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#1
04-29-2020, 10:24 AM
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Today is 429
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#2
04-29-2020, 10:25 AM
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#3
04-29-2020, 10:54 AM
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 Every story has a beginning. This is Chapter 2: the birth of the Boss 429 Mustang. This is the prototype of the Boss 429 Mustang before the moniker "Boss 429" came about. But let's start at Chapter 1; Once upon a time . . . Ford was enjoying it's dominance of both NASCAR and NHRA with it's 427 Cobra engine. Everything was coming up roses until an elephant showed up; Chrysler's 426 Hemi and literally took it all away from Ford. Needless to say, Ford was pissed, so new marching orders were given; beat the Hemi. This resulted in an unbelievably short gestation period; just 90 days after the 1964 Daytona 500 when Chrysler came in 1,2 & 3 . . . the birth of the 427 SOHC engine. If there was ever a result of the old adage "you can solve any business problem by simply throwing money at it" the SOHC motor definitely comes to mind. Unfortunately Big Bill France didn't like custom made engines running in his Stock Car Racing series. He wanted production engines. But he did cut Ford a break . . . sort of. They could run the 427 SOHC, but they would have to run under a weight penalty of 10% which defeated the extra horsepower the engine made. In the 427 day thread you saw a SOHC 427 Chevy engine. Chrysler also had one based on the Hemi, just in case Ford got their way. Ford learned a valuable but expensive lesson; proper planning prevents piss poor performance when it comes to introducing a new engine into NASCAR.
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#4
04-29-2020, 11:04 AM
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 Why did Ford choose the Mustang to be the recipient of the new Boss 429 engine? It didn't fit. The shock towers had to be extensively modified to make the engine fit. There are two schools of thought. First is the newly redesigned Mustang would prove to be a huge seller so put your newest high performance engine in your newest high performance car. The second was Ford's desire not to give the competition an easy way out to compete. The Boss 429 would fit in the Torino, the car Ford would race in NASCAR with no major issues (like the Mustang). If the Torino had been chosen, then any competitor could walk into any Ford dealership and walk out with a race car equal to Fords.
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#6
04-29-2020, 11:20 AM
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 Ford had a small problem with the Boss 429 Mustang. The car was nose heavy due to the massive engine and had handling issues. Ford tried two approaches to solve this. First; install a rear sway bar, a first for the Mustang.
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#7
04-29-2020, 11:26 AM
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 Ford's second approach was a lot more radical; mount the engine towards the back of the car instead of in the front. This did cure two issues; better handling and much less wheel spin on acceleration. But the benefits weren't enough to justify the massive investment to tool up such a configuration for a limited production car.
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#8
04-29-2020, 11:34 AM
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 Ford wanted to use the brand new Goodyear F60 series tires on both the Boss 429 and the Boss 302. Initial testing showed that standard Mustang spindles were not up to the challenge of the much wider (read: better gripping) tires so heavy duty spindles had to be made. Testing also showed that the shock towers were pulling apart from the body due to the F60s so they had to be reinforced.
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#9
04-29-2020, 11:40 AM
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#10
04-29-2020, 11:43 AM
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The " Boss " Mustangs were the design of Larry Shinoda Japanese American
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