Angelo Voltura Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Well, for the time being dad's truck is powered with 1969 spec'd 1979 357w. Currently swapping over to Atomic EFI. The end goal with this red beast is a likely a crate engine, north of 500 horsepower bringing it back to its glory days of the early 90s when it really had a high powered motor in it. Well, we've been talking about routes to take when that inevitably comes down the line in the next few years. Over the years, every feasible engine you can think of has been discussed with this truck. One week, its "I should have put a Cleveland in it", another week "I almost put a 390 in it", another week "should have put a 460 in it". Lot of would have, should have, could have but never dids. The last engine we looked at is the S374W crate engine available from Ford. 540 horsepower. However, I feel that engine is too rev happy and unsuitable in a truck. This 357w that is in the truck now was put together and thrown in in a matter of days and built for grunt and snow pushing. This all changes now that Ford has come out with the 7.3 Godzilla gas job. I'm not sure how familiar you guys are with these engines yet, but working for Ford I have been playing around with them for about 6 months, and I tell you the Chevy LS guys better be shaking in their boots. I've talked on the Ford hotline, these engines are heavily, heavily based on a combination of the FE and Windsor engines, but primarily the Windsor engines. These are 6 bolt cross bolted main cast iron block, aluminum headed engines, with completely forged bottom ends that develop in stock trim, 430 horsepower @ 5,500rpm and 475tq @ 4,000rpm. I have already seen a set of headers and VERY mild (I stress mild) cam push this engine north of 580 horsepower. There is not reason why this engine cannot support 1700+ horsepower. I'm not going to get into it too much here, but if you get a chance, check out this article. If you tell me that it's not a modernized 351 Windsor, you are blind. Regardless, the easy of swap-ability here is the point of this post. As of now I cannot get my hands on this engine any easier than any of you can, but from a swap point of view the low down is this thing practically will bolt into our trucks (they've already put these in Fox Mustangs and the motor mounts were eerily similar), especially if you were 6 cyl or small block powered to begin with. A standalone computer (which will be available once this comes out as a crate engine) will run this engine easily and if you have a fuel injected truck should be able to use your stock fuel pump. The cool part is it uses the standard modular engine bellhousing pattern so that means adapters for older transmissions are/will be available, however it will only run with an automatic transmission as the crank is not machined for a pilot bearing. This may change as there are rumors of some cranks having it (I have yet to see it) and the possibility of bolting a ZF6 to it is running rampid. Weight wise, it's marginally heavier than a 351W, around the same as a 351M or 400 and far less than a 460. There will be next to no real fab work to get this engine to drop right in, and in theory with everything in a row could be done in a matter of days. This would be a FAR easier swap than an Ecoboost or Coyote. I have yet to be this excited for a new Ford engine in a long time, and right now it is something we are seriously considering. I wouldn't rule this engine out as a swap item for you guys in the next 5 years or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 A lot of people have been talking about the new 7.3 gasser. It will be interesting to see what else these engines will end up in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 A lot of people have been talking about the new 7.3 gasser. It will be interesting to see what else these engines will end up in. I've been tossing around ideas for a different engine for my '97 crew cab (or possibly a different ~'97 crew cab due to the rust). I'm really not thrilled with the single digit mileage the 460/E4OD/4.10 combo delivers, and I don't think a diesel is a good option based on operating cost. A mildly built 351W stroker is near the top of my list, but the Godzilla is REALLY intriguing! I'm not interested in staying with an auto trans, so we'll need to see what happens there. Any ideas what kind of real-world gas mileage that thing will deliver? Personally I'm not interested in 1700+ or even 580 horsepower. I'm more than happy with the power from my 460. But I'm thinking that any engine Ford is using in newer vehicle has to do better on fuel than a 460. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 I've been tossing around ideas for a different engine for my '97 crew cab (or possibly a different ~'97 crew cab due to the rust). I'm really not thrilled with the single digit mileage the 460/E4OD/4.10 combo delivers, and I don't think a diesel is a good option based on operating cost. A mildly built 351W stroker is near the top of my list, but the Godzilla is REALLY intriguing! I'm not interested in staying with an auto trans, so we'll need to see what happens there. Any ideas what kind of real-world gas mileage that thing will deliver? Personally I'm not interested in 1700+ or even 580 horsepower. I'm more than happy with the power from my 460. But I'm thinking that any engine Ford is using in newer vehicle has to do better on fuel than a 460. Interesting, Angelo. I hope it is a bit smaller than a 460 'cause the 460 in Big Blue is maxing out the space available. Smaller would sure be better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelo Voltura Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 I've been tossing around ideas for a different engine for my '97 crew cab (or possibly a different ~'97 crew cab due to the rust). I'm really not thrilled with the single digit mileage the 460/E4OD/4.10 combo delivers, and I don't think a diesel is a good option based on operating cost. A mildly built 351W stroker is near the top of my list, but the Godzilla is REALLY intriguing! I'm not interested in staying with an auto trans, so we'll need to see what happens there. Any ideas what kind of real-world gas mileage that thing will deliver? Personally I'm not interested in 1700+ or even 580 horsepower. I'm more than happy with the power from my 460. But I'm thinking that any engine Ford is using in newer vehicle has to do better on fuel than a 460. In the new trucks they arent seeing anything better than a 6.2. 12-14 city, 18 highway in a heavy 3/4 ton with a 6 speed. Gary, dimensionally they 1-2" longer and wider than a Windsor. Just about anywhere you can fit a Windsor, this will fit. I did know the actual dimensions but cant remember the top of my head now. They are smaller than a 351M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelo Voltura Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 I've been tossing around ideas for a different engine for my '97 crew cab (or possibly a different ~'97 crew cab due to the rust). I'm really not thrilled with the single digit mileage the 460/E4OD/4.10 combo delivers, and I don't think a diesel is a good option based on operating cost. A mildly built 351W stroker is near the top of my list, but the Godzilla is REALLY intriguing! I'm not interested in staying with an auto trans, so we'll need to see what happens there. Any ideas what kind of real-world gas mileage that thing will deliver? Personally I'm not interested in 1700+ or even 580 horsepower. I'm more than happy with the power from my 460. But I'm thinking that any engine Ford is using in newer vehicle has to do better on fuel than a 460. In the new trucks they arent seeing anything better than a 6.2. 12-14 city, 18 highway in a heavy 3/4 ton with a 6 speed. Gary, dimensionally they 1-2" longer and wider than a Windsor. Just about anywhere you can fit a Windsor, this will fit. I did know the actual dimensions but cant remember the top of my head now. They are smaller than a 351M. I just checked; 2.5" wider and 1 1/4" longer than a Windsor dimentionally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 I just checked; 2.5" wider and 1 1/4" longer than a Windsor dimentionally. That does put them in the M-Block range, which noticeably smaller than the 460. Cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 In the new trucks they arent seeing anything better than a 6.2. 12-14 city, 18 highway in a heavy 3/4 ton with a 6 speed.... WAY better than the 9~11 highway from my 460! That's in a range I could live with. It will be interesting to see what comes of this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 In the new trucks they arent seeing anything better than a 6.2. 12-14 city, 18 highway in a heavy 3/4 ton with a 6 speed.... WAY better than the 9~11 highway from my 460! That's in a range I could live with. It will be interesting to see what comes of this! It is interesting to me that certain engines have such different ranges of economy. The 460 is notorious for bad economy. Why? What makes one engine good and one bad? Why is this new engine supposedly better than the 460 although having roughly the same displacement? Is it just the build-up of several things, like intake runner size, valve size, rod to stroke ratio, exhaust port shape, etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelo Voltura Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 It is interesting to me that certain engines have such different ranges of economy. The 460 is notorious for bad economy. Why? What makes one engine good and one bad? Why is this new engine supposedly better than the 460 although having roughly the same displacement? Is it just the build-up of several things, like intake runner size, valve size, rod to stroke ratio, exhaust port shape, etc? I think its more based on operating RPM. With 6 gears at 55mph your basically idling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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