Chevy > Ford

[Crunchtime]

My buddy has a Ford truck. He told me it has aluminum heads and three times he had a spark plug blow right out of the head. He had to have it drilled out and have a steel threaded sleeve inserted. WTF?

[chaos2767]

The old GT 500 was way better than the camero back in the day and the new GT 500 of today is still way better than the LS1 Camero, by over 100HP!

[knucklefux]

 

My buddy has a Ford truck. He told me it has aluminum heads and three times he had a spark plug blow right out of the head. He had to have it drilled out and have a steel threaded sleeve inserted. WTF?

 

 

he probably galled the threads when he put the plugs in. steel threads don't stretch before aluminum threads fail...

[schecterc1lh]

The old GT 500 was way better than the camero back in the day and the new GT 500 of today is still way better than the LS1 Camero, by over 100HP!

 

 

it depends on what you want. The camaro is a better track car (i am assuming you are talking about the zl1 of today?) and the mustang has more power. The suspension on the chevy is taken from the cts-v, and is spectacular. The ford doesnt have a great suspension, but has a ton of power, generally meaning it is hard to put the power down. Of the two, i feel like the camaro is the better car. Its easy to add some HP, not as easy to tweak (or do a full rebuild of) a suspension.

[marshallnoise]

 

My buddy has a Ford truck. He told me it has aluminum heads and three times he had a spark plug blow right out of the head. He had to have it drilled out and have a steel threaded sleeve inserted. WTF?

 

 

5.4 Triton motor. They revised that cylinder head in later years.

[marshallnoise]

 

he probably galled the threads when he put the plugs in. steel threads don't stretch before aluminum threads fail...

 

 

No, there were only like 3 or 4 turns on the 5.4 spark plug hole. The 4.6 head had 9 turns, I believe. Design flaw by Ford that was eventually fixed.

[DEADBYDAWN]

if you have a hard time with ANY ford spark plugs, you shouldn't be wrenching on bicycles, much less cars you know the funniest thing about chevy guys? they aren't smart enough to realize that their beloved LS engines are just revamped SBFs no, seriously...you can literally bolt LS heads to a windsor block. i guess the bowtie engineers took the "if you can't beat em, join em" approach to give the devil his due, GM did manage to improve on the platform. ford decided to invest in a significantly better platform instead

With modification to the bolt holes the ls1 head might bolt up BUT- thats where it ends. I know your point is how similar you believe the Ls1 design is to a ford not if the heads would actually work. Am I wrong in thinking the Ls1 was the first pushrod engine to produce 1hp per cubic inch? Just curious about that not being a smartass.

[Murk]

Yes.
Both suck.

[Mesa/Kramer]

[imgooley]

Ford doesn't make any car I'd ever want to buy. Mercury, on the other hand, has the Cougar that it made in the late 60's, which I would love to own.

[EdgeOfDarkness]

 

Ford doesn't make any car I'd ever want to buy. Mercury, on the other hand, has the Cougar that it made in the late 60's, which I would love to own.

 

 

And cyclone, which i do have.

[fretless]

http://www.sportscardigest.com/monterey-motorsports-reunion-2012-video/

[67mike]

No, there were only like 3 or 4 turns on the 5.4 spark plug hole. The 4.6 head had 9 turns, I believe. Design flaw by Ford that was eventually fixed.

A big part of this issue is related to the torque applied to those sparkplugs.

If you torque the plugs to 28ft/lbs.....instead of the recommended 14ft/lbs you will NOT HAVE THE ISSUE.

PS: They have tested them to over 100ft/lbs of torque and they did not pull the threads...so don't even start.

[67mike]

And cyclone, which i do have.

 

 

 

I assume it is a 429 in that boat?

[sleewell]

mercedes > everything else

[FastRedPonyCar]

Where my swedes at?

 

[pioneerprogress]

I honestly have to laugh at people like the one guy who say "I owned a xxxx once, never again". It's typically because they got the {censored}tiest car that company ever made.

 

Just like some guy that came in my office a couple months ago and said "I'll own a Buick or a Chevy, but NEVER a Pontiac" I'm like, dude, you know they are the EXACT same car aside from a couple cosmetic things, right? He proceeds to tell me he doesn't care because he owned a Pontiac once and it was a complete piece. I asked him which Pontiac he owned. Any guesses? Yep, 85 Fiero.

 

So, to that guy who'll never own a Ford, let me just take a shot in the dark: did you have a Contour? Or maybe a 90's Taurus?

 

Ford trucks are bulletproof (I currently own an Expedition) and yeah, there was a period of time they had that spark plug issue, but honestly I'd trust the 4.6 or 5.4 every bit as much as a Chevy 5.7 or 5.3 to go 300k and beyond. Only thing I don't care for is the way Ford geared their trucks for a while. My Expy has all the power it needs to pull my camper, but it struggles because of the way it's geared, highway towing is a pain in the arse. Trying to get a Tahoe now.

[FastRedPonyCar]

I honestly have to laugh at people like the one guy who say "I owned a xxxx once, never again". It's typically because they got the {censored}tiest car that company ever made. Just like some guy that came in my office a couple months ago and said "I'll own a Buick or a Chevy, but NEVER a Pontiac" I'm like, dude, you know they are the EXACT same car aside from a couple cosmetic things, right? He proceeds to tell me he doesn't care because he owned a Pontiac once and it was a complete piece. I asked him which Pontiac he owned. Any guesses? Yep, 85 Fiero. So, to that guy who'll never own a Ford, let me just take a shot in the dark: did you have a Contour? Or maybe a 90's Taurus? Ford trucks are bulletproof (I currently own an Expedition) and yeah, there was a period of time they had that spark plug issue, but honestly I'd trust the 4.6 or 5.4 every bit as much as a Chevy 5.7 or 5.3 to go 300k and beyond. Only thing I don't care for is the way Ford geared their trucks for a while. My Expy has all the power it needs to pull my camper, but it struggles because of the way it's geared, highway towing is a pain in the arse. Trying to get a Tahoe now.

 

yep. I've had my 2012 mustang for over a year now and it's been rock solid. It's at the dealer now getting oil and transmission fluid replaced and they gave me a 2012 focus to drive in the mean time and it is the WORST car ever. Not in a sense of poor build quality but just terrible design. The ride quality sucks, it lacks basic options that should come standard WTF NO CRUISE CONTROL?!?, the steering is numb and feels disconnected from the wheels, the transmission has no idea what gear it needs to select when driving around town and (although I realize it's a fuel efficient econobox) there is ZERO power.

 

To put it into perspective, the car is so terrible to drive, it has prompted me to get off my ass and fix our 99 S70T5 volvo that's been sitting in the garage for almost 2 years now so that I can drive it instead

 

So basically the mustang and focus are on polar opposites of the spectrum in terms of driving quality and overall expeirence behind the wheel. It makes me never want to even look at another focus and for so many things ford got wrong with that car, they got SO much right with the mustang.

[SG-DAWG]

Heres my Ford

[pioneerprogress]

^nice!

 

and FRPC, for what it is, I don't have a lot of complaints about the focus, in fact, I think they did pretty well with it. Sounds like you got the stripped-down, basest of the base if it doesn't have cruise. But yeah, going from your car to that I'd expect some obvious differences.

[FastRedPonyCar]

^nice! and FRPC, for what it is, I don't have a lot of complaints about the focus, in fact, I think they did pretty well with it. Sounds like you got the stripped-down, basest of the base if it doesn't have cruise. But yeah, going from your car to that I'd expect some obvious differences.

 

 

well, it's not so much lack of features that I don't like about it, it's just an overall terrible driving, handling experience. Our 14 year old volvo handles better and has SO much more precise steering input and overall feel. As wierd as it sounds, the volvo is really fun to drive. Granted nothing close to the thrill of the mustang but the focus is just a depressing car to be in. I feel like I'm merely tolerating the "experience".

 

Adding in all the gadgets, leather and other optional features to the car still wouldn't change that.

[knucklefux]

i liked the focus i had...but it was customized, had 17" wheels, no slushbox, etc. my biggest complaint was the bumpsteer from the rear end

[drewl]

Which company was bankrupt and had to be bailed out?

[pioneerprogress]

 

well, it's not so much lack of features that I don't like about it, it's just an overall terrible driving, handling experience. Our 14 year old volvo handles better and has SO much more precise steering input and overall feel. As wierd as it sounds, the volvo is really fun to drive. Granted nothing close to the thrill of the mustang but the focus is just a depressing car to be in. I feel like I'm merely tolerating the "experience". Adding in all the gadgets, leather and other optional features to the car still wouldn't change that.

 

 

I'm not saying adding leather and all would help that, but you just can't expect the focus to be an inspiring car to drive, it is an economy car, and it does that bit well.

[schecterc1lh]

I honestly have to laugh at people like the one guy who say "I owned a xxxx once, never again". It's typically because they got the {censored}tiest car that company ever made. Just like some guy that came in my office a couple months ago and said "I'll own a Buick or a Chevy, but NEVER a Pontiac" I'm like, dude, you know they are the EXACT same car aside from a couple cosmetic things, right? He proceeds to tell me he doesn't care because he owned a Pontiac once and it was a complete piece. I asked him which Pontiac he owned. Any guesses? Yep, 85 Fiero. So, to that guy who'll never own a Ford, let me just take a shot in the dark: did you have a Contour? Or maybe a 90's Taurus? Ford trucks are bulletproof (I currently own an Expedition) and yeah, there was a period of time they had that spark plug issue, but honestly I'd trust the 4.6 or 5.4 every bit as much as a Chevy 5.7 or 5.3 to go 300k and beyond. Only thing I don't care for is the way Ford geared their trucks for a while. My Expy has all the power it needs to pull my camper, but it struggles because of the way it's geared, highway towing is a pain in the arse. Trying to get a Tahoe now.

I tend to agree with you, however the pontiacs I have been around have been pretty sucky. My parents bought a brand new bonneville when i was younger. It was decked out, nice leather, turbo (possibly supercharged, i dont remember which it was) and it had nice leather and everything. It certainly wasnt their bottom line, and that thing constantly gave them issues. I think it was the worst car i have been around as far as fit/finish/reliability. Cant remember how many times we broke down in that thing! Plus, the sunroof leaked and ruined the leather. It might have been a lemon, im not sure, but i have known a few people with pontiacs and they were all pretty bad.