I was talking to a guy the other day who said that the 99, 00, and 01 mustangs have stronger and better quality blocks than the later years, 02, 03, 04. Is there any proof of this or is this guy crazy?
99-00 models had the windsor block.
The main bearing caps on the Windsor are larger than those on the Romeo. The Windsor also uses dowels between the caps and the block, whereas the Romeo uses jack screws between the caps and the block. The Windsor has larger connecting rods with full-floating piston pins and two retainers. The Romeo has press-fit piston pins with no retainers.
The Windsor's camshaft sprockets are pressed onto the camshaft. The Romeo's cam sprockets are held on with a bolt and spacer. The Windsor uses eight bolts to secure the flexplate to the crankshaft. The Romeo uses just six bolts for the flexplate. The windsors are built a little stouter, but neither are weak enough to make it matter.