Since we bought our new car last month, I've been trying to decide what to do with my 1997 Cobra. I love the car, but it's been showing its age for a few years now. The paint, especially on the bumpers, looks horrid. The transmission sounds like it's about to fall out of the car. The engine has a weird hesitation at 3,200 rpm when it's cold (probably something to do with the IMRC). The left front strut is bent from an incident involving icy roads, summer tires, and a cement curb. The windshield is severely pitted from 10 years of sandblasting. And the driver's leather seat is worn out. The body is in great shape, however.
So it comes down to trading the Cobra in for something new, or replacing all the worn out stuff and giving it a face lift. I've been looking around at what's on the market for a while and haven't really fallen in love with anything. The new Lexus IS F looks pretty sweet as does the upcoming BMW V8-powered M3. They'll both have 400+ hp, but they're also going to be very expensive to purchase and to insure. And they only have 400 hp. The Shelby GT500 sounds impressive, but it weighs something like 4,400 pounds, which is 1,000 pounds more than my current car. I don't care if it does have 500 hp, there's no way I'm buying a performance car that weighs more than two tons.
Looking at the options, I decided to keep the Cobra and fix it up. But I won't just replace the old, worn out parts with direct replacements. My inner engineer wants to improve the car. Before going into my planned modifications, let's take a look at the starting point to get a better idea of where I can go with it.
The 1996 Mustang Cobra represented a new direction in high performance for Ford, which had been using essentially the same engine in the Mustang since 1964. The venerable 302 (5.0 liter) pushrod V8 had an iron block and heads with a nodular iron crankshaft. Except for the Boss 302 racing engine from the late 60s/early 70s, the most power it ever produced from the factory was 245 hp. By contrast, the Cobra's new modular engine was an all aluminum, 4.6 liter, dual overhead cam V8. It produced 305 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque from the factory. The block, with its six bolt main caps, was cast in Italy by Teksid, who also produces blocks for Ferrari. The crankshaft was a hefty forged steel piece from Germany. The cylinder heads flowed like no previous production Ford heads allowing the engine to pull like a freight train all the way up to its 7,000 rpm fuel cut-off. This is some serious hardware that can easily handle 1,000 hp with the proper inducements. By comparison, the production 5.0s were lucky to be able to handle half that without going all to pieces.
In the following years, Ford chose supercharging as their preferred method of generating additional power from the engines. These engines had beefed up internals (better rods and pistons) and made some impressive numbers from the factory culminating with the 03/04 Cobras which were underrated at 390 hp/390 lb-ft. Never being one to follow the crowd, I decided on a different path for my car: turbocharging.
HP Performance in Roswell, New Mexico (yeah, yeah, we all know about the aliens) has earned a reputation for producing high quality turbocharger systems. And wouldn't you know it? They make a very nice system for 96-98 Cobras. After doing some online research and talking to HPP's Tom Berry, I decided to purchase one of their kits. And it's just plain nasty. It's a complete bolt on system that includes twin 57-mm Garrett T3/T4 hybrid turbochargers, an air-to-air intercooler, and all the requisite plumbing that has been treated to an attractive heat resistant ceramic coating. With this kit installed on a properly fortified short block, the 4.6 DOHC can easily make over 1,000 hp. That, my friends, is some serious power.
Because the 4.6 liter DOHC engine is so physically huge (compared to a Chevy small block), there isn't much vacant real estate in the Mustang's engine compartment for all the plumbing, so a tubular front suspension is provided as an integral part of the kit. The turbos are actually installed in the fender wells out of sight, and the intercooler is nestled between the bumper and frame. The resulting package is very attractive and unobtrusive. Unless you really know what you're looking at, you might think this is just another run-of-the-mill Cobra.
A thousand horsepower on the street is a little ridiculous since there isn't a street radial in existence that can possibly hold it under even the best conditions, so I plan on keeping the boost turned down to a more reasonable 650 hp. Even cranking it all the way up at the track on full drag slicks and racing fuel would be a bad idea since that would only result in my immediate ejection from the grounds the first time I ripped off a nine-second quarter mile without the required NHRA-certified rollcage. So, the boost will have to stay down for now until I decide to turn the inside of my car into a jungle gym. We'll no doubt wring her out on the chassis dyno to tune it and see what she is capable of, but I'll keep it sane in the real world for the foreseeable future.
There's much more to creating a 1,000 hp capable car than simply dropping in a strong engine and bolting on a couple of turbochargers. Every system in the car must be upgraded and fortified. The fuel system can't pump nearly enough gas into the engine to support the expected air flow, so the fuel tank, pump, fuel lines, filters, pressure regulator, and injectors all have to be replaced. You want to see a forced induction engine blow up? Try leaning out the fuel mixture for a few seconds. Continuing on, the ancient Mustang solid rear axle and suspension components are woefully inadequate. To ever stand a chance of hooking up, everything must be replaced and some additional goodies must be installed. The chassis will need some additional bracing as well to keep from twisting in half the first time the hammer is dropped. The stock clutch and transmission are barely up to the stock engine's output, so they must go too. And let's not even talk about the tiny 2-1/4 inch exhaust. On the software side of the house (this is an EFI engine, after all), the factory computer would be flashing "WTF?!?" on the dash in bold red letters without some new programming. For those who are environmentally conscious, this won't be some obnoxious fume spewing dragon that will be condemned by Al Gore (who is my personal hero, after all) and the Sierra Club. I'm keeping the stock camshafts, so it will pass government emissions tests with ease. It should also get better than 20 mpg on the highway (as long as I stay off the loud pedal). Isn't technology wonderful?
Once the go-fast goodies are in place, some serious cosmetic surgery is needed to restore the car's youthful good looks. A nice new coat of rio red paint should do the trick. At the corners, silver 17" FR500 wheels shod with 275/40s up front and 315/35s out back will give the car a slightly more muscular appearance. Inside, the factory leather seats will be replaced with red and black Corbeau LG1 racing bucket seats with five-point racing harnesses. A black FR500 leather steering wheel will replace the well-worn factory unit. That should about complete things.
I will post pictures as progress is made. This project will probably take 4-6 months to complete. Check back periodically to see how it's progressing. This should be a fun ride!
