Ford sent shockwaves through the automotive market when it unveiled its new 7.3L gasoline-fed, pushrod V8. Codenamed “Godzilla,” the engine was destined to replace the aging and inefficient Triton 6.8L V10 engine in the F-Series Super Duty and HD truck and E-Series van lineup. To put this in perspective, the last time Ford came out with a new gasoline V8 engine that had only one camshaft, the Vietnam War was still going on and Nixon was in his first term.

After so many years of showing steadfast dedication to overhead cam (OHC) V8 gas engine designs, Ford threw everyone for a loop with the unveiling of the 7.3L Godzilla V8. The were many reasons for this including the production, assembly and related assembly costs associated with OHC engines. The new engine is cheaper to produce and takes significantly less time to assemble. There’s also the physical size of the V8. Ford OHC V8s have always been physically/dimensionally larger than similar pushrod V8s from competitors, so engine bays had to be designed with enough space for the engine and required maintenance. Godzilla’s dimensions are smaller, also making for easier and quicker vehicle assembly.

The Godzilla engine is also beneficial for Ford because of the gain in efficiency the design affords. With only one camshaft to turn instead of two or four, there are fewer moving parts or ones that can wear/fail and it’s easier to maintain on multiple fronts. This helps translate to more power from the package, lower emissions and increased fuel economy, something important with the F-250 and F-350 now factoring into Ford’s CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) numbers.

The new V8 design gives Ford an array of displacement and output options, too. Similar to the GM LS series V8s, the new Ford Godzilla could be easily expanded and shrunken down displacement-wise via different stroke crankshafts and cylinder bore sizes.

One debate is already raging over Godzilla: “It’s a copy of the LS V8.” All we’ll say is that any similarities aren’t surprising due to the constants of engineering when it comes to engine design.

And now, let’s take a closer look at the new Ford 7.3L Godzilla V8.

ABOVE: The new pushrod 7.3L gas V8 is only available in F-250 and F-350 and larger Ford heavy-duty trucks. The F-250/350 version is rated at 430 horsepower and 475 lb-ft of torque. Other versions will be tuned differently to have less horsepower and slightly less torque. The new engine replaces the 6.8L V10 that came out in 1998, which at the time replaced the 5.4L V8 as the heavy-duty gas engine.

ABOVE: Ford designed the new 7.3L with longevity, durability and ease of maintenance in mind. The straightforward design increases efficiency and power. The pushrod design keeps the engine’s overall size as compact as possible for easier fitment and access for maintenance.

ABOVE: The 7.3L has a 4.22x3.98-inch bore-and-stroke. This combo combined with the head design gives the new V8 a broad, relatively flat torque curve that stays above 400 lb-ft from 1,500 rpm to just above 5,000 rpm. But the new motor isn’t all bottom-end grunt, with peak horsepower of 430 coming at 5,500 rpm. Rumor has it that tuning will bump the horsepower up to around 600, making us wonder how good the heads flow at a high rpm, and what a camshaft upgrade and/or some boost could do to this beast.

ABOVE: The 7.3L uses a similar ignition setup to other well-known modern pushrod V8s – the GM LS engine series. But unlike those engines, we only see two wires going into the coil pack. This alludes to these not being the smart coils and having some of the capabilities of the other V8.

ABOVE: We spotted these interesting-looking spark plug boot protectors. Those cast-iron exhaust manifolds look ripe for Heatshield Armor or Lava Wrap to be installed!

ABOVE: The 7.3L uses an engine-driven cooling fan and appears to have Ford’s electric clutch setup.

ABOVE: Rear cutaway view. The intake manifold features long runners for bottom-end torque production, and the intake ports in the heads appear to be a relatively straight shot into the combustion chamber. According to published info, the hydraulic roller lifters were nitrided for additional strength and durability. 

ABOVE: Other features of the Ford Godzilla engine include variable cam timing to help with optimized power production, cast-iron block with six-bolt, cross-bolted mains for strength and durability, a variable-displacement oil pump that can reduce drag in certain conditions to help improve fuel economy, and enough bore spacing to hint that the 4.22-inch stock bore size could possibly be expanded to increase displacement. Also worth pointing out is the setup on the intake manifold inlet and throttle body.