Ford’s 7.3-liter gas engine, aptly named “Godzilla” and featured in most modern Super Duty trucks, has gained popularity among hot rodders as the pushrod counterpart to the Coyote. This 445-cubic-inch engine blends modern manufacturing and tooling with the simplicity of pushrod architecture, prompting many “old school” enthusiasts to explore it as a viable option.
At the forefront of Godzilla’s rise is Brian Wolfe of Willis Performance Enterprises, who has been driving innovation by developing new products, extensively testing them on the dyno, and racing them in his Fox Body Mustang. Most recently, a Godzilla build delivered impressive results on the engine dyno, showcasing its serious power potential without exotic products.
Keeping It Simple
This particular dyno session brought together the expertise of Brian Wolfe and Dave Visner of Visner Engine Development (VED) to explore the potential of stock head castings heavily worked over by Visner’s and a matching VED intake manifold. The small block was also equipped with a camshaft from Militia Racing Products courtesy of Charlie Westcott, Jesel Valvetrain lifters and rockers, Manton pushrods, and a dyno fuel cell filled with Q16 race fuel.
With guidance from Ole Buhl of OBR Control Systems for tuning and Chris Holbrook of HolBrook Racing Engines for safe lambda targets on Q16, the engine hit the dyno just days before it had to be loaded up for the 2024 PRI Show. After startup, a few baseline pulls were made from 4,500 to 6,500 RPM without any changes to lash or cam timing. Once the baseline was set, tuning commenced, focusing on adjustments starting a few hundred RPM past the torque peak. The results were, to say the least, impressive.
Godzilla Rising
Despite limited time, the engine roared to an incredible 973 horsepower at a screaming 8,200 RPM running on 30-weight oil, no less! “I’m super happy with the baseline; it’s not quite peaked out yet,” Wolfe said. “We’ll do some lash sweeps and cam timing tweaks when I get back to it, and I feel pretty confident we’ll break the 1,000-horsepower mark naturally aspirated.” Impressively, all of this was achieved using a Super Duty block, crank, and head castings, though, as Wolfe noted, the heads were “heavily worked over by Visner.”
Big Block Replacement?
While Ford’s 7.3-liter Godzilla engine continues to evolve, aftermarket manufacturers are stepping in to help these modern muscle engines find their way into cars and trucks across the nation. Could this be the replacement for Ford’s iconic big block? Only time will tell. However, with these impressive numbers coming from a largely factory engine — and blocks readily available in work trucks, lifter failures or not, this powerplant is certainly one to watch.
