Went for a ride in a '11 today

90lxcoupe said:

if the mod motors were so much better than pusrod stuff then i think you would see a whole lot more 2V and 4V swaps then people just building an aftermarket block windsor motor or god forbid an LS swap.

To me the only advantage that i would ever build a modular over a pushrod is that the factory blocks can handle some serious HP, but there are a whole ton of moving parts and the heads have 2x the ammount of stuff a windsor motor does, so when you go to rebuild that motor, its gonna cost you a ton more.

Click to expand...

Points to consider....there are eleventy billion 302/351W scattered across North America in about 15-different Ford Models over the last 30-years. Engines can be had for next to nothing and they've got a huge aftermarket, so therefore swaps are popular.

99% of the guys that are building their engines from scratch are going for broke and big displacement. I can't think of one person going for big power gains who has stuck with the stock 302ci of displacement, heads, or intake, unless a particular class they're running in requires it. Stroker kits are dirt cheap for OHV Windsor’s, so if building big cubes on a small budget is what you're looking for, the OHV Windsor is the logical choice.

On the other hand, you don't see guys running power adders bolting them onto stock 5.0L HO's and calling it a day like they do with the Mod motors. It’s not even worth turning a wrench on a Windsor unless you're replacing the entire top end of the engine to support the airflow. On the other hand, making 400-500rwhp on a modular engine requires little more than a fuel system upgrade.

So yes...both engines have their high points. But neither of these examples has a thing to do with one engine being better than the other.

The "extra moving parts" argument against the Modular’s ludicrous and shows just how inexperienced (dare I say ignorant) some people are with regards to these engines. Extra moving parts in this case means the ability to run tighter tolerances and more accurate timing components, but otherwise has nothing at all to do with hindering functionality or reliability. The fact that they make more horsepower, with less displacement and run for 300-400K needing little more than regular oil changes proves as much.