I found a local engine for sale, the guy says its a 68 Boss 302 engine? I thought the boss was not out until 69? i could be wrong as i am just getting into the classic mustang. He is asking 400 for the engine which he says ran a year ago, and is missing the intake manifold. Does that price sound good if this really is a Boss engine? Oh and how would i check.. Thanks for the help in advance!

 

Your correct.. The Boss 302 was first produced (which was the car's name - not the engine per say) in 69. There is not 68 Boss 302.

Google is great.. http://www.boss302.com/story.htm

 

I tried google and for some reason came upon all kinds of useless websites but thank you tho.. so could he just be wrong on the year or is the engine not from a Boss car? i am just curious if there is a way to tell the engines apart from a regular 302

 

correct me if i am wrong but i believe th only difference between a boss and a regular 302 is the heads,

and it was 69 that these came out, he could mistaken about the year though

i do not know exactly where on the heads the casting number is, but if it a 69 and boss the casting number should start with c9

if it is a 68 and not a boss the casting number will start off with c8

and i think the casting number for a 69 boss head is d1ze

 

well for one a boss 302 has 8 valve cover bolts per head, 4 bolt main caps and screw in freeze plugs, sloid lifter cam

 

Ok that should be enough information thank you guys!

 

btw, a d1 part number is 71

 

The easiest way to check is to first of all, look for screw in freeze plugs, if they are regular press in, it's not a real Boss 302 block. Secondly, if it does have screw in plugs, it is possible that a machine shop added them, so you could pull the oil pan an see if it has 4 bolt mains on the 3 center main caps. I didn't mention the Cleveland heads because that is the obvious giveaway. If it has the standard type Windsor heads then it isn't a boss either. The intake missing kinda sucks because finding an original is a PITA, and even if you do find one it will cost you an arm and a leg. The good news is that Edelbrock now makes a repo intake that will work. I know this is a lot of stuff, but I tried to make it easy for you.

 

I might be completely wrong but I think the Boss blocks were stamped with "Boss" (obviously) and also the car's VIN. So if a VIN# isn't on the block then...

 

its probably a 68 302 4v somewhat rare too, boss 302s had a beefier block, stronger crank, stronger rods, cleve style heads, bigger cam, unique intake manifold, unique ex manifolds and a few other features and they were only made in 69/70 so it would have a C9 or D0 in the first casting numbers. A boss 302 would be selling for more like 4000.00 not 400.00.