HC_CrAzYHoRsE

i'm not saying they don't have their strong points, but i think all in all when you take everything into consideration the pushrod is a much better option. are you talking specifically about the terminator engine ? ....i don't think the earlier 4v could handle much more than an old 5.0. they're great for FI applications, but look like a nightmare to work on when you have to open them up. i still say for the price and headache of getting and swapping a terminator engine, building up a dart block looks like a much better option.

88blackgt

i think we are on different pages here. i was talking about 03/04s. if i had money i would buy an 03/04 in a heartbeat. and no i dont think swapping an 03/04 into a fox would really be worth it so you're right a dart block would be much more cost effective.

i didnt used to like them, but i have a friend making 798 rwhp w/o going into the motor on an 04 mystichrome and another making high 600s on a mach 1. i just think that they are a better designed motor (but they should be considering they are a decade newer and cost alot more).

HC_CrAzYHoRsE

ahh ok, well yeah an 03/04 cobra is obviously a better car than a fox. better handling, better brakes, better interior, puts out more ponies and it's easy as hell to get crazy power out of em' just by swapping the S/C and upping the boost ...but comparing engines alone, aside that they're built to handle more power, i have to completely disagree that they are a better design than the pushrod. the only reason you don't see stock 302s pushing those numbers is because they're weak and they'll split, get a dart or R block and you have a much better base to build something around than a modular. i hate to say this as a comparison, but just look at what GM is doing with the LSX engines, they're all pushrod, they are smaller, weight less, are more efficient, easier to work on and will blow away an 03/04 supercharged modular engine, heck some of them will even put the smack down on the new S/Ced 5.4l that came in the Ford GT and GT-500.... yet, they're still N/A.

88blackgt

with a 5.0 by the time you've built a motor that can make the same power, you've built an entirely new motor. the heads suck, the manifold is just ho-hum, cam has to be changed, 9.5:1 isnt exactly the most boost friendly, the stock TRW slugs arent true forged pistons, crank is decently strong but w/ an aftermarket block it will eventually break.

on the other hand with an 03/04 all youre doing is cramming TONS of boost in. fuel mods, w/ a new blower/turbo and you can make some crazy #s. porting the head is the first time you're probably going into the motor, and the stock head can support 1000+.

the LSxs are very well designed motors(especially the ls7, one of my favorites, but then again its on a completely different level). they make great power, but then again you are putting new manifolds, new cams, etc. in.

i think that the LSx motors and the 5.0 are good foundations, but still think the 03/04 is better designed. with the 03/04 motor you arent altering the stock longblock. you are simply putting more air and more fuel into a nearly stock motor, which i think makes it better designed. with the LSx and 5.0 you have to alter the longblock, hence changing it from its original design.

88blackgt

also the lsx engines are bigger than most mustang motors for the past several decades. 281 is a little tiny motor compared to 350, 427, 366

HC_CrAzYHoRsE

like i said i get your point, but it still boils down to the fact that the 03/04 terminator engine is stronger and can handle more. you'd get the same effect by pushing a crap load of boost in any engine. only problem is some of them are too weak to take that much, this has nothing to do with it being a pushrod design. you don't have to do any internal work to an LS7 to make it faster or better, F/I will do the same if you absolutely don't want to open it up... and in the end you still have a smaller, lighter, more efficient engine that is easier and cheaper to work on.

if you don't agree than that's fine, but i thought it was pretty common knowledge that a pushrod is superior to a modular. why do you think GM still uses them and ford are bringing them back ?

OneFine89Mustang

stick wit the 5.0

HC_CrAzYHoRsE

there is no 350, the LS1 is a 346... and no it's not a tiny little motor, there exactly lies the design flaw... a modular 281 is actually bigger and heavier than all of the above.

88blackgt

im not disagreeing with you, i just think the 03/04 is a better designed motor than the 5.0 based on the fact that you dont have to modify the stock longblock to make tons of power.

jjbg86

id say stay wit the 5.0 lots of parts for it and u dont have to lift the motor to change the headers, and for the 4.6 isent there a disasemble procedure?