SEPTEMBER 2019 15
QThad’s recommendation is to get the Boss 302 running and take it to shows as is.
This idea brings up the question: What would this Boss 302 look like restored with its
1970s vintage modifications?
QNo doubt these hastily flared wheelwells would draw considerable interest. They
had to be done many years ago, as nobody would alter a Boss 302 like this today.QThe $75 price for the pair of Boss 302 heads included this original
aluminum intake, seen here stored on the passenger-side floorboard.sleeping in his bed so he didn’t get into
trouble. But, at the end of the month,
when “they call your name to pick up
your pay voucher,” Reggie discovered
the ticket was more than his monthly
pay, and he had to go into the next
month to get paid.
Reggie recalled 555 medics in
his class, out of which five went to
Vietnam. He used his training to work
in the dispensary and take care of guys
coming home from Vietnam in Fort
Hood, Texas. “I got out in August of
1971 and came back to Baton Rouge to
finish school,” he says.
The Boss 302 started acting up on
this trip. By the time Reggie got home,
the 302 had six cracked pistons, an
issue that has been well documented
on 1970 models, especially common
when hot-rodded.
“A buddy of mine, he is deceased
now, took the engine down and rebuilt
it, bored it 30 thousandths, and put in
12:1 pistons,” Reggie says. The factory
cam was also changed to a more radi-
cal design for more performance.
Reggie says, “My buddy had a Mus-
tang, a 428, and I had the Boss, and we
would go to Erwinville [State Capitol
Raceway], but most of the time we
were on the street.”
Reggie parked the car about 20
years ago, and he’s had the opportu-
nity to sell his unrestored Boss 302
several times but has decided to keep
the car. He marveled, “It’s been, what,
50 years—1970 to now?”
QReggie picked these Boss 302 heads up for $75. They’ve been stored in this trunk for decades.