1973 Ford Mustang??

As i passed by one of my small local car lots I noticed a mustang sitting there so i stopped by to take a look at it. It was painted yellow with black on the sides It also said Boss 351 mustang close to both of the front tires.

My question is this did ford make a 1973 ford mustang boss 351?. I thought they only made a 71 boss 351 and that was it?. If it truly is atleast a boss 351 motor what can i look at to see and get the #'s to verify if it is a boss 351. Thanks Jim

You are completely right, Boss 351's were only made in 71. So either he has his years mixxed up on his car or its a clone. The Boss 351 motor was the only 4 Bolt Cleveland block, which is one way to tell if its a true Boss 351 motor. Are you sure its a 73 Mustang and not a 71?

You are completely right, Boss 351's were only made in 71. So either he has his years mixxed up on his car or its a clone. The Boss 351 motor was the only 4 Bolt Cleveland block, which is one way to tell if its a true Boss 351 motor. Are you sure its a 73 Mustang and not a 71?

4-bolt cleveland blocks can be found anywhere. They sort of started showing up randomly in any car a cleveland was in. They offer almost no strength advantage over a 2 bolt block. Boss motors are the only ones guarenteed to have a 4-bolt, but a 4bolt block is not a sign of a Boss motor.
You can look at the casting numbers on the intake, probably the easiest thing. Should be D1ZX-CA or D1ZX-DA.
I agree, make sure its a 73. I'm sure there are a lot of clones out there, though. 1973 has a bigger rear bumper and different center lights in the grille, thats the only way I know of to tell them apart.

1971 bumper:
http://bradbarnett.net/mustangs/shows/hodmc04/71-73/1971ConvertibleRear.jpg
1973 bumper:
http://www.americandreamcars.com/1973mustang.jpg
1971 fog lights:
http://www.detoursdiecast.com/files/Features/ford/71mach1y05.JPG
1973 fog lights:
http://www.carnut.dk/billeder/1973mustang/green3.JPG

Thanks alot for the info i will have to go back and take a closer look they were closing so i had very little time to check it out completely. They told me it was a 73 boss 351, and it looks just like that yellow 71 in the pic paint scheme wise anyway i did not look very closely at the bumper or lights, very odd they would tell me that it is a boss 351.

I also noticed that the heads at a glance were pretty small the boss 4v heads are pretty big are they not? and they told me that it was 375-400 HP motor. After a brief test drive it does have nuts for sure and after shutting off it wanted to keep running for about a sec. 1/2 is that timing involved. The motor has had some work done to it as it is pretty hot with a few performance parts for sure. Again thanks for the info Jim.

Also just got the vin# it is 3502H189544 he also said there is a tag that says 351C any help much appreciated!.

As said earlier, just look at the body. If the Turn signal lights are vertical then its a 73 but if they're horizontal then it very well could be a boss 351, only a 71. Maybe the sales man doesn't know anything about mustangs and you should inform him of his misknowledge. And for the heads; the difference in the 4v and the 2v are the valve size and valve setup. What signifies a cleveland head is the valve cover is parallel to the head and near the back of the valve cover its paralles to the ground. I tried to put a picture of a 4v and 2v motor to explain better, but i dont know how to put in pictures.

Check the corner of the heads - the upper corners should say '4' or '2'. If it says '2', its not a Boss - if it says 4, it could be, but isn't definate. Check the intake casting number, that is the easiest way to tell for sure. D1ZX.

Ok thanks, i think that it is a clone the reason i am confused after a look last night was that it has a 71 paint scheme, and the front grille is a 71 also on a 73. Looks like someone wanted a boss 351 71 and made it out of a 73 again thanks for the help.

How much are they asking for it?

How much are they asking for it?
$5000.00

What signifies a cleveland head is the valve cover is parallel to the head and near the back of the valve cover its paralles to the ground. I tried to put a picture of a 4v and 2v motor to explain better, but i dont know how to put in pictures.

To 73Eleanor just email me the picture [email protected]

$5000.00



To 73Eleanor just email me the picture [email protected]

FIVE GRAND!?!?! Definately a fake. A real Boss 351 in bad condition is at least 15,000. These are rare and desireable cars... 1806 were built, probably half of that number still exist. A restored one would fetch well over 40k. Probably in the $60,000 range. I can't really give a good number, I don't see many for sale. These are far rarer than Boss 302s. Boss 429's are a bit more rare(1356 made) and fetch over $100k restored. Get VIN numbers off of it, make sure its a '71, and if it is a real Boss 351, buy, borrow, or steal to get it. It is worth well over 5 grand. If it is real and you don't have the cash, I'll buy it.
The correct VIN number for a Boss 351 is:
1F62R******
The last 6 digits don't mean a whole lot. Specifically, look for the 1(signifies 1971) and the R(351 Boss motor).

Well i got some #'s off the car but still need some help. It is a 73 clone to look like a 71 boss.

Block 351 Cleveland 4 bolt
Heads- Don't really know but i did see a 4 stamped on the corner?.
Intake #3744 463, Edelbrock Torker 351
Holley Carb # 3752? I can't find anything on this carb what is it?.
Pistons? Don'tknow
Cam? Don'tknow
MSD Blaster 2 ignition
MSD Distributor #PN 8580
Headers? Don'tknow
Transmission? Don'tknow feels like a very strong tranny. Can i get #'s for this also to tell what it is?.
Rearend, gears? Don'tknow how could i tell what rearend it is any #'s ?.
Huge exhaust pipes with what looks like flowmasters.

The reason Don't Know is the guy bought it at a auction in Spokane Wa. and did not get any info what was done inside the engine, tranny, rearend ect. DUH?. So it is hard to tell what pistons, cam ect. are in it.

The car sounds very beefy and loud and has a good rumble it is setup for dragstrip/street with small thin tires in front and big bf goodwrench rear tires street legal. Anyone have a rough HP guess and what Holley carb is that?. I don't really understand the
Check the intake casting number, that is the easiest way to tell for sure. D1ZX. About what year motor it is any help or guidance.

A HugeThanks for any help! I might get the car and the more help and info the better i can understand what all the car has. Jim

Oops didnt read the first line..
Anyways, on to your questions:
Trans - is it a manual or auto? Manual, most likely a toploader 4 speed. Auto, probably a FMX, c4, or baby c6. I'd guess FMX. If the trans has an iron case, its an FMX. If its got an aluminum case and if the trans and bellhousing are one piece, its a baby c6(smallblock c6). If its two piece, its a c4.
If the heads have a 4 stamped in the corner its a 4bbl head. Torker is a 4bbl intake, although some people put 4bbl intakes on 2bbls, why, who knows. Terrible for performance. The torker is a decent intake. There are a few that are better, but its definately the best bang-for-your-buck intake for 4vs.
It should have a 9" rear end, but it might have a smaller one. I doubt it. There are sites out there for identifying Ford rear ends, I forget all the details. I think it goes like this: First, check to see if you have a bolt on differential cover. If you don't, you either have a 9" or an 8". A 9" has a bump in the back of the pumpkin(center) for the gears. An 8" is a smooth spherical shape. I may be wrong though.
You can tell what gears it has by doing this:
Jack the rearend up so the tires are off the ground. Put the transmission in neutral. Mark the driveshaft with some chalk. Mark the tire as well. Then, using your marks as a guide, spin the tire exactly 1 revolution. Count how many times the driveshaft spins, then guess at how far of a partial revolution you got. That number is your rear gear ratio.
If its got a manual transmission, you can just remember what RPM the engine is at when you're going a certain speed in whatever gear. Then run it through a calculator like this one:
http://www.onlineconversion.com/bigger_tires.htm

hope this helps. The D1ZX thing was to help ID it if it was a Boss, but its not. The factory intake is gone, so there will be no D*** casting number.

The rear end has a hump on the left side so it is probrably a 9" rear, the trans is a auto and has what looks like a aluminum case around it. The gearing to me feels like its setup for drag at highway speeds 60 mph or higher the rpm's start to get pretty high.