302 Ford Tunnel Port

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

I have mentioned the small block tunnel port a couple time in the past but referred to them as 289 Tunnel Ports. One time in my life in the in the 60's I saw one in the engine shop I was working in part time. They are actually 302 CI. and quite unique. Ford ran them in 1968 and would have put them into production cars had it not been for the simultaneous production of the Boss 302.

This engine would scream with shift points at 8,500 to keep the flow going in the huge ports. There are still a few around but I keep looking for one. If you go to this link and read through it you will be amazed at how it took place. Ford sold the remainder of the engines for like $895.00 each. You can get $2,000 just for the rockers now.

http://www.hotrod.com/features/history/stories/hrdp-1305-the-story-behind-fords-iii-fated-1968-tunnel-port-302/

A few still run in the nostalgia racing but they are like hens teeth with the 4 bolt mains, heads and intakes like you probably have never seen. It is just good information you might fall into one of them and not know what it was.

We built one where I worked in the 60's.

I send messages to anyone I see on eBay that might have something and that is how I got this link. He had the rockers that I have found twice but oh how sweet would it be to have the complete engine?

I put just a couple of the pics go read the article and look at all the pics. 11 second quarter times.

David

 

[secluff]

David I'm glad some of us "Old School" guys that had some closer than normal ties with Ford and their engineers are here on this forum. If not, a lot of the younger members here would have no ideal just how serious Ford was about the "Total Performance" effort in the 60's and early 70's and some of the outrageous things Ford actually had built or had in the works. I had never seen a tunnel port 302, but had heard of them. Was in tech school in Wichita Falls, Texas in early 71 and had taken a friend to Dallas to catch a flight. On the way back I stopped at a road course track and talked to a couple of guys that were running Boss 302 powered Mustangs. Remember him saying he was not impressed with the tunnel port 302. No bottom end power coming out of slower turns and a lot of blown engines.

I have a first printing 1968 Mustang brochure that does show the tunnel port 302 and the W code 427 in the available power train line up. Unfortunately all my books are in storage in SC. Will be there during Christmas and will see if I can find it so I can scan it. I do remember in April a new brochure came out with the release of the 428 CJ and of course the tunnel port 302 and the 427 were gone. I will add although the 427 was in the Mustang book, I never saw one. Have seen two 68 Cougar GTE's with the 427. Ford had also been working on a 460CJ to do battle with the 440's and 454's on a more even keel. But with insurance company's screaming like crazy and the emissions getting tighter, any further development on anything "High Performance" was cancelled and funding pulled by the "Ties" in the "Glass House" (Ford Headquaters). Ford's competitors had no ideal what they would have been up against had these engines been developed to their full potential.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

Those were the days for sure. You could go to the dealer and buy things that today would be unheard of. We built some outrageous 289 engines during that time that would scream with that short stroke. Only saw one tunnel port wish I had a digital camera back then.

David

 

[secluff]

David, you are spot on about those 289's. My buddy from Dunn, NC went through two 350 Camaro's and a Nova trying to outrun my 67 289 4sp Mustang. And I'll be the first one to tell you that was no easy task with a 289. That's a tough little engine. The only thing that made me drop my interest in the 289 like a hot potato was the first time I drove a 70 M code 351 that barked the tires every time it shifted including high gear. Then one of the officers where I worked took me for a ride in his Boss 351. I was "Marked". This goes under the heading "Anything Goes" at the dealer. Sleeper of the year award would go to a friend in SC that still owns a 67 two 4bl 427 Fairlane. He ordered a 66 LTD 2dr fastback with a two 4bl medium riser 427 4sp that looked just like something your Mother would drive to Church. He said those were the days when the salesmen would ask how many carburetors would you like and would you like a 4sp with that? Ford's "Total Performance" program back then resulted in some seriously bad a$$ stuff coming out of Detroit. SOHC 427's, 428 CJ/SCJ, Boss engines.Thunderbolt Fairlanes. Ahh...yes I'll take that with a 4sp thank you!!

 

[4Vforever]

Seen a set of the tunnel port heads back in the early 90's, as one of our customers was a mad Ford nut and had a lot of rare stuff that would make your head spin. It was the first time I saw a 429 Boss engine also as well as heaps of other mind blowing stuff.The 302 tunnel port engine was a dog and the Ford teams of the day had nothing but trouble with that engine, either being fragile, not running right, not bottom end torque and so on, hence the development of the 302 Boss engine. Bob Jane here in Australia had one in his Mustang back then and could never get it to run right and was extremely fragile and it was one of the reasons he gave up running Fords, then purchased two ZL1 Camaro's.

As for Fords total performance era, they really were the only vehicle manufacturer to be involved with every type of motorsport worldwide and dominated them too. This was one of the reasons I started to swing to the Ford brand, the other one was building Clevelands for customers and the power we were getting out of them.

Actually not so long ago, some extremely rare NOS Ford stuff was for sale over here including a pair of tunnel port heads. I originally thought it may have been that guy from years ago selling this stuff, but after sending him a message, I found out it wasn't. It truly is amazing how much of this rare stuff is over here in Australia.