What do I have?

The "Little Boss": The Boss 302 engine was introduced to Cougars late in the 1969 model year and remained available throughout 1970. The Boss 302 cranked out 290 (gross) horsepower at 5,800 RPM. This example is found in John Benoit's rare 1970 four-speed Eliminator.

i read that you said its def. not a boss after posting, it would have been nice if it was. still researching....

Produced in 1968

Cast iron crankshaft

forged rods

cast pistons

hydraulic camshaft

available with 2 or 4 barrell carburator

horsepower varied from 210 to 230 depending on carburator.

Standard 302 was equipped with 2 barrel from 1969 to 1983.

The casting number is not under the valve cover

Its on the bottom of the head near the intake side so you would have to remove the heads to get the casting number. You would know if it was a boss by the canted valves and cavernous ports. It is likely a base model 302. Does it have the stock intake manifold? If its a 4-V then it is likely a higher performance motor but I think the 2-V is exactly the same except the smaller carb and manifold.

Its not a bad year to have. The heads allow 9.5-1 compression stock and they don't have thermactor plumbing. They might have the bumbs in the exhaust port for them though but they won't have the hole for it. 69-74 302's are the better of the older ones. The mid to late 70's ones suck with their low compression-emmission heads. If you take the intake manifold off and it has "hecho in Mexico" in the lifter valley then it is a higher nickel beefier block but they are mostly found in trucks.

I guess you could get this to work in your car. Obviously you are aware of the different weight of the balancer. I think the water pump is different also. You may not be able to pass emmissions if you need to.

Keep in mind that those old motors don't have hardened exhaust seats either. Also, with an engine that old, I would re-seal the oil pan, intake manifold, valve covers, rear main, and replace the valve seals before using it. It might be low mileage, but its old and those older seals weren't made of the same materials. As a matter of fact the rear main is a two piece rope seal that is way more challenging to replace than the newer one-piece units.

So yeah, I think it would work as long as you swapped in the right fly-wheel and water pump in and put the time in to reseal it. If you have a boss engine with 32k then its probably worth twice than your car is. That would be cool though if it was.