I believe whatever u put under the hood will make this a class act performer. I really like the way u fashioned the shock towers, looks like the car was built this way. What you have done to this point is impressive IMO. Got this thread in my watch list.
Honestly, the Coyote in that green car just looks out of place. All the plastic cladding doesn't work in the older cars and it's comically over sized for the platform. That said, I would still do it but just not look under the hood all that often!!!
Man, ford became furd when they made that mod motor. It's worst case scenario for a hot rodder. Huge motor, not a lot of displacement, overly complicated, just junk. Just to think that chevy achieved the similar power, with similar economy, with more reliability in a much smaller package. Really makes me wonder what the guys at ford were thinking? I feel like the amount of work to fit a mod motor into an older ford is ridiculous. Seriously, who has that much time?
Ivan, You make some valid points, but calling the modular "junk" is a bit overboard. These engines have enormous power potential and their HP output for given displacement is impressive, as is their exhaust note. I loved the 3 valve 4.6 in my 2006 GT. Their biggest Achilles heal is their girth however, they are quite light for being so physically large and are structurally robust. Should Ford have embraced GM's philosophy regarding the LS? I wish they had, as does Roush and several other Ford stalwarts. IMO Ford abandoned the Cleveland head design far too prematurely. Given some design and manufacturing improvements, the Cleveland could have been a worthy competitor to the LS and could have also kept Ford in the marine power market as well.
Man, I wish they would have kept the Cleveland myself. That was one heck of a motor, I've got a 4 bolt main 4v closed chamber sitting in my garage and cannot wait to put it in a car. As far as what the mod motor is and could have been, I think we probably feel the same way. The girth is something that makes it a deal breaker for me though. Some people with more patience than me enjoy puttimg them into cars, I don't think I will ever do it. I do wish Ford would bring back a smaller form-factor motor, I don't think it's a bad decision from a commercial standpoint. Or maybe a turbo straight six...I've seen that there was a guy that put a turbo and a ford 300ci in his maverick - that looked like fun.
Chevy did it all except the reliability factor. I'm a Ford senior master and a gm factory certified tech. Mod motors aren't bad engines for the oe but absolutely a fail for a hot rodder. The chevy ls engines have plenty of reliability issues.
Yeah,the aluminum blks on the LS is their achillies heel,hipo cams are $700,the initial cost to even buy a used one is high so you are behind the eight ball before you even get started.However the stock hds on some models flow over 350cfm from the factory which keeps you from having to buy aftermarket hds which is why people like them.
the joke around our shop is ford put the mod engine in the mustang because it wouldn't fit in a Kenworth As for reliability, I know guys that drove fords for 40 years that said they will never buy a new ford pickup until ford shave a different engine there tired of paying a days labor for disassembling the truck just to fix the broken spark plugs!
You don't have to disassemble engine to remove 3V broken plugs. If they do break the 79 dollar tool pulls them right out. But yeah another bad thing Ford did by reinventing a "sparkplug". I won't buy new Ford truck either. Between plugs and phasers, i'm good. I want to ask all the guys commenting on 4V engines. Have you owned or drove one? Mine kicks butt and its a 1993 Lincoln mk8. I have got car to go 12.5 in 1/4 bone stock longblock, never even had valve cover off. That's at 3750 lbs!!! too. I figure my mav with bone stock 4V will run 11.8's in the quarter @ 3000lbs. Also ran 11.3 on a shot and got kicked out of track. Click on pic below to watch.
They may have a tool to pull the plugs now but they were pulling the cabs off the trucks back in 2003 to get the heads off so they could be fixed !
Want to see what this platform is capable of with an old world-class engine builder working over the FACTORY parts? http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/1425-jon-kaases-ford-four-valve-mod-motor/ The reality we live in is this. Generally speaking, most guys who hotrod engines in their garages or shops are not wanting to buy twice as many valves, do twice the valve jobs, install and degree in 4 cams while also working to create one-off custom parts simply because no others exist at the time. They simply work over the factory stuff till its paper thin and just about falls apart while waiting and hoping for the aftermarket to finally arrive. Well.. as usual, the aftermarket arrived big-time for the Chevy crowd and Ford's 4v mod motor didn't get the same love and attention due to the added cost and complexity. Has absolutely nothing to do with the LS being better in terms of power potential and everything to do with economics and the typical shade-tree mechanics abilities. 4 valves are complex and expensive but the power potential is most definitely there. 6 bolt mains capable of spinning stock parts to 9,500 rpm over and over again doesn't seem to hurt maximum power potential either.
