7Mary3

I have heard 4.63" bore spacing mentioned, but not officially. Incidentally, the bore spacing of the 6.2L is 4.63". I think the 7.3L will be outstanding in it's intended applications, no question. Beyond that who knows at this point. You know, I wonder what a 5.8L V-8 based on the 7.3L would do as a replacement for the 6.2L...........

Judging by those slots, I don't think it is cast with water passages between the cylinders. I could be wrong, but why else would Ford have cut slots between the cylinders? The slots clearly go into the water jackets. Ford got a large displacement out of this engine, which is only slightly larger than a Chevy LS. I believe what the engineer that was in charge of the project said, they came up with an optimum displacement based on output and maximum efficiency, and sized the 7.3L accordingly. Maybe there isn't much growth potential (don't know at this point), but it is plenty large as it is.

If the bore spacing is 117.60 mm (anyone know for sure?) and the bore is 107.2 mm, that gives you 10.4 mm between cylinder bores. Plenty for a rebuild, but not a real big displacement increase. I assume the block is a siamese cylinder bore casting because they cut a cooling passage slot in the deck. That slot looks a little scary, might compromise head gasket sealing if you did something crazy performance-wise to the 7.3L. You can see the slots in this video around 1:19:

I don't think there is much room for more bore! More stroke looks 'doable'.

Yes, 'Hurricane/Boss' refers to the 6.2L, the 7.3L is a completely different engine platform. That tends to call this claim into question. That having been said, I think the 6.2L actually has a greater performance potential that the 7.3L does. Pretty clear the 7.3L design is optimized for commercial truck, and it appears the 7.3L's valvetrain may behave poorly over 5000 r.p.m.'s. Nonetheless, there certainly is potential for increased performance and I am sure there will be a market for a 7.3L 'crate' engine.

So this is a derivative of the OHC 6.2L? Not related to the 7.3L Super Duty engine? Links and specifics please!

How many lines are at Avon Lake? 3 being 350-550, 650-750, and E/stripped chassis?

$900M is starting to make sense if Ford is going to clear Avon Lake out and make BEV's there starting in 2023. The UAW contract says cab and chassis, stripped chassis, and the E series production continues at Avon Lake, but that is for the duration of the new UAW contract. The 'new product' comes in 2023, right around the end of the new contract. I wonder if the commercial trucks will eventually go back to KTP.

Ford is so hopeless when it comes to new vehicle launches that it just might cost them $900M to do what Hino can do for $100M! Seriously, $900M is a tremendous amount of money to throw at one plant, maybe it includes costs associated with tooling up for the next generation Super Duty in addition to a new product. Who knows at this point, but I am sure in coming months the picture will become more clear. In other truck news, with Romeo closing some are speculating the 6.2L's days are numbered. Its availability will be down to just the F-250 and F-350 for 2020. Could it be going to Dearborn Engine?

Not seeing it being the Cargo. I figure Ford would need to come up with a compliant engine for it, engineer it in, and get it certified. That won't be cheap, and figuring Ford might get 15% of that market than means what, maybe 2000 sales/year? Might have been feasible importing the Cargo from Brazil, but it's going out of production there. 2023 is when the next generation Super Duty is due. Hino's expansion to build class 8's was minimal because that is a new and very large plant, and their new class 8 is not much more than new axles for their existing truck. Still, a new product for Avon Lake is very intriguing!

I think since the E series is body-on-frame and the Transit is unit-body, the basic structures of the cabs/front sections are mutually exclusive. However, it might indeed be possible to share some major parts like doors, dash, and windshield between a unit-body van and a body-on-frame cut-away. I think the real solution would be to develop a larger cutaway version of the Transit if possible.

So from what I understand, the 7.3L gas will be available in the 2021 F-650 and 750, which will go on sale 1st. quarter 2020. I wonder what other updates Ford is planning, if any. I think the current Super Duty cab would be an improvement. More room, better visibility. Not equal to Freightliner or International, but at least a bit closer.

Just within the last few days I have seen 3 new Silverado mediums. The company I work for has a few on order, but for the most part out latest class 4/5 purchases have all been Rams. Ram is undercutting Ford on price.

Ford only got $300M for the heavy trucks, they spent a lot more than that on Volvo and Land Rover. Interesting, Volvo used the money they got from selling their passenger car business to Ford to buy Renault's truck business, which included Mack...…..

My understanding was that the excess capacity was not at a large plant suitable for building Super Duty's. Ford was able to not only consolidate all Super Duty production at KTP, but also free up other truck plants for exclusive F-150 production. Remember 1999 was when the large pickups became a different platform than the F-150.