So I go to a nearby wrecking yard to find some parts for my box van, as I'm walking through from a distance I see what appears to be a newer Mustang with a roll bar. As I get closer I notice its an all white Mustang with a full race roll cage. I think holy crap, this sure looks like a body in white! Its been wrecked very hard in the LH quarter panel but its savable, everything is with enough money! The car still has all of the graphics from when it was on the track although some are very faded. I look for a vin plate or door jam sticker with any identifying numbers and nothing is there so I figure that its a body in white. In the trunk where the spare tire well is its got a fuel cell enclosure welded in that goes through the floor. I look closer and sure enough its a factory enclosure, not something someone added.
I immediately go to the wrecking yards office and ask them about it, turns out the car has been there for about 10 months hiding in the corner where I couldn't see it and had just been pulled out. The car was on death row, very soon to be crushed and never seen again. I could not let this happen so of course I immediately buy it, rush home which is 40 minutes away, grab my truck and haul A$$ back to get it. They load the car up on my trailer, I strap it down and head for my shop.
I get it off of my trailer and start really checking the car out. I confirm that the fuel cell enclosure is or appears to be an originally equipped part. I start looking over the rest of the car and the entire thing is stitch welded, every single overlapping panel that is normally just spot welded. I notice that everywhere on the entire floor board that normally has a removable rubber plug has a metal cap and is welded. The rear decklid where the speakers are has a steel plate across it along with where the rear seats sit against. Both bumper supports have the loops welded on to be pulled from.
I Googled the name Finlay/Cameron to try and see what I could find when I got home. I did a little investigating and got some contact info for the owner/driver. I also found a picture of the shell I just bought on the race track minutes after it was wrecked. The small caption under it said Boss 302R got loose and crashed. I thought WHAT?!? No way, they must have just assumed that it was a Boss.
The next day I call around for hours after a good friend found a few numbers for the previous owner, of course the numbers had all been disconnected. I found another number for a Steve Cameron from Cameron Racing based out of Sonoma, CA which is only a few hours from me. I called the number and got a hold of him and told him the car that I had purchased. He honestly didn't sound too happy to hear that the car was still in one piece. He told me that the shell had been sold to the SCCA for their fire/rescue crews to use for practicing how to cut a race car up. Apparently the car had been sitting at Thunderhill for years and finally they called the junk yard to haul it away. I ask him to give me a little history on the car, his first comment was, "You do know that's not a body in white, right? That is a real Boss 302R!" I was FLOORED! I simply could not believe it! He said that when the car was crashed it was easier and faster for them to buy a body in white and transfer all the parts over than to have it fixed. So the parts were swapped over and the shell was sold off to be demolished! We exchanged a few more friendly words, he wished me the best of luck and our conversation ended there.
So not only have I saved a Mustang from the crusher I SAVED A BOSS 302R!!!!! So now its time to rebuild it from the ground up to what it was before the accident. This project will probably take me years but in the end after I've put countless hours into it and only god knows how much money I'll have a 1 of 50 Boss 302R's built and a hell of a story to go with it!
Anyone that knows where I could source some of the parts needed to rebuild PLEASE PLEASE let me know! I really cannot find very much info out about these cars. I'd love to get an exploded diagram with part numbers for it so I have something to go off of!
I immediately go to the wrecking yards office and ask them about it, turns out the car has been there for about 10 months hiding in the corner where I couldn't see it and had just been pulled out. The car was on death row, very soon to be crushed and never seen again. I could not let this happen so of course I immediately buy it, rush home which is 40 minutes away, grab my truck and haul A$$ back to get it. They load the car up on my trailer, I strap it down and head for my shop.
I get it off of my trailer and start really checking the car out. I confirm that the fuel cell enclosure is or appears to be an originally equipped part. I start looking over the rest of the car and the entire thing is stitch welded, every single overlapping panel that is normally just spot welded. I notice that everywhere on the entire floor board that normally has a removable rubber plug has a metal cap and is welded. The rear decklid where the speakers are has a steel plate across it along with where the rear seats sit against. Both bumper supports have the loops welded on to be pulled from.
I Googled the name Finlay/Cameron to try and see what I could find when I got home. I did a little investigating and got some contact info for the owner/driver. I also found a picture of the shell I just bought on the race track minutes after it was wrecked. The small caption under it said Boss 302R got loose and crashed. I thought WHAT?!? No way, they must have just assumed that it was a Boss.
The next day I call around for hours after a good friend found a few numbers for the previous owner, of course the numbers had all been disconnected. I found another number for a Steve Cameron from Cameron Racing based out of Sonoma, CA which is only a few hours from me. I called the number and got a hold of him and told him the car that I had purchased. He honestly didn't sound too happy to hear that the car was still in one piece. He told me that the shell had been sold to the SCCA for their fire/rescue crews to use for practicing how to cut a race car up. Apparently the car had been sitting at Thunderhill for years and finally they called the junk yard to haul it away. I ask him to give me a little history on the car, his first comment was, "You do know that's not a body in white, right? That is a real Boss 302R!" I was FLOORED! I simply could not believe it! He said that when the car was crashed it was easier and faster for them to buy a body in white and transfer all the parts over than to have it fixed. So the parts were swapped over and the shell was sold off to be demolished! We exchanged a few more friendly words, he wished me the best of luck and our conversation ended there.
So not only have I saved a Mustang from the crusher I SAVED A BOSS 302R!!!!! So now its time to rebuild it from the ground up to what it was before the accident. This project will probably take me years but in the end after I've put countless hours into it and only god knows how much money I'll have a 1 of 50 Boss 302R's built and a hell of a story to go with it!
Anyone that knows where I could source some of the parts needed to rebuild PLEASE PLEASE let me know! I really cannot find very much info out about these cars. I'd love to get an exploded diagram with part numbers for it so I have something to go off of!
