They were only 'streetable' because they came from the factory with either 3.91 or 4.30 gears AND were only available with the wide ratio toploader, which has a nice grannyish 1st gear. If it didn't have the tranny and gears it came with, it would be no way, shape, or form streetable. The problem is that nowadays, this gearing scenario is no longer considered 'streetable' in itself. So there is something to this idea of the B302 being TOO radical. However, if you are the type that likes 4.30 gears and doesn't mind miserable economy, then you would really like the B302. It is a race engine after all. Throw a 347 crank in there and she'll scream even better.
Is the Boss a street car? Absolutely the best I ever owned. From 1971 till 1975 I owned a 1970 Boss 302. It was Medium Blue Metallic, no slats, no spoiler, no Ram Air, no console, no fold-down back seat, black interior, close ratio top-loader, 3.50 posi, AM radio, Magnum 500 wheels. I put 60K miles on the car. After I bought it I put BFG Radial TAs on it. I owned the first set of them I ever saw. I spun a rod bearing at 20K (pretty common for them) and rebuilt the engine. Basic rebuild except balance and blueprint. Mallory DP distributor. Holley 800DP, Hedman headers and header mufflers. Comfort? It didn't have much. Strap in and hold on. Roll the windows down when it was hot. Forget tunes 'cause it was too noisy and loud. Performance? It had some. Regular drag strip times were 14.40ish on street tires. Top speed was 150ish. Scary (in a good way) handling. It's the only car I've ever had that was totally predictable in a curve. Very easy to steer the backend of the car with throttle. 100+ with the backend hung out is pure fun. Oh yeah, and it would knock down 19mpg cruising at 80mph. Drove it every day in traffic and raced on weekends. Hot NC summers and it never overheated. Made regular trips home to Nashville in it. Started every time, never broke unless it was something I 'fixed', and was fun to drive. Or, have I already said that? Did it have any shortcomings? Yes. It was loud, not air-conditioned, rode rough, a bit boggy at low rpm, and added points on my driving record. Did I mention it was a 'chick magnet'? Lest you may think I don't have anything to compare it to, here's some of the cars I've owned over the years: 68 Torino GT, 390; 66 A-code Mustang; 69 Z28; 68 Hemi Charger; 67 Comet; 66 Nova; a couple of 5.0 Mustangs; 340 Dart; 70 Shelby GT500 convertible 428CJ; 66 GTO; and three or four race cars. And, if you think this is just all nostalgia, my best friend has a Boss 302 with a 362cid Clevor and Tremec in it and I've driven it as recently as last year. The Boss wasn't perfect. But, it's the closest I've ever had. And, yes, it was a very good street and road machine.
If I didn't know better, I'd swear you just decribed my experiences with the 67 Fastback Big block Stang I had in the 80's. Started out as a basic fastback 390 car ( Am radio, no A/C, PB or P/S 3 speed manual, 3.00 geared 9"). When I sold it, it had a sideoiler, lowriser, dual four 427, 4 speed Toploader, 4 wheel discs, 2.50 ratio Versailles rear. Similar top speed and a bit quicker in the 1/4 mile. Best mileage with the 427 was when it was stroked to a 454 and dual fours---18-20 mpg @80 mph. It was loud, hot and fast. My 3 year old kid loved it.
Tell me about it! Nope, the Army kept getting in my way. I still have the Nova, a CometGt and a Maverick drag car. Oh yeah, and a 88Notch 5.0. Negotiating on a 66 Fairlane. And, I'm putting a Turbo 2.3 in my 78 Pinto.
They didn't come that way... Did a previous owner add those parts? Have you driven one that was stock?
Huh? Do you know something that I don't know? I always assumed that Ford sold "stock" parts. It was exactly as Ford made it.
Nevermind... I checked my 1970 order guide and it shows the 3.50 as "standard"... I got hung up on the 3.91 and 4.30 gears because the "optional" column stood out more. The low gears were options... It still shows only a wide ratio 4 speed available. However I am not going to argue the point. Maybe the guide was printed before production and they decided to use both trannys. My 75s toploader came out of a B302... It was a RUG-AV1. That's about as much of a Boss 302 as I have ever owned other than a stock intake I have had sitting on a shelf for 20 years and a set of swap headers for B302 in a Mav.
Toploader In those days I lamented having the close-ratio. I'm sure the wide-ratio would have helped my acceleration. The car would do almost 60 mph in first gear (8000rpm, Rev-limiter removed). There was a basic 30 mph split between the gears. In the 60s and 70s you could order almost any option combo. And, of course some dealers would install stuff that wasn't available on the option list. Thinking about 3.91 and 4.30 gears, they were usually in the Drag-Pack option. And, logically?, the wide-ratio would have been installed in those cars. That intake has you closer to having a Boss302 than I am. Unless I win the Lottery, the current prices are too high for me!
another thing I haven't seen brought up yet is that the 70 B302 had smaller ports then the 69 making it a much more streetable machine. Their biggest weakness was the piston skirts but ford redesigned them sometime after 70 and I replaced mine and no problems since
Ports were same-same. Only the valve size changed. 70 got smaller valves to help lower rpm power slightly. It was a very slight change, 2.24" vs 2.19" intake valves.
