In 2020, Ford introduced the 7.3-liter gas engine option for its Super Duty trucks. Likely a move to retire the antiquated 6.2-liter Boss engine, the new 445-cubic-inch pushrod engine provided a more competitive gas option compared to the 6.7-liter diesel and one that far surpassed the performance of its elder gas engine. The “Godzilla” nickname was coined by a member of the Ford Performance division, bringing widespread attention to the true potential of this engine among pushrod enthusiasts. Needless to say, we are excited to see the engine finally get the recognition it truly deserves beyond just the work truck environment. The aftermarket has been developing products for it left and right, ranging from engine internals to forced induction units. 

We too wanted in on the action and decided to begin our search for the colossal beast so that we could put together a build series documenting exactly what each upgrade is worth, power-wise, along the way. 

Finding Godzilla

How hard could it be to find an engine that’s been in production vehicles for the last five years? You might think it’d be easy. Aside from Ford Performance’s impressive crate engine offerings, including the Megazilla displayed at PRI in 2022, we wanted something we could dissect and rebuild to our performance specs. Unfortunately, this proved to be far more difficult than we expected.

We first considered work trucks but quickly realized that companies treat their fleet vehicles as tools, only selling them once they’re completely worn out. We’re all for a project, but a burned-down box truck would have meant a far more expensive, multi-year build, something none of us were eager to take on.

After some good old-fashioned “water cooler talk,” we decided to take a shot and see if Ford had a test mule we could source an engine from. Our goal was to demonstrate just how powerful this engine could be with a few simple modifications, and surprisingly, our plan worked. A 20,000-mile example arrived straight from Ford Performance, fresh out of a test mule. Could this engine have come from the famed raised-hood GT350? Maybe…

If engines could talk, this 20,000-mile test mule would have some fascinating stories to tell. Our first priority was to ensure it had a clean bill of health before adding upgrades to boost horsepower.

Off To The Engine Shop

Our first step after getting our new-to-us engine was to send it off to Late Model Engines for a full evaluation of the toll the last 20,000 miles had taken on it. After all, considering how well-developed the 7.3-liter engine is (don’t worry, we hear your lifter failure rants), we knew this one had been put to the test. Ensuring there were no preexisting conditions that could prevent our build from being declared healthy was paramount.

If you’re a loyal EngineLabs reader, you probably remember our Godzilla engine giveaway with Late Model Engines’ own Vinnie Moneghetti building it onsite of the 2022 PRI Show with our own Lead Content Creator Greg Acosta. Once again, Late Model Engines is lending a helping hand in disassembly and reassembly. Once reassembled, they’ll be putting Godzilla on their engine dyno to see what kind of numbers we have as a baseline. 

Once Late Model Engines had the 7.3-liter Godzilla engine in their hands, it was time for a full teardown and inspection. This involved removing the wiring harness, accessory drive, exhaust manifolds, and more.

Engine MEPS / Stripping Down For Inspection

With the engine safely secured at LME’s Houston facility, the first order of business was to strip it down, removing the front-end accessory drive, wiring harness, exhaust manifolds, and water pump. With the long-block now in a bare state, LME could begin the teardown, starting with the valve covers before moving on to the cylinder heads. As we pulled the heads, we visually inspected each cylinder, and thankfully, the pistons showed no signs of detonation. The cylinder walls were free of cracks or any imperfections that could catch a fingernail, and best of all, the top end showed no indications of lifter failure!

Flipping the engine upside down provided access to the oil pan, which was easily removed. This revealed Ford’s unique oil pump design, one rarely seen in their engines. While somewhat complex, the variable displacement oil pump, controlled by spring pressure, allowed Ford to meet fuel efficiency goals without resorting to direct injection or cylinder deactivation. We inspected the plastic pickup, the cavity behind the oil pump gear, and the full windage tray for debris while ensuring the chain, driven off the crankshaft gear, was within proper spec.

Next, we removed the six-bolt mains, crankshaft, pistons, and rods. With the teardown complete and a clean bill of health, the engine was prepped for reassembly in Moneghetti’s clean room.

Godzilla Rising

In the clean room, Moneghetti began preparing the internals for reinstallation into the 445-cubic-inch engine. His preferred assembly lube was generously applied to the rod bearings, cylinder walls, and piston skirts. First the crank was dropped into the mains, followed by the piston and rod assemblies being carefully installed into each cylinder. For the installation, we used Ford Performance’s 7.3-liter gas main bearing cap bolt kit (P/N: M-6345-SD73), which includes OE torque-to-yield main bearing cap side bolts, as well as vertical 12mm and 10mm main bearing cap bolts. With everything torqued to spec, we moved on to reinstalling the cylinder heads.

With the short block, minus the oil pump system, reassembled, we shifted our focus to the top end. The old head bolts were discarded in favor of 20 new torque-to-yield head bolts, along with fresh head gaskets from Ford Performance (P/N: M-6067-SD73). Once again, we torqued everything to spec, bringing us one step closer to completing the rebuild.

Since this engine was being refreshed, we wanted it to look as clean and new as possible, nothing like a junkyard pull-out (not that your author knows anything about that). To achieve this, we used a variety of new gasket and bolt kits (P/N: M-6003-SD73), installed fresh valve covers (P/N: M-6582-SD73), coil packs, and plug wires (P/N: M-12029-SD73), and fitted a new damper (P/N: M-6316-SD73), and rear main seal cover (P/N: M-6335-SD73), all from the Ford Performance catalog. The goal was simple: make this take-out engine look factory-fresh.

Fresh parts can make any engine look great, and the new valve covers, coil packs, and wires not only improved the engine’s appearance but also restored its reliability. However, the real focus of the rebuild was on the internals, where we aimed to enhance long-term reliability and performance.

Onto The Dyno!

Like most gearheads, we love an engine dyno. The raw sound, the immediate transfer of power unfiltered by the chassis, and the dyno operator manually adjusting what looks like an aircraft throttle quadrant; it’s nothing short of cool. But beyond the excitement, an engine dyno provides real-time horsepower and torque figures as RPM climb, giving us invaluable data on performance for our Godzilla engine.

Time to make some noise on the engine dyno! While this engine is in what you’d consider stock form, we’re excited to see how it performs compared to the numbers Ford provided and how it reacts at each RPM. With Late Model Engines’ SuperFlow Dynamometer, we’ll be confirming all the engine parameters and dialing in the details.

Since our engine was freshly rebuilt, we took it easy, gradually increasing the RPM. Our peak horsepower came at 5,300 rpm, reaching 512.1 horsepower, while peak torque was found at 4,000 rpm with 596.6 lb-ft. Of note, this is the second time we’ve seen a Godzilla engine absolutely wreck the ratings of Ford Performance’s crate engine of 430 horsepower and 475 lb-ft of torque. The first time was with a brand-new crate engine for our Godzilla giveaway, and that posted similar numbers of 519 horsepower and 587 lb-ft. The stock Godzilla is a monster, no pun intended.  

Godzilla Rising! With each increase in RPM, we saw impressive gains in either torque or horsepower, and the power delivered was just as impressive as the roar coming from the engine dyno!

Baseline Set

With our engine torn down, inspected, and rebuilt, plus some glorious sounds made on the dyno, we’re excited for the next phase: bolting on some performance upgrades. Stay tuned as we throw more parts at Godzilla and see what the engine dyno has to say!

The final results for the baseline of the regasketed pull-out test mule are 512.1 horsepower at 5,300 rpm and 596.6 lb-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm. This is the second time we’ve put a stock 7.3 on the engine dyno and had it decimate Ford’s crate engine power and torque ratings of 430 horsepower and 475 lb-ft of torque.