[dansgt]

new to this car, wtf is a modular mustang??

[SWEET2KSTANG]

over head cam engine. 4.6 and 5.4 starting from 96 in the mustangs. the first ford modular 4.6 came in the early 90's in another vehicle.

[dansgt]

ah i understand now thanks man.

[SWEET2KSTANG]

no problem.

[Eagle2000GT]

Modular Mustangs have modular motors. According to what I've read, the name of the motor comes from the type assembly line that its made on. The assembly lines were designed in a modular fashion to facilitate quick change overs.

[cliffyk]

Originally Posted by Eagle2000GT Modular Mustangs have modular motors. According to what I've read, the name of the motor comes from the type assembly line that its made on. The assembly lines were designed in a modular fashion to facilitate quick change overs.

You've got it--the modular part does indeed refer to the machining and assembly lines, not any characteristic of the engine or its close relatives...

[mdvaldosta]

According to Wikipedia:

Contrary to popular belief, the Modular engine did not get its name from its design or sharing of certain parts among the engine family. Instead, the name was derived from a manufacturing plant protocol, "Modular", where the plant and its tooling could be changed out in a matter of hours to manufacture different versions of the engine family.

Includes engines such as the 4.6, 5.4, 6.8 V10, even a 5.0 Cammer. And, while supposedly it has nothing to do with interchangeable parts - because of the manufacturing process many of the parts are interchangeable (and often the same or very similar). It makes building parts and vehicles much more cost effective.

[mixedbreed02gt]

the mod motor has it's upsides and fallbacks.

upsides are they are incredibly strong and long lasting motors. friend of mine has a 2001 V6, and she has over 200,000 miles and other than normal maintenance (spark plugs, tires, oil change etc) the only thing she has had to replace is her alternator.

downside is, they are pain in the ass and very costly to get horsepower out of them without some sort of turbo, s/c, or Nitrous, but they are a very friendly FI motor if you throw some forged internals in.

[00vabchgt]

Originally Posted by SWEET2KSTANG over head cam engine. 4.6 and 5.4 starting from 96 in the mustangs. the first ford modular 4.6 came in the early 90's in another vehicle.

that would be the '92 Crown Vic

[cliffyk]

2001 V-6 is not a modular motor...

they are pain in the ass and very costly to get horsepower out of them without some sort of turbo, s/c, or Nitrous...

Compared to what?

I don't know why this notion is so often put forth. There is nothing fundamental to the modular series' design that makes it any less capable of being pumped up than any other OEM engine. In fact, one could argue that the OHC design makes it inherently capable of providing more potential.

A wide variety of heads, intakes, cams, internals and all the other stuff are readily available at prices comparable to those of similar displacement pushrod engines--making power costs money and it really doesn't matter if you start with a stock 4.6L modular, or a stock 5.0 pushrod engine.

The only real difference is that there exists much more practical knowledge and experience in modding the older motors, and perhaps that there are a lot more 5.0 donor and aftermarket blocks (and other parts) out there. However both these factors are changing as time goes by...

[mixedbreed02gt]

Originally Posted by cliffyk 2001 V-6 is not a modular motor... Compared to what? I don't know why this notion is so often put forth. There is nothing fundamental to the modular series' design that makes it any less capable of being pumped up than any other OEM engine. In fact, one could argue that the OHC design makes it inherently capable of providing more potential. A wide variety of heads, intakes, cams, internals and all the other stuff are readily available at prices comparable to those of similar displacement pushrod engines--making power costs money and it really doesn't matter if you start with a stock 4.6L modular, or a stock 5.0 pushrod engine. The only real difference is that there exists much more practical knowledge and experience in modding the older motors, and perhaps that there are a lot more 5.0 donor and aftermarket blocks (and other parts) out there. However both these factors are changing as time goes by...

man you can stick some cams, headers, intake, and heads on a 5.0 and get 100 hp out of it...you can't do that with a mod motor.

at best you might get 20 or 30 hp...and you spend a crap load more.

[cliffyk]

Originally Posted by mixedbreed02gt man you can stick some cams, headers, intake, and heads on a 5.0 and get 100 hp out of it...you can't do that with a mod motor. at best you might get 20 or 30 hp...and you spend a crap load more.

Cams, and IHE mods will get you more than 20 to 30 HP on a 4.6L-2V; IHE and a good tune alone will get you 35+ HP** vs. stock, add longtubes and cams (depending on what cams you select) and there's easily another 40 to 60+ there.

A stock '94-'95 5.0 starts out at around 180 rwHP so adding 100 HP gets you to 280.

A stock 4.6L 2V starts out around 210 rwHP, so adding 80 (30 from IHE, 50 from cams--for sake of argument) gets you to 290 (from a smaller displacement engine). Here's a place that did it.

It would cost more, that's a fact--mostly because it will cost $400+ to buy a tuner or get a tune, and 4.6L piece/parts are a bit more expensive than the 5.0 stuff (but again, that is changing)...

------------------------
** I got my '03 with an o/r road H-pipe and welded in Flowmaster 40s (that all, no intake work, no tune), and it dynoed at 220/243 rwHP/torque.

On my last dyno (on Halloweeen) I got 252/296 HP/tq--this with a UPR catted X-pipe, Magnaflow catback, Prod Prods 70 mm TB and plenem, stock intake, and a Sinper 93 octane tune)--this is 32 HP over my baseline, long tubes would add at least another 10 to 15 HP.

[Smoothgrandmama]

Originally Posted by mixedbreed02gt man you can stick some cams, headers, intake, and heads on a 5.0 and get 100 hp out of it...you can't do that with a mod motor. at best you might get 20 or 30 hp...and you spend a crap load more.

You Would get At Least 60-70 hp out of that much work.
Several People in the 99-04 section have done so.

[Darrin]

Comparing them as to what you can do to get power is apples and oranges. These engines make power in different ways. You have a better low rpm torque potential with the pushrod stuff and a better high rpm potential with the overhead cam stuff. Very different.

With the pushrod stuff there is a butt ton of product out there. For the modular stuff there is still a lot of catching up to do. But the gap is closing fast.

Price to mod was the biggest difference and that is now becoming more equal as well.

It's just different between the 2 types of engines and both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Darrin

[Sil03R6'07PNY]

well that's great now i know what that term actually means. cause i was kinda wondering that myself

[Hourofpain]

Originally Posted by Darrin Comparing them as to what you can do to get power is apples and oranges. These engines make power in different ways. You have a better low rpm torque potential with the pushrod stuff and a better high rpm potential with the overhead cam stuff. Very different. With the pushrod stuff there is a butt ton of product out there. For the modular stuff there is still a lot of catching up to do. But the gap is closing fast. Price to mod was the biggest difference and that is now becoming more equal as well. It's just different between the 2 types of engines and both have their strengths and weaknesses. Darrin

yet you never really explained the difference

[Darrin]

Originally Posted by Hourofpain yet you never really explained the difference

Here is some helpful info

Modular Mix & Match, Part 1--Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords Magazine

Darrin

[Mrdestboi]

wow this thread is soooo educating! im not drunk (or gay) but i freaken love u guys!

[rsfdiver]

Thanks for all the info I will follow this thread also

[Countryboy_99]

I gotta say I like the 5.0 pushrod more between the two although there's startin to be more available mod oppurtunities for the modulars...
just cuz im sportin one in my car ya know... but the chicky's do love that rumble that 4.6's dont quite seem to have...
oh and is it just me or do 5.0's have a tendency to launch harder?
oh and do they make a modular 5.0?