97-03 Ford F-150 4.6L Upgrades????

[Chuck "Classic Ford" JR.]

My father owns a 1998 F-150 XLT Lariat with the 4.6L V8, codename "Big Red". We have both searched high and low, and for the life of us we cannot find ANY upgrades for the Windsor engine (the Mustangs had the 4.6L Romeo engine, so I believe that the parts are not compatible). Does anyone know where we can find upgrades for the F-150 4.6L engine? Any help would be very much appreciated!!!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

My brother has a '97 Romeo.

He has a cheap CAI (left the outer shell of the stock housing for a heat deflector), Edge tuner and 4.10's with 265/70-16's... it is pretty stout. People on here badmouth CAI's and tuners but it really woke that thing up.

There is a DIY "Gotts intake" floating around too that you can do for a couple bucks.

The 4.6 is rev happy, get it in its powerband it is a whole different critter than with Ford's typical overgearing. Kinda like the Ranger's 3.0 although it is more productive vs stock once regeared.

The intake is the same as a 5.4 which is a Windsor and I have had the tuner on my 5.4 as well. I think the Windsor vs Romeo difference are mostly in the longblock.

 

[Chuck "Classic Ford" JR.]

I've been told that both engines bolt up the same way, however their parts are not interchangeable and that their wiring harnesses are completely different. My shop teacher told me that the Windsor engines were meant for the F-150 and the Romeos were meant for the Mustangs, but due to a factory shortage of Windsor engines some F-150s were equipped with Romeos and later on the Windsors came in during a Romeo shortage, thus those Windsors were put in the Mustangs. I just don't know if certain upgrades for the Romeo engine would be compatible with the Windsor or not.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Intakes tubes are the same, both mine and his stock one say 4.6/5.4 on them. The older ones like his have a smaller inlet that sucks out of the inner fender though.

I have ran his tuner on my Windsor 5.4 and it worked fine so I would think it would be ok on a Windsor 4.6.

Start trying to mix heads around and I know they changed a bunch of things there. I know a bunch of wiring changed when they went to PI too.

Normal bolt on stuff should be fine though.

 

[Chuck "Classic Ford" JR.]

Does this mean that a supercharger for a Mustang 4.6L would fit an F-150?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

My guess is it will probably bolt on, no idea about getting it to run though.