Quote:
Originally Posted by Bossxr8
Ford have internal standards for stuff like bonnet clearance etc. Being an inch taller than the 5.0 would basically breach that. As it is the TPS on mine basically touched the bonnet lining with the Explorer manifold on it, with a 1/2 inch phenolic spacer. No way would an inch higher 351 pass clearance regs.
It might be fine for average joe fitting one as it would probably just clear by a couple of mm. That wouldn't be enough for Ford though. The bonnet would need to be made higher. And I can imagine making a new bonnet pressing for 250 cars would have been way too high for $ per unit.
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So all they needed to do was fit a bonnet bulge? A unique bonnet would have topped off an already great looking package. I think they sold for something like $70k back in '97? That's pretty big bucks. With a 351 fitted, Ford could have just about named their price.
If a bunch of cashed up bogans were prepared to pay $10k on top of an already $75k blueprinted banana GTS-R, then Ford could have sold an EL GT 351 for $90k+. This was supposed to be a hero model after all.