Summary

• It’s time to see Godzilla in a brand new gentle – Ford’s crate engine brings energy and sturdiness again with a punch.
• Pushing boundaries with a pushrod design – welcomes Godzilla’s large energy with easy, low-cost, and compact engine benefits.
• Towing to tuning, Ford’s 7.3-liter powerhouse does all of it – look out for boosted builds and head-turning automotive swaps forward.

When non-car fans hear the phrase Godzilla they consider an enormous monster in a film. When you speak about Godzilla within the automotive fanatic house, most individuals would affiliate it with the legendary Nissan GT-R. No matter the context, the phrase Godzilla means one thing robust and highly effective.

Ford has made a crate engine that has these traits and given it the well-known Godzilla identify.

The Godzilla engine is a brand new household of pushrod V-8 engines which is not widespread in vehicles as we speak. Ford ended its pushrod design engines within the 90’s and switched to the overhead design.

Today, solely automakers like Dodge with the HEMI and Chevy with their LS engines nonetheless use that design. But Ford has introduced again the pushrod design for this new engine and it guarantees to be among the finest choices but. We are going to try one among Ford’s craziest crate engines, what makes it work, and why this is likely to be the following go-to mill for engine swaps.

In order to provide the most recent and correct info potential, the info used to compile this text was sourced from numerous producer web sites together with Ford Performance.

The Godzilla Engine Was Built To Be Tough Out Of The Box

The 7.3 liter Godzilla engine is the biggest displacement engine at the moment provided by Ford. It was first featured within the Ford Superduty trucks in 2020 and serves because the substitute for the earlier 6.2-liter hurricane V-8. The earlier engine served because the powerplant for Ford vehicles from 2010-2022. It powered numerous Ford vehicles from the F-150 Raptor to the the F-350 Super obligation vehicles.

But the brand new Godzilla engine has been constructed to be higher and more durable than its predecessor. With this engine, Ford has gone for durability and strength over lightness and fast response. The engine block is manufactured from forged iron which is heavy however inexpensive and really sturdy. It has a cast metal crankshaft, forged aluminum pistons, and a cylinder head.

From the manufacturing unit, the underside finish has already been strengthened to take the abuse these engines will undergo of their lifetime. Using these supplies additionally cuts down the price of manufacturing, But there are additionally different benefits to this engine design.

Advantages Of The Pushrod Design

The pushrod engine could also be an old-school design and isn’t as subtle as the fashionable overhead cam engine design. But there are some advantages to having an old-school design.

Simple Design

A pushrod engine has a easy design when in comparison with overhead cam engines. There much less valves, cam place sensors, and several other different miscellaneous components wanted to make them work. This makes engaged on an engine like this a lot simpler.

Lower Cost

Since fewer components are wanted to construct these engines, the price of making them is considerably decrease. The use of forged iron components within the Godzilla engine helps decrease prices additional.

Packaging

A pushrod engine is extra compact than the equal overhead cam engine. The Godzilla will be the largest displacement Ford engine but however it’s a extra compact engine than the earlier 6.2 Boss V-8.

Weight

Weight can also be a significant factor for engines like these, particularly with the newest technological developments. The present Godzilla engine weighs 580 kilos which is spectacular since that is the biggest Ford engine in manufacturing. The final Ford forged iron pushrod engine was a 7.5-liter engine that weighed 640 kilos. Fewer components additionally imply much less reciprocating mass which provides the engine a greater response.

Gas Mileage

Most present pushrod engines are present in efficiency purposes however the benefit is low finish torque. This means automobiles with these engines have ample torque down low which provides them great gas mileage as found in this real-world gas mileage test 13.7 MPG which is consistent with the estimated 8-14 MPG.

A Compact Engine Built For Heavy-Duty Work

American engines generally are identified to have large displacements however there’s a motive for this and that’s Torque. An engine that generates sufficient Torque will ship energy effortlessly and that’s what Ford has achieved right here. The objective of this engine is to be a workhorse for towing and hauling functions.

Diesel engines are usually the go-to engines for heavy-duty trucks since they make plenty of torque which is nice for towing. When correctly geared up within the F-750 tremendous obligation, the Godzilla engine has a max towing capability of 29,000 kilos. This is a really spectacular feat for a compact, old-school design naturally aspirated V-8 engine.

Engine Specifications

(Source: Ford)

Ford continues to be a category chief on this phase even with a gasoline engine. For its OEM purposes, the Godzilla engine works with Ford’s 10-speed computerized to get the perfect potential out of this engine. Although when it’s fitted to the F-650-750 vehicles, it options the heavy-duty six-speed TorqShift computerized.

A Host of Transmission Options

When shopping for the crate engine, Ford has made it simple to suit a number of transmissions to this engine. The bell home spacing is much like Ford’s previous modular V-8 engine which includes the current Coyote engine. This means there’s a broad vary of transmissions that may be fitted to this engine since it will possibly serve nearly any objective. Some of those embody;

• 4R70W four-speed transmission
• 4R100 Four Speed computerized for heavy-duty towing
• Ford 6R80 Six-speed computerized
• Ford 10R80 10-speed computerized
• T56 six-speed handbook.

The Godzilla Crate Engine’s Tuning Potential

Performance Potential Of The 7.3 Godzilla V-8

You can belief tuners and aftermarket corporations to start out tinkering on the Godzilla and searching for new methods to extract extra energy from that large displacement engine. They’re making an attempt to construct the Godzilla engine to take it racing and it’s setting as much as be the Ford’s craziest crate engine which is suitable for engine swaps. We may see the Godzilla change into the following go-to engine for large energy builds.

Brian Wolfe who was the previous Director of Global Engine Engineering at Ford has now determined to discover the bounds of this engine. He runs Willis Performance Enterprises (see video above) and needs to supply packages for the Godzilla engine.

Testing began as quickly because the crate engines have been obtainable, a dyno run was carried out however with out the same old restrictive parts from the truck and it made a bit over 500 horsepower on premium gas. Next was cranking extra energy and Wolfe labored with just a few corporations in creating some key components he thought can be important for a stable construct. These components included:

• MGP aluminum connecting rods,
• Higher Compression 12.5:1 pistons vs manufacturing unit 10.5:1.
• Camshaft and
• Valvetrain.
• Jesel keyed lifters
• Jesel rocker arms
• Custom-ground stable curler camshaft
• Billet consumption
• Larger throttle physique

It nonetheless made use of the inventory block, crankshaft, and heads. During the second spherical of exams, the engine made 790 horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque with none type of pressured induction. The engine was torn down once more for additional inspection and after being glad with the components, it was reassembled and had a 3.0-liter Whipple supercharger slapped on it. The solely change made to the boosted setup was the addition of a dry sump pan. With race gas and 16 kilos of increase, the Godzilla V-8 made 1,450 horsepower and 1,030 pound-feet of torque.

This was achieved with conservative timing and did not even attain the utmost blower pace. Wolfe mentioned the engine will simply do 1,600 horsepower in its present type. But that is fairly an excessive case of constructing a efficiency engine. Willis Performance will supply starter packages for the Godzilla engine which begins at 600 horsepower which is sort of spectacular for a naturally aspirated engine and with its compact measurement, it will possibly slot in absolutely anything.

Widespread Applications Of The Godzilla V-8

This engine was first utilized in Ford Super Duty collection pickups however was additionally used of their E-series which embody Econoline, Econovan, and Econowagon. You can even get them in Ford’s big motorhomes and even faculty buses. Here is the record of present Ford fashions that include this engine:

• 2020-present F-series Super Duty (F-250/350/450/550)
• 2020-present F-Series Super Duty (F-650/750)
• 2021-present E-series (E-350 and E-450)
• 2021-present F-53 (motorhome)/F-59 (industrial) Chassis
• 2022-present Blue Bird Vision faculty bus

Performance Cars That Can Feature This Engine

YouTuber Cleetus McFarland has already made headlines along with his Fox physique Mustang dubbed as McFlurry seen within the video above. It runs a modified twin-turbo model of the 7.3 Godzilla engine which makes well over 1,000 horsepower and is setting mind-numbing quarter-mile instances on the drag strip. Cars like these showcase the tuning potential of the Godzilla engine and with its versatility, we are able to count on to see this engine utilized in loads of vehicles and change into a direct rival to the Chevy’s LS engine.

The Godzilla is available as a crate engine from Ford Performance for just $8,500 which is a efficiency discount in comparison with different choices within the Ford catalog. A superb instance is the beloved Coyote engine which can set you again $10,575. Although they have been constructed for various functions, they’ve related energy potentials and the Godzilla can deal with extra energy with nearly no modifications.

Despite being the most important displacement engine Ford has in manufacturing, the compact measurement permits it to suit into any engine bay. When Ford was making this engine, they took loads of issues into consideration and crafted the perfect all-purpose crate engine. The design was additionally made to be simplistic and presupposed to be a “Plug N Play’ setup that’s appropriate with nearly any half on and off the Ford catalog.