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Originally Posted by Excaliber
For instance it is well known the Boss 302 were running 351C MONSTER heads. But to make them work and take advantage of the flow they had to be turning in the 7000 rpm range. When the smoke cleared it was found the motors simply could not tolerate that high rpm lap after lap and blew up. The big heads were dropped I believe after one season.
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As a long time Boss 302 owner I can tell you that these are primarily old wives tales. The Boss was introduced in 1969 after the failure of the tunnel port 302 in 68 with the specific mission of pounding the chebbie Z28 on the track and street. At St. Jovite that year there was a huge pile-up involving most of the 2 Boss factory teams (Shelby and Bud Moore). After this crash the Boss teams were left trying to piece cars together to continue racing and failed to win the manufacturer's championship. The 1970 season was a different animal altogether as the Boss team of Bud Moore (the Shelby team was dropped for 70) ran away with the title without even looking back. In 1971 the SCCA changed the rules allowing de-stroked engines to meet the SR2 (Trans Am) 5 liter limit. When that happened Ford scrapped the already planned 71 Boss 302 and introduced the Boss 351. Hey, if you can run more cubes then that is the way to go. The only factory that was left in T/A in 71 was AMC, so guess who won. The Boss 302 was a hit on the track and on the street on many different levels. A major magazine even took one road racing with a full interior and loved it. I will say that the Boss is no tractor, you don't lug it around at 1500 RPM and expect it to perform, but you don't need 7k to do either. Although I must admit that the sound of a Boss engine screaming at 7k+ will send chills up your spine. A big cube version like mine is even better. If you need more info on how canted valve engines perform, look no further than the Engine Masters Challenge where the goal is power over the entire RPM range, not just peak HP numbers. You won't find any inline valve (Windsor) heads there at the top, it just doesn't happen. Last year 4 of the top 5 were all aftermarket C headed Ford small blocks. The only non Ford was the Jon Kaase Pontiac, bet he wished he'd stayed with a Ford! Remember this is average TQ and HP from 2500-6500 not peaking at 7k with nothing under it.
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/eng...esults_friday/
Just thought I'd do a little myth busting!
Steve