Ford Performance Parts is out to change your perception of affordable high-performance crate engines with a lineup of world class crate motors that deliver the same Ford tested tough durability of Ford’s OEM factory engines.
For more than a decade, Ford has looked to the expertise of Performance Assembly Solutions (PAS) in Livonia, Michigan for its powerful “factory-to-you” Coyote “Aluminator” crate engines. PAS is a division of Roush Industries, so you know the quality and durability are there. We can tell you these engines are built to Ford’s own ISO 9000 engineering standards.
These are new engines—not rebuilt or remanufactured—that have never been fired. Each Coyote engine arrives at PAS from Ford’s Essex, Ontario (Windsor) engine plant as a completed engine. They are not leftover inventory or factory rejects. When they are checked in at PAS, each engine is logged in with a code (identity) specific to that engine. Each engine is fully documented from the time it is manufactured at Essex until which time it is inspected and shipped from PAS.
Because we are in the Coyote’s 12th year of production, PAS is doing 2018-23 direct injected Gen. III Coyote engines. These engines are assembled to Ford’s strict engineering standards (with proof these standards have been met during assembly) by proven engine building professionals who “hands on” build and inspect each engine. Think of PAS as a custom racing engine job shop—an intimate assembly line where there is accountability and close attention to detail. These engine building professionals must prove themselves with each engine and then sign off on each job when the engine is SIM tested and checked for noise prior to shipment.
What makes these Ford Performance “Aluminator” engines world class is a disciplined four-step build and documentation system, according to John Torvinen, Frank Hoffman, and Will Clendenin of PAS. These guys tell us this is a state-of-the-art quality control process where nothing gets missed.
The first phase is a methodical teardown including serialization of key components. Engines arrive, get scanned in, and are disassembled as a package. Parts don’t wind up in gang bins like you see in a lot of reman operations with piles of rods, pistons, cranks, and other parts. All parts are loaded onto a specific cart and remain together under one common serialized barcode tied to each engine. Each block is hot-washed, rinsed, and dried with compressed air. Cylinder bores are wiped down with light oil to prevent corrosion.
The next phase is where blocks, cranks, rods, and pistons are measured and thoroughly inspected the same way they would be by a custom engine builder one engine at a time. Each workstation in the assembly process has a responsibility to where every engine is a matter of permanent record. Block, heads, and all components are tied to the same code, which means the block, crank, heads, cams, and other components stay together throughout the entire process.
When measuring and calibration are complete, the block is mounted on a commercial grade engine stand where it enters the third phase of assembly. The identification bar code is scanned into the system and every step is monitored and recorded into a database. Instructions and specifications appear on a touchscreen and must be acknowledged as complete by the builder prior to the system allowing them to continue the build. The system also records all fastener torque data, rolling torque data, and even the leak and cold test values.
Bare blocks are fitted with new high-performance main and rod bearings. Stock powdered metal connecting rods and pistons are replaced with dynamic-balanced and precision fit Mahle forged pistons and Manley H-beam rods fitted with ARP 2000 rod bolts. Each crank is dynamic-balanced to the Manley/Mahle reciprocating mass to ensure smooth operation. Once each assembly is complete, these engines are SIM tested to check for oil pressure, compression, and noise. Once SIM testing is complete, oil is drained and the engine goes through one final inspection prior to shipment.