Crash course in Ford Engines

[GLADIATORINC]

So I don't have to ask 100 questions. Do you guys know about some good info websites about early Ford engines. I recently traded for a vehicle with a high HP 351Boss engine with 302 heads. I need to learn about timing etc etc.

[dparker]

What year model?

[fishman1]

So I don't have to ask 100 questions. Do you guys know about some good info websites about early Ford engines. I recently traded for a vehicle with a high HP 351Boss engine with 302 heads. I need to learn about timing etc etc.

Are these boss 302 heads or stock 302 heads .....if they are stock 302 heads they just defeated the purpose of the boss..........big ported heads with big valves and big header tubes...........built a boss 302 quite a few years ago and they were made to rev 8000-9000 rpm...........don't get me wrong will still work just not the same to me a boss is a boss

[us7race]

Don't the Boss 302 Heads have Canted Valves? and the normal 302 heads do not right?

Here is a picture of a boss 302 head...

http://www.mustangmonthly.com/howto/mump_0706_boss_302_engine_build/photo_22.html

[GLADIATORINC]

http://static.racingjunk.com/63/ui/8/67/3059759233069.jpg

I was told they are "Bob Glidden" heads. I am wondering about the flange between the headers and heads. they have a casting number of C9ZE6090C. I believe back then they milled the heads to have different degree angles. I just want to know what I have. The set up I have is similar to Bob Glidden's Pinto that won him a Pro Stock Championship.

[lively]

WELLLLLLLLLLLL--IF YOU CAN'T GET IT FIGURED OUT I CAN PROBABLY TAKE IT OFF YOUR HANDS AND FIND SOMEPLACE TO USE IT :lol: :lol: :lol:

LIVELY

[dparker]

The boss 302 heads are almost identical to the 1970 model 351 clev.4v heads except the boss 302 heads have a smaller combustion chamber. The biggest problem with the 351 clev 4v and the boss 302 heads are that the exhaust port had a hump in them restricting flow. The heads you have have fixed that by raising the exhaust port with the alum adapter. I don't whether they are Bob Gliddens ex heads or not. I'd say they are Yates heads, he's the one that started raising the exhaust port for better flow. I don't know of any small block cast iron heads that will even come close to touching the flow of the heads you have. I ran a 68 Mustang 20 years ago with a 351 clev 4v Yates heads. It ran 10.90s at 125mph with stock suspension. I still have 3 sets of 351clev 4v closed chamber heads and one set of the 302 Boss heads.
On the C9ZE6090C cast number, the 1st letter C means 1960s and the 2nd letter 9 is the year in the 60s the head was made. Your heads are 1969 Boss 302 head casting. Boss 302 heads were only made in 1969 and 1970. C9ZE and D0VE castings. The first Cleveland 4v heads came out in 1970 and were D0VE castings. D for 70s and 0 for 1970.

[fishman1]

The boss 302 heads in 1969 had 2.24 intake valves and in 1970 they had 2.19 intake valves

[GLADIATORINC]

Thanks for info. I am rebuilding carbs right now to see if it is worth keeping the tunnel ram. I am trying to figure out if the heads were milled and the the tunnel ram was milled also to match. I am considering going to just a big dominator. The tunnel ram limits the distributor you can use. It currently has a dual point unit. If I keep it then I have to buy kit to eliminate the points.

[dparker]

I ran both it seemed to like the tunnel ram the best though. I had problems with it trying to pump to much oil up to the valve covers. The lifter gallery runs under the lifters and since the roller lifters don't move, the lifter oil holes were constantly lined up with the lifter gallery. I turned the lifters upside down and then didnt have any oil to the rockers. So I ground a thin line from the waste of the lifter up to the oil hole until I got the right amount of oil to the rocker arms. I talked to the Crane tech and they were suppose to fix the problem. I'm sure it has it but you have to run a Jack Rouse restricter kit on the blocks main journals to keep oil on the crank. The last 351 I built is still running 11.50s in a 73 Mustang. Owner said hes freshed it 3 times, but other than that hasn't given problems.
How fast is the car the engine is in?

[GLADIATORINC]

http://static.racingjunk.com/63/ui/5/44/1444849380863.jpg

The car ran low 8's back in the 90's. Right now, my mini van can give it a run for the money. It needs some love. It has been sitting for years in a car collectors garage. The previous owner had the engine freshened. The engine builder had a chubby telling him all about the engine. He explained they did something to keep oil up on the top end, just like you mentioned. I looked in the tunnel ram ports and you can see it is port matched to the heads and it looks like extensive porting was done to the heads. I am keeping the tunnel ram but the carbs were just...crap!! They will be completely rebuilt or changed. I have the number for the engine shop that recently freshened the engine. I am calling tomorrow.

[dparker]

Thats a beautiful car. Mine was a 68 Mustang coupe also. My dad still has it. I started building it when I was 17 and finished it on my 19th birthday. When I got ready to sell it to get a chassised 68 Vette my dad bought it from me and has had it in his garage ever since. 15 years ago. I still love that car and combo. My engine combos were probably similiar to yours if theres anything I can do let me know. I'd love to help! I ran two 660 center squirters.

[nopro]

dparker, you had Yates heads in 87/88 ????????????????????

[dparker]

dparker, you had Yates heads in 87/88 ????????????????????

Before you show your age!!!!!!!!!!!
Robert Yates has been racing since the 50's designing heads since the 70's. He was a prominent dragracer before starting a Nascar team in the 80s. He joined forces with Jack Roush is 2003. He has since turned the Roush/Yates racing over to his son. Maybe this article will jar your memory.



Roush/Yates engines power five of the current top 10 in driver points (Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Martin, Sadler and Dale Jarrett). They also have supplied the horsepower for three poles and nine victories this season, and the venture is also credited with playing a key role in Busch's 2004 Nextel Cup championship run.

For both Roush and Yates, engines and horsepower have played a major role in their professional lives from the beginning. They both started out as drag racers.

Roush was building drag racing cars in the 1960s while working as an engineer at Ford, winning numerous championships. He was involved almost exclusively in drag racing until he began to expand his engine building to provide powerplants for race teams in other sports, such as the Pike's Peak Hill Climb and various powerboat and oval track series in the 1980s.

Roush eventually started his own NASCAR team in 1988.

Robert Yates had a short career as a drag racer in the late 1950s. He left the driver's seat behind and turned his attention to NASCAR in 1968, working for the famed Holman-Moody team. He eventually earned a reputation as one of NASCAR's premier engine builders, providing engines for legendary drivers like Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip before starting his own team in 1989.

Since then, both men have not only built powerful and successful championship-winning NASCAR organizations, but they also have developed a strong rivalry along the way. So it surprised many when they announced in 2003 that they would be joining forces.