As opposed to General Motors, the Ford Motor Company offers a single pushrod V8 in series-production vehicles these days. The 7.3-liter V8 known as the Godzilla is currently available in heavy-duty trucks and the E-Series line. Gifted with a cast-iron block and multi-point fuel injection, the Modular V10-replacing lump is alternately offered as a crate engine.
Priced at $7,000 excluding the front-end accessory drive, the eight-cylinder colossus weighs 580 pounds (263 kilograms) and produces 430 horsepower at 5,550 rpm. No fewer than 475 pound-feet (644 Nm) of torque come on strong at 4,000 rpm, but still, these numbers can be improved very easily.
Take, for instance, the ProCharger F-1A-94 centrifugal supercharger fitted to the Godzilla in the following clip. With less than nine pounds of boost, it helped the pushrod plant develop 965 horsepower and 845 pound-feet (1,146 Nm) on the dynamometer. Headed by Brian Wolfe, the former boss of Ford Racing Technology, the peeps at Willis Performance Enterprises are running the bone-stock throttle body, crankshaft, and intake manifold.
Some parts had to be replaced for beefier ones, though. As the headline implies, the original injectors had to go in favor of Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 injectors turned up to 73 pounds per square inch. Wolfe said those performance-oriented injectors weren’t able to keep up with the fuel demand past 5,900 revs, which means there’s room for more going forward.
In-house Stage 2 heads also have to be mentioned, along with a mild camshaft, upgraded pistons and connecting rods, and a dry-sump lubrication system, as you may find under the hood of the C8 Stingray and the Z06. A 5.0-inch pulley on the back of the ProCharger pretty much seals the deal.
A smaller pulley, less restrictive intake manifold, and better fuel injectors will easily crack the 1,000-horsepower mark, according to Brian Wolfe.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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