Most Under-Performing Musclecar Ever Produced?

[danny waters sr]

I would say the 71 Merc Comet GT ,302 two bbl only as well as the Maverick Grabber. These cars looked fast ,but had no performing motors. I bought a 71 Comet Gt new and jetted the 2bbl and a set of cut-outs and ran 14.98 best. (also had a 25"x 7 cheater tire), with stock gear. It would burn the right rear tire( with the street tires) off though.

[Oclk Dlux]

Originally Posted by danny waters sr

I would say the 71 Merc Comet GT ,302 two bbl only as well as the Maverick Grabber. These cars looked fast ,but had no performing motors. I bought a 71 Comet Gt new and jetted the 2bbl and a set of cut-outs and ran 14.98 best. (also had a 25"x 7 cheater tire), with stock gear. It would burn the right rear tire( with the street tires) off though.

Don't knock the 2BBL too much :^) A friend of mine in Las Vegas had a stock '69 Nova with the 250/350 2BBL. That car completely outran my stock '78 Camaro 4BBL Z28! Shocking! Embarrassment city! Those "Jimmy Carter specials" were the biggest overpriced slugs around. The only GM V8 from that era that was worth anything was the L82, and it was overpriced too!

All that changed with TPI, yay!

[Paul Ceasrine]

My original thought was correct.
Based on cost and performance, the 1969 Boss 429 is the
most under performing musclecar.
Boss 429 engine, big-port aluminum heads and aluminum intake,
Holley carb (though under-sized at 735 cfm), and 3.91 gears as standard.
Pretty much a 14.10 machine. Not a good choise for C/Stock.
PC

[Jeff Lee]

Originally Posted by Paul Ceasrine

My original thought was correct.
Based on cost and performance, the 1969 Boss 429 is the
most under performing musclecar.
Boss 429 engine, big-port aluminum heads and aluminum intake,
Holley carb (though under-sized at 735 cfm), and 3.91 gears as standard.
Pretty much a 14.10 machine. Not a good choise for C/Stock.
PC

Now you're not comparing apples to apples. You need to look at the tech guide and explore more thoroughly. What is the allowable compression? Shows 10.5:1 but it may be much higher as I don't see very specific dome specs. A stocker cam is a long way from stock and specs are .492/.522. With the great clutches offered now, you can gear the snot out of those heads and still hook. I can't see the carb being a big problem. I'm sure the 415 factored HP (1970 Boss 429) is a problem but I would say NHRA would review and reduce since there has never been any active campaigning of one. At least in a few decades or so.
As you have seen in this thread, plenty of pigs are now plenty fast in Stock!

[Alex Denysenko]

Originally Posted by Paul Ceasrine

My original thought was correct.
Based on cost and performance, the 1969 Boss 429 is the
most under performing musclecar.
Boss 429 engine, big-port aluminum heads and aluminum intake,
Holley carb (though under-sized at 735 cfm), and 3.91 gears as standard.
Pretty much a 14.10 machine. Not a good choise for C/Stock.
PC

NOT!

1965 Dodge Cornet (CL)
426ci/365hp, 4spd, 3.55, 0-60 - 7.9, 1/4 mile - 15.4 @ 89mph



1969 Mustang Boss 429 (HPC)
429ci/375hp, 4spd, 3.91, 0-60 - n/a, 1/4 mile - 13.34 @ 107mph

[Paul Ceasrine]

Easy there guys,
I'm just going by 1969 numbers.
Performance and cost.
I personally like the Boss 429.
Many different results on the Boss 429, by the magazine people.
Some of the first cars tested had 3.50 gears, and ran 14.40's, to much disappointment.
From the 69' model, early test results from Car-Life 7/69 were 14.09 @102.85 mph, with 3.91 gears.
Hi-Performance Car got the up-graded version of the Boss 429 in later 69' to run a 13.64, not a 13.34.
Still respectable.
Compression ratio closer to 11.20 - 1.
Remember, this car was set-up from the factory.
H.D. Suspension, staggered rear shocks, handling package (front-end lowered 1"), F-60 x 15" tires, 15" x 7" wheels, header-type exhaust manifolds w/free-flowing exhaust system, aluminum dual-plane high-rise intake, Holley carb (735cfm), high-lft solid-lifter camshaft (.492/.522), aluminum heads (did you ever see the size of the ports? a small family can live in their), monster-size valves, ram-air hood, 3.91 gears w/traction-lock rear, close ratio 4-speed, HD clutch package, engine oil-cooler, and trunk-mounted 85-Amp battery, and
hi-rated 65-Amp Alternator
* I don't think the 65' Coronet 426-S/365HP (Street-wedge) had any of those components.
But they did come with a mechanical-driven tachometer.
PC


PC

[Bobby Zlatkin]

Paul Ceasrine
But they did come with a tach-driven distributor...

Paul, Did you mean a distributor driven tach?

[Jeff Lee]

somebody was building a Boss '9 for the F.A.S.T. series. I heard it was around 850 HP with cast exhaust manifolds! Of course it is a bigger CID but externally all stock.

[Jeff Lee]

Originally Posted by danny waters sr

I would say the 71 Merc Comet GT ,302 two bbl only as well as the Maverick Grabber. These cars looked fast ,but had no performing motors. I bought a 71 Comet Gt new and jetted the 2bbl and a set of cut-outs and ran 14.98 best. (also had a 25"x 7 cheater tire), with stock gear. It would burn the right rear tire( with the street tires) off though.

Geez...what's bad about a 14.98 with a 2bbl and probably a 2.87 rear gear?