Transmission selection also plays a part in building your project. As transmissions add additional gears, they also add size, and this can conflict with the transmission tunnels on some chassis. Electronic controls are the norm on all modern transmissions, and that may affect the control package you choose. The quick answer here is, if the big 6-speed you want to install doesn’t fit, there are alternatives that will work to keep the project rolling. (See Chapter 8 for more information on transmission packages.)
Front Suspension
The front suspension (Chapter 3) helps in the selection of items such as engine mounts and cooling packages. The reason this is important is, the front suspension on many builds determines where the engine is going to sit in the engine bay, and which engine and transmission mounts need to be purchased to install the engine. For example, an early Mustang application can use the original suspension or can convert to a Mustang II front suspension, but both options require different engine mounts, oil pans, and transmission mounts. The shock towers can be removed with the MII suspension, while the original suspension may need to be trimmed back to fit the wider four-cam engines.
Once the front suspension has been selected, many of the other component requirements fall into place. Engine placement may also answer questions on items such as the cooling (how close is the engine to the radiator), oil pans (front sump, rear sump), and the steering itself (header clearance). Not all front suspensions have been designed with modular engines in mind, and you may have to fabricate to make it work together.
Electronics
After you decide on the engine and suspension, you need to decide on the electronics package. An old drag racer’s saying applies: You can have all the right parts, but if you can’t tune the engine, they are worthless. That saying is taken to the next level with the computer controls on your modern engine. Although it is possible to run the modular engine with a carburetor and distributor, most applications involve the modern engine controls and computer. In the old days, you ordered a cam kit, a carburetor, an intake, and a set of headers; set your points; adjusted the carburetor; and you were set. Today’s engines get their power and efficiency from properly tuning the engine, and proper tuning requires a database of information to find out which combinations work best, and how they will work with the intended use of the vehicle. If a computer will be part of the conversion build, working directly with a good tuner is essential, especially if additional mods will be made to the engine for performance.
Chapter 4 is all about the different changes Ford made to the computers and wiring, and your engine choice is influential in determining which computer system works best for your project. Some engines work well with factory systems, some do not. The choice of computer system also helps with choosing items such as the fuel system (returnless or mechanical return line) and engine systems such as drive-by-wire and variable-cam timing. (Chapter 10 details final tuning of the engine package and working with the tuner and the dyno.)
Once you have the engine, front suspension, and electronics package selected, you can then fill in all the other components that will make your build a success.
MODULAR ENGINES: A BRIEF HISTORY
In 1991 Ford introduced its overhead camshaft V-8 in the Lincoln Town Car and labeled it the modular engine. The label came from the method of producing the engine, not the fact that parts are easily interchanged between engine configurations. Eventually it was installed in the full-size Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, and the 1994 Ford Thunderbird as the old Windsor small-block V-8 was being phased out. The last year for the pushrod V-8 in a Mustang was 1995. The 1996 Mustang GT was fitted with a two-valve SOHC modular and the Cobra was equipped with a four-valve DOHC version of the 4.6-liter engine. The first Ford trucks equipped with a modular engine came in 1996, and in 1997 Ford introduced the V-10 6.8-liter engine for truck and van applications.
Ford installed its very last production pushrod V-8 gas engine for the American market in the 2001 Ford Explorer, and the following year the final pushrod V-8 engine was sold in Australia. The versatility of the Ford modular engine allowed it to replace three different pushrod engines: the small-block 5.0- and 5.8-liter Windsor small-blocks and the 385 (429/460) series big-block. It will soon become the second-longest-production Ford V-8 engine behind the small-block.
The modular engine was marketed under the name “Intech” V-8 for Lincoln applications and “Triton” for the Ford truck line.
It is important to note that the modular engine does not derive its name from the ability to swap and bolt different parts from different engines onto a common platform. It gets its name from the manufacturing process in which different manufacturing cells can be pulled and installed, and the plant can be quickly re-arranged to build a different engine configuration. In fact, the modular engine is far from “modular.” As you learn in Chapter 2, the modular engine is anything but adaptable, with changes happening between the two different primary plants that build them in the same model year. Gone are the days of Ford making a dozen different and exotic cylinder heads to bolt on a 427 medium-riser block; it is difficult to swap components with the modular engines. If you want to purchase a supercharger for a modular engine, the supplier will have a myriad of questions for you before they sell you one, to make sure you get the right equipment.
On the left is the granddaddy of the first generation of Muscle, the 1970 Boss 429, and on the right is the highest horsepower factory modular engine to date, the 2014 Shelby GT500 Track Pack. The tale of the tape shows how far we have come in 45 years. The Boss 429 puts out a realistic 420–450 hp, and the Shelby an amazing 662 hp. The Boss bolts to 0–60 mph in 7.1 seconds; the Shelby 3.7 seconds. Top speed for the Boss 429 was more than 130 mph, and the Shelby was the first factory Mustang to eclipse 200 mph. MPG for the Boss is 8 to 12 mpg (if you’re lucky); the Shelby produces 15 to 24 mpg. Vehicles provided by the Dickerson Collection.
The very first Ford modular engine was installed in the 1991 Lincoln Continental. The first engines depended on a lot of borrowed pieces from pushrod V-8s such as the EEC-IV computer and the non-electronic AOD transmissions. The modular engine really started to work well with the introduction of the EEC-V computer system in 1994.
The first tall-deck block installed in the Mustang came in the limited-edition 2000 Ford Cobra R. These 5.4 4V engines used exclusive custom cast and machined heads and special intakes to generate 385-hp naturally aspirated. Only 300 Cobra Rs were produced in 2000. Vehicle courtesy the Dickerson Collection.
As of this writing, the modular engine has been around for 25 years and will soon become the second-longest-running V-8 engine series in Ford production history, surpassing the big-block 385 series engine. Only the small-block Windsor has had a longer life span. In addition, 8 of the top-10 fastest production Fords of all time are modular-engine powered (the original FE-powered GT40 and the new Eco-Boost GT40 are the only exceptions).
Due to its robust bottom end, the modular engine could support more cylinder pressure when boosted with turbos or superchargers, and higher compression ratios in naturally aspirated form. It was also the first factory supercharged V-8 because