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While the Coyote platform is close to peaking in performance opportunities, Godzilla is a monster ready to break free.
If there's one person who thoroughly knows the Ford Coyote and Godzilla engine platforms and their performance potential, it's Brian Wolfe of Willis Performance Enterprises in Willis, Michigan. Wolfe was a member of the "Modular Mafia" engineering team in the early 1990s that developed the 4.6L OHC V8 architecture that eventually morphed into the Coyote family. He later became Ford's director of North American Motorsports, so he reviewed the powertrain direction for every racing program.
Following an assignment in Europe, Wolfe finished his Ford corporate career as director of global engine engineering. Not only did he oversee the conception of the 7.3L V8 platform for the Super Duty trucks, but Wolfe also had to convince Ford management to sign off on the new engine.
Therefore, any discussion about the impact and future of both engines in the racing market would welcome his perspective.
"There are going to be a lot more [racing opportunities] for Godzilla," he said. "And I think Coyote is still a wonderful platform. I mean, look at the Factory Showdown cars. What engine has been penalized the most by NHRA? So, it's a really strong platform."
Filling A Vacuum
Ford Performance remains bullish on the two platforms, recently releasing some details on supercharged crate versions of both engines that will be available Q4 this year. The 5.0L Coyote should make around 810 horsepower, is street-legal, and comes with a warranty. The Megazilla 2.0 will boast 1,000-plus horsepower and is targeted to off-road use and racing.
While the traditional small block Ford family that was first introduced in the 1962 model year remains a favorite for vintage performance enthusiasts, the Coyote—which is in its fourth generation—and the Godzilla—which was introduced five years ago—engines have provided more opportunities for Blue Oval fans to build horsepower and go racing.
This Godzilla engine built by Willis Performance has the Innovate eight-stack induction system. “There are going to be a lot more [racing opportunities] for Godzilla,” said Brian Wolfe.
"Before the Godzilla came out, I think there was a vacuum in the industry for the Ford fans who really want a new pushrod V8. What we're seeing now is that vacuum being filled," said Jim Ryder of Indy Power Products, Indianapolis, Indiana.
"I would say the customers are mostly different," added Kevin Mullins of Coyote specialist TKM Performance, Denton, North Carolina. "The market for the Coyote platform is huge. No platform can do what the Coyote can do with the factory parts, period. The Coyote customers are not limited, as the platform covers different options, from high-horsepower street deals to drifting, road racing, and drag racing. Godzilla is what I call a throwback to customers who want a big-cubic-inch, pushrod small block. The aftermarket jumped all over the Godzilla platform when it was released, but there is not yet a big demand for it."
However, some companies are wagering that the Godzilla market will improve, if not dramatically, in the near future.
"The strange thing about the Godzilla platform is, it feels like it should be bigger than it is in popularity based on the feedback you get online," said Ben Strader of 10K Technology, Lake Havasu City, Arizona. "We have a lot invested in the program and built tons of them. Probably the coolest advancement that we've been able to get so far is the big-cubic-inch stroker kits that you can do very easily because of the platform. You can get the parts to make 511 cubic inches. We've got engines making 750 horsepower on pump gas with a stroker kit, some CNC porting, and a camshaft. There's not a lot about the platform that has been surprising other than I thought it would be more popular."
Strader has a couple of theories about why Godzilla's popularity may be struggling at present. First is the saw cut in the cylinder block between the cylinders.
"That's a real problem for guys who want to add turbos and make big boost," said Strader. "Ford has since solved that problem by releasing a block that does not have the saw cuts."
The second limitation, according to Strader, is the cylinder head. The 7.3L V8 was built to be a truck engine, so the cylinder head was designed with generous coolant passages. That limits the amount of material available to those engine builders looking to increase the size of the intake and exhaust ports or even add larger valves.
"Immediately you run into trouble with the water jackets," warned Strader. "So, two years ago we set out to create an aftermarket cylinder head casting. We made the deck thicker and squeezed down the water jackets to make the ports larger."
Strader's design will also modify the top of the head to allow different types of rocker-arm mounting methods, including pedestal or shaft. The head is designed to retain stock or aftermarket intake manifolds. The heads were shown at an event last year with considerable positive feedback. Now the goal is to have them in production by summer.
"We'll have a porter's casting as well as a finished CNC bare head," said Strader.
Cylinder head development is also a central effort at Willis Performance, where three stages of performance modifications are available. The first two require a trade-in core, while Stage 3 heads are purchased outright and come with maximum flow CNC port jobs, premium seats and guides, titanium valves, three-coil springs, and Jesel rocker arms.
10K Technology has "built tons of" Godzilla engines for a variety of applications, said Ben Strader. "The strange thing about the Godzilla platform is, it feels like it should be bigger than it is in popularity based on the feedback you get online."
Wolfe has built a Godzilla engine that made 984 horsepower with 14:1 compression and mostly factory parts.
"These parts came out of a high-volume truck motor. I don't know how many LS or Gen III Hemis can do that," said Wolfe. "Our goal is to make 1,000 horsepower. We did spring a leak in the head when we made 984, so I put off some development to figure that out."
Wolfe said he's also worked with supercharged Godzilla engines that have run six-second quarter-mile times—again using numerous factory parts. "So, we're eager for the aftermarket," he added. "I mean it's stupid easy to get over 700 horsepower out of these motors in a street setup."
Over at Late Model Engines (LME) in Houston, Texas, development work continues on Godzilla products after the company released a couple of eye-catching billet components at recent PRI shows, including a front cover that helps solve oil pan issues for swaps. The new cover negates the need for the factory jackshaft by including a built-in oil pump, and customers can also delete the VVT.
"We offer it for a front- or rear-sump pan," said Collin Thomas. "There are a lot of cars—even in Australia—needing front sump, so that's why we came out with that option."
As a billet product, the front cover can be a little pricey. So LME recently developed a cast-aluminum version. Looking to the future, the company is designing intake manifolds for the Godzilla engine.
"Right now, we have our tall, single-plane intake with a 4500-style flange. We're looking into doing one with a little bit lower profile, something that can fit under the hood easier," said Thomas. "We're also talking about a ram style with a front throttle body."
Thomas admitted that the demand for full Godzilla engine builds is a little slow. "I think some of our parts are a little ahead of time for this platform. I don't think customers have really seen the full potential for this engine," he said. "We would prefer to build the entire engine. The parts we have aren't hard to put together, but it's easier if we build the engine and get it on our dyno. All the ones we've done are turnkey packages. All the customer has to do is wire it up and hit the key."
As with other engine shops, LME has developed a cylinder head package using the factory casting. "We came up with our own port for those heads. Instead of having to buy a custom spring for it, we have billet shims so you can run a standard LS spring. That makes it easy for the customers," added Thomas.
Platform Challenges
For the past six to seven years, the Coyote platform has helped L&M Engines in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, set annual sales records. Late last year the market slumped but is now picking up.
"The overseas markets also tapered off quite a bit, and I don't know why. But in the US, it's picking up again," said Michael Rauscher, admitting that the Coyote platform may have peaked, and there isn't much more room for development.
"Ford has pretty much stretched that platform," he said. "And the aftermarket is already putting tons of boost through these engines."
Late Model Engines (LME) developed a billet front cover for Godzilla engines that helps solve oil pan issues for swaps. For racers who don’t have a billet budget, LME recently developed a cast-aluminum version.
L&M continues to develop camshafts for the DOHC Coyote, including the Predator version with a flat-plane crankshaft found in the GT350 Mustang. Rauscher is also working on new cams for the Gen 4 Coyote pickup truck engines. A big problem, however, for swapping cams in late-model vehicles is the tune-up, and some aftermarket tuners haven't been able to take full advantage of the improved camshaft's potential.
"Now, carburetor guys can get these engines to drive, some more successfully than others," said Rauscher.
Early generations of the Coyote didn't have quite the same tuning problems, according to Rauscher, once the aftermarket discovered the right calibrations. But the newer computers are more difficult for the aftermarket to manipulate.
"If you look at the strategy in a computer, they have torque limits for everything, including the radiator cap," explained Rauscher. "So if you make a change to the air volume in the engine, the computer's going to see that. And then it may or may not limit torque."
The computer is programmed to ensure protection for the clutch, transmission, and rear differential, among other critical components on the car related to performance.
"Even crankshaft protection strategies. There are a million of them, and if they're not reverse engineered in the aftermarket software, tuners don't have access to it, let alone understand what they need to do to overcome those issues," said Rauscher. On a stand-alone race or street application, that's not an issue, he added, because aftermarket ECUs that are fully tunable are readily available.
L&M has received requests about the Godzilla platform, but the time element and need for some custom parts has "scared" off early interests.
Tuning is also a concern for BCR Performance in Moscow, Ohio, when modifying late-model Coyote engines. "The biggest downside is on the 2024 and up Mustang and F-150. There's no tuning," said Terry Reeves. "A lot of people are doing Whipple or ProCharger superchargers because they pretty much are the only ones with tuning. You can push those kits pretty far on their tune."
Reeves reported that the Coyote parts supply chain has recovered from the COVID-19 days, and his sales were up 15% last year. "Between Mustang and F-150, we stay pretty busy," he said. "I have four full-time data people, and we take calls seven days a week. I've got 25 years of Ford drag racing experience and 15 years of Coyote experience. There's not much I can't answer when it comes to Coyote."
Reeves is a little concerned about the loss of the NMRA schedule, where he used the events to showcase his products to racers. "This year I may shift gears a little bit. We'll do Mustang Week and Ponies in the Smokies," he said. "And there are some other events that we'll push our platform a little bit."
Another Coyote authority, TKM Performance, still sees plenty of potential for the platform in racing because so many users are currently using factory parts. "There are still a lot of opportunities for aftermarket in the Coyote platform, with rockers, springs, cylinder heads, camshafts, and many more. Most of our Coyotes range from 1,200 to 2,000 horsepower, with extreme builds going as much as 3,800 rear-wheel horsepower," said Mullins. "We are currently working on producing a billet race head for the Coyote that should be testing very soon."
TKM currently offers a Max Effort Coyote head that starts out as a GT350 casting, then is sent to Frankenstein Engine Dynamics for full CNC porting. It's then fitted with CHE seats, Ferrea oversized valves, and PSI springs. As far as future needs, Mullins said he'd like to see a quality non-projected spark plug for the Coyote.
"Everyone uses the Brisk plug, and it can be hard to read compared to an NGK plug," he said.
Front-end accessory drive kits, like this one from Indy Power Products, help when swapping Godzilla engines into compact vehicles. Jim Ryder said the biggest challenge in making Godzilla work in non-truck applications was to get it to “fit into a car nicely, especially working with the oil system.”
Indy Power Products was one of the first adopters of the Godzilla engine. "It feels like a lot of people are finishing up Coyote projects and are jumping into Godzilla," said Ryder. "I see a lot of people with multiple projects at the same time."
There were early challenges to developing parts and a customer base. "The biggest challenge was just to take it from a truck engine to an engine that fit into a car nicely, especially working with the oil system," said Ryder. "It was just getting parts designed that could make it to the customers. At first, it was a lot of billet parts and a lot of machining. That's low volume, so it increases your costs. We were trying to project what the market could be and how much to invest in machining versus casting."
As mentioned earlier, the oil system is being addressed by a number of aftermarket companies. As a truck engine, the 7.3L will fit late 1970s Broncos and other similar swaps rather easily. But for Mustangs and cars there's a problem with the oil pump location and pan design.
"You're talking about either having to rework the production oil pump to get a pan in there, which our Eliminator oil pan system does, or you're talking about taking the oil pump off completely, making your own oil pump, and mounting it in the timing cover," explained Ryder.
For induction, Indy offers a cast intake for carburetors or throttle-body EFI systems as well as the Innovate eight-stack ITB intake. And he sees more opportunities for Godzilla in the future.
"I see CP-Carrillo offering parts, and Ferrea now has valves, so the market is responding," Ryder said. "It's gone from, 'Hey, this could be something,' to 'Hey, this is something.' It's just a question of how big."
L&M Engines continues to develop camshafts for the DOHC Coyote, including the Predator version with a flat-plane crankshaft found in the GT350 Mustang. The company is also working on new cams for the Gen 4 Coyote pickup truck engines.
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