Here, we've been asked to work on a customers '70 Boss 302. They drive this Boss a lot and it's one of the better looking (and sounding) Boss 302's in the Country. For all our American & European viewers, note that this Boss 302 is 'right hand drive' and has been in Australia for many years, back when these cars had to be converted in order to be registered and able to be driven on the roads. This rule was changed in 1999 with the introduction of 'The Australian Road Rules', which allows for vehicles 30 years or older, to be left hand drive. Probably the smartest change in law that we've seen in our lifetime!
While originality is not for everyone, this '70 Boss had been subjected to an attempt at making a correct looking engine bay, with many wrong, or missing parts, such as the PCV clamp, fitting and hose, carburetor missing parts (though correct carb in place), wrong distributor and vacuum advance, heater hose fitting on intake incorrect, engine wrong colour blue, valve covers polished, power steering pump wrong colour, many of the bolts and hardware incorrect, wrong alt fan and pulley. It had an array of decals around the engine bay, some of which belong in the trunk and one that is from the dash of a Boss 429. The braces and hood support are also the wrong colour for a Dearborn built Mustang, so these are some of the things that we're working on rectifying with the owner of the car, while trying to keep the budget sensible, as they've already spent money having all of the above done and unfortunately, incorrectly.
While originality is not for everyone, this '70 Boss had been subjected to an attempt at making a correct looking engine bay, with many wrong, or missing parts, such as the PCV clamp, fitting and hose, carburetor missing parts (though correct carb in place), wrong distributor and vacuum advance, heater hose fitting on intake incorrect, engine wrong colour blue, valve covers polished, power steering pump wrong colour, many of the bolts and hardware incorrect, wrong alt fan and pulley. It had an array of decals around the engine bay, some of which belong in the trunk and one that is from the dash of a Boss 429. The braces and hood support are also the wrong colour for a Dearborn built Mustang, so these are some of the things that we're working on rectifying with the owner of the car, while trying to keep the budget sensible, as they've already spent money having all of the above done and unfortunately, incorrectly.
Engine was pulled and stripped down, photographed and the process begins. The intake was removed, media blasted, then run through our machine here in the shop and after that, looks like brand new. Such a nice finish and the advantage is that it also treats the inside of the intake. Same goes for the valve covers, which were highly polished. They're stripped down, blasted and then run through the machine to bring them back to a stock looking finish, inside and out.
While keeping the budget low and not spending mega dollars on Carter X fuel pumps and some pricey original parts, like the distributor (which we'll work towards later), we were able to put a very close Carter fuel pump on the engine (after we rebuilt it) and media blast all of the bolt on bits back to clean metal, repaint and get it all back together. Since they drive this Boss, the engine was painted in a perfectly matched Ford Corporate Blue (matched it to an original engine part that we have in stock) but in a 2K system, so that the paint is highly durable and solvent proof. There are a few bits and pieces, like the distributor, that we'll hunt around for, but at least the bulk of the work is done and the car can continue to be enjoyed and driven in the meantime. This car is a factory non-shaker car, but it has a non correct shaker assembly on it, so the plumbing to that is not 'Boss correct', but certainly 'look the goods' shaking through the hood.
Below, the Boss comes back together, ready to head back home. It's now a lot more original than it was and at least painted the right shade of Ford Corporate blue, rather than the purplish blue colour that it was previously. It has smog equipment on it now and is a very sharp looking engine bay, with the refinished intake, valve covers and appropriate decals in the appropriate places.