Boss Purchase Questions

onmywayout

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Hello folks,

I've been thinking about purchasing a Boss for a few years and I may be ready. Have a semi local dealership with a 17K mileage Boss which appears to be in great condition. The price is right IMO.

I have a couple questions for owners.

Is the MT82 issue a problem will all cars or just select? Is there something I should do during the test drive to check for it?

How does the car respond to minor modifications such as CAI & Tune?

Any other common issues that I should look for pre-purchase?
 

Recon

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Few mods to the Trans and it should be fine. Or just TR6060 or XL swap it.
CAI isn't beneficial until you're basically at the full bolt on level. The factory CAI flows just as good as aftermarket models and doesn't suck in engine heat. Your most beneficial modifications if you're wanting to stay N/A is full exhaust.
 

B7BlownSnake

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MT82 is hit or miss. Mine never had issues except a soft clutch pedal after a few high rpm shifts. I put in an Exedy clutch and flywheel, and an MGW shifter, and no issues at all shifting at 8200.

I have the stock manifolds and cats, but a CJ intake manifold and TB and AED tune. That really woke the car up. Headers are always beneficial on these cars.
 

onmywayout

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Few mods to the Trans and it should be fine. Or just TR6060 or XL swap it.
CAI isn't beneficial until you're basically at the full bolt on level. The factory CAI flows just as good as aftermarket models and doesn't suck in engine heat. Your most beneficial modifications if you're wanting to stay N/A is full exhaust.

Can you give me a little more details on the mods to the Trans? When I had my 12 5.0 there were alot of opinions on what the fix was, has anything firmed up yet?
 

Recon

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SS clutch line, MGW blowfish bracket + bushing, and/or MGW Trans mounted shifter, also fluid change would be good.
Personally I'd Tremec swap it and be done. I'm not a fan of the MT-82, but it can be improved. Then just install full exhaust, the cobra jet kit, and work on your suspension.
 

KBBoss302

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Clutch solved my high rpm lockout issues. Stainless clutch line, Whiteline bushing, MGW, Blowfish bracket, etc etc etc didn't fix it. RST and lightened flywheel cured it 100%. The transmission now is absolutely fantastic other than the twin discs being a little weird feeling leaving from a traffic light. You get used to it pretty soon.
 

Swine

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High RPM Clutch Lock Out- ive read 13' bosses experience this more consistently and that has been true for me after owning two 12' GT's and now my 13' boss.
-Replace OEM clutch with pretty much anything and that will fix those problems

Shifter vagueness. This is one of those problems you dont realize you have until you fix it.
-You dont have to fix this. Improvements can be had with economical bushing upgrades, driving experience has been reported to improve nicely with nice full shift kits like MGW's.

Final word, the MT-82 itself is a reasonable, good performing and economical transmission. Some of the gear around it needs replacing or updating, but the transmission itself should serve you well. Replace the clutch ahead of schedule to save your syncros.
 

onmywayout

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Thank you for all of the responses. I am planning to look at the car tomorrow and take it out for a spirited test drive. Hopefully all goes well and I will drive it home.

Quick question should the car have the track key with it? Or was that a seperate purchase option?
 

Swine

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Thank you for all of the responses. I am planning to look at the car tomorrow and take it out for a spirited test drive. Hopefully all goes well and I will drive it home.

Quick question should the car have the track key with it? Or was that a seperate purchase option?
All Boss's came with a grey and red key. The red key is the track key if the track key software was purchased and installed, otherwise its just another key.

it should have a physical red key. It may or may not have been activated.

Personally, the Track Key wasn't a huge deal. I have the car tuned so that went bye-bye anyway.

Yeah track key isnt "night and day" but does improve the behind the wheel experience while still remaining safe and a factory ford car(which is important to alot of ford fans out there).

Ill be tuning my car as well, since i have a higher mileage Boss and not terribly worried about it. But if i had a super nice low mileage model or a Laguna Seca i would stick with the track key tune and maximize performance via other means.
 

B7BlownSnake

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But if i had a super nice low mileage model or a Laguna Seca i would stick with the track key tune and maximize performance via other means.

Tuned mine at 10k miles. Only has about 16k now. Definitely worth it!

But, I am glad I have the Track Key tune saved on the stock file, and I haven't done anything permanent. The car can easily go back to stock if I sell it to someone who wants that.
 

rwill2cruz

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I disconnected the skip shift plug even though skip shift is supposed to be disabled with the track key. Might be my imagination but I found the 1-2 shift alot better
 

Race Red Boss

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Had a 12, #749. Ended up consuming a lot oil and Ford replaced the Long Block. No idea what happened, but my recommendation would be to get a later numbered car if possible. Perhaps some early engine build/parts issues??

Other than that, I absolutely loved the car with it's unique quad exhaust and lopey idle with track key enabled....and the cool snap, crackle pop made on deceleration. Was the first car I ever tracked (did it once a year for 3 yrs. at Mosport/Canadian Tire Motorsports Park) and it was an absolute blast and confidence inspiring.

May get another one next spring......or a GT350 Track Pack car.
 

onmywayout

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Update! Well after nearly 2-months of shopping and indecisions I finally made a purchase. Picked up a single owner local owned 2013 RR Boss with 9500 miles. The car is nearly flawless, and was traded in for a HP BMW.

During this period I looked at and tested several Boss's and found them to be a little off, especially in the high rpm shifting. This car is perfect smooth, no issues getting into gear at all.

Spent about 6-hours driving it thus far and I really enjoy it, the exhaust is great, throttle response and power pull seems great.

Been thinking about some mods but the car is so perfect I don't think it would be a good idea to mess with it.

Thank you to the forums help.
 

RUgoinup?

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Awesome! Great color as well. I didn’t need think it was a good idea to mess with it either. Then this happened:

72237DD4-8F96-472A-9CCC-9EC6FA1458E4.jpeg
 

Red Turtle

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Update! Well after nearly 2-months of shopping and indecisions I finally made a purchase. Picked up a single owner local owned 2013 RR Boss with 9500 miles. The car is nearly flawless, and was traded in for a HP BMW.

During this period I looked at and tested several Boss's and found them to be a little off, especially in the high rpm shifting. This car is perfect smooth, no issues getting into gear at all.

Spent about 6-hours driving it thus far and I really enjoy it, the exhaust is great, throttle response and power pull seems great.

Been thinking about some mods but the car is so perfect I don't think it would be a good idea to mess with it.

Thank you to the forums help.

Congrats! I will say the addition of 11-12 GT 500 mufflers really fits the car and sound is great. I ran that set up for a few months, then upgraded to the 13-14' quad set up and removed the resonators replacing them with the 3" Borla Over Axle Pipes. The sound was amazing with side discs in and also completely open. :)
 

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