 4 barrel intake
Ford ' 73 400 in a wagon
The two Thunderbird engines (both cast iron with overhead valve) got the privilege of being topped with 4 barrel Motocraft carbs. The 429 displaced 429 cubic inches and the 460 knocked out..yup you guessed it 460 cubic inches.
They had a bore and store of 4.36 x 3.59 and 4.36 x 3.85 respectively and both had the same compression ratio of 8.0:1. The top hp for the 429 was just barely over 200 at 201 and the 460 out did that by 18 giving it a 219 hp.
Fords 460
429
Here is the twist with these and the rest of the Ford engines. The horse power stated was changed depending what model the engine was used in. Most of those in this series were the lowest stated. For example the 302 was rated at 135 hp in the Maverick, but 138 in the Torino. (Yes, a whopping 3 more hp!!!)
The average difference was between 1 and 5 hps, so we aren’t talking about a bunch of hidden power as they were configured. But we all know that you pop off the that 2 barrel carb off any of these engines and plop on wide mouth Holley, and you were going to get much better numbers!!
Thanks for reading. ’73 Mustang engines coming up.
Tim
Here is the second part of this ’73 line up for the V8.
There were 7 V8 in 1973 (not including the Mustang engines) and the ranged in numbers from 302 to 460 (big number to be sure). Just reading those you think..OH…THE …POWER…NOTHING BUT 100’s RUBBER BURNING, FISH-TAILING HPs!!!…right….uh…NO….these ain’t 60’s engine and they aren’t 2010 engines..nope..they the 70’s engines. Here’s how they ponied up.
The 302 – Overhead valves, cast iron block with a bore and stroke of 4.00 x 3.00. Compression ratio of 8.0:1 with 302 cubic inches displaced. Top that with an awesome 2 barrel Motorcraft carb and you are knocking out 135 hp’s!!!! Those are number only a grandma could love. Compare that with the 302 sold under the hoods of Fords in 1970 which yielded 220 hp with a two barrel carb. (Take that 302 bore it .030, toss on a typhoon intake and a 4 barrel Holly you’ll have exactly what currently have in my ’70 Stang.)
My Mustang's Enhanced 302
Next up is the family of 351s, the Windsor, the Cleveland and the CJ Windsor.
All three had overhead valves, cast iron blocks and all displaced 351 cubic inches. They shared the same bore and stroke which was 4.00 x 3.5 and the compression ratios ranged from 8.0:1 to 8.6:1 and the horse power varied by rpm 3800 to 4000 between 156 up to 177, the Cleveland and baby Windsor were choked with a 2 barrel carb while the CJ managed to steal a 4 barrel of the assembly line shelf and had a compression ratio of 9.0:1. The 351 CJ was able to come in a little more respectable with 266 hp at 5400 rpm.
I will tell you this there were very few 351 CJ Windsor made in 1973 and 1974. I owned a 1974 351 CJ and my researched showed that less than 100 of these engined were produced that year.
All of these were used in the Torino, Montego, Mustang, Cougar and other Ford and Mercury models. The 351 CJ was used in the Mustang and Cougar.
1973 Cleveland 351 2 barrel under the hood of a Mustang.
Up next the 400’s for 1973.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
1973 was a good year, I was a still in high school and big engines weren’t extinct yet. Ford had a big assortment. We are talking 10 to choose from if you didn’t count the Mustang engines.
Ford Pinto (this will be a parking log spot light coming up)
On small size 6 cylinder were still king but 4 cylinder was available for the Pinto. For the larger engines displacement was large and the horse power small.
There was only one 4 cylinder available, reserved for the ill fated Pinto. It sported an overhead cam and iron block. It displaced a whopping 122 cubic inches and as one would expect had the smallest bore and stroke – 3.58 x 3.03. The compression ratio was 8.2:1 and it tore up the street with 86 hps. (No I didn’t for get the “1” in front of that.) It was topped with a Ford/Weber 2 barrel carb.
2.0 Pinto Engine
The six cylinders came in 2 varieties and were used in the Maverick and Torino. The first was dubbed the Maverick 6 cylinder. It was configured with overhead valves and a cast iron block. With the bore and stoke 3.68 x 3.13 it was able to displace 200 cubic inches. The compression ratio was slightly higher than the 4 cylinder at 8.3:1 but it was fitted with a 1 barrel Motocraft carb resulting in only 84 hp.
The second ‘big brother” six cylinder was called the Maverick/Torino. Again it had the overhead valves and cast iron blocks, same as its little brother, but it had a greater stroke 3.91 (3.68 X 3.91) compared to the its sibling 3.13. The compression ratio was lower (8.0:1) and topped with the same single barrel carb it managed 88 hps.
The Torino was not a small car so it really need those 4 extra hps!!!
Ford 6 cylinder - nicely restored!!!
V8s for 1973 coming up and then the Mustang engines.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
