Well, several actually.

First, the cobras came both S/C'd and N/A'd right?

Second, what is the difference between the GT, N/A Cobra and S/C Cobra 4.6 motors?

I'm throwing around the idea of building a Cobra clone (since the only factory s/c'd Cobra within 50 miles of here was just sold for 30K) and wanna know what I have to look forward to if I go thru with it or if I should save up some money (and fix my credit) and wait for one to go up for sale, even tho I would rather have a clone than one that is "real" and had several thousand miles of "hot rodding" on it.

 

there are supercharged(03-04) cobrasand n/a cobras (93-01...if we're talking modular motors only, 96-01)

ALL GT's came with cast iron blocks, cast internals and SOHC. 96-98 used the cast iron romeo block which was an o.k engine block, however some 99 and 00-04 GT's recieved the cast iron windsor block, which due to some extra webbing, is stronger than the romeo block.

96-98 Cobras recieved the "Teksid block" or an all aluminum version of the GT block built by the Teksid Aluminum Company for Ford. It is regarded as being one of the strongest, able to hold 1000+ hp. These cobras also came with a forged crank and cast internals,as well as"B heads" (the casting name for the heads), and the only thing real good about them is on a flow bench, they out flow 99-01 cobra heads in the top end.

99 and 01 (excluding '00) recieved an all aluminum version of thesame block that was in the 96-98 cobras, but now manufactured at theWindsor plant. While having a little more ribbing and larger bulkheads, its an inferior metal casting and its only good to 600ish hp. These cobras also recieved the forged crank and cast internals, as well as upgraded heads (known as the "tumbleport" or "C heads").

03-04 cobras were the first to be supercharged from factory,and many block changes were made. TheseCobras were the first to have completely forged internals (specificallymahlepistons that i know of) and utilized the cast iron block found in the GT's. Why didn't ford continue with aluminum?becausethe engineers at ford believed thatthe aluminum block would not hold up to ford's durability test in order to make production, and aluminum and iron both act differently in boosted conditions.A lot of 03-04 cobras are running 600-1000 hp on the stock blockwith no problems.

 

so what kind of car do u have right now?

 

None. the tranny just died today. Looking for a future project. That's all.

 

I would wait and buy the real thing. There are soooo many little things that the Cobras have that really make a big difference. Trust me I just went from an 01 GT to an 03 Cobra. The little things I speak of include: MUCH better seats, aluminum driveshaft, aluminum flywheel, cool guages, better brakes, suspension (plus the IRS which I love compared with my old solid axle). If you can't swing a real one, a clone would still kick ***, since the real conversation piece is the motor/6-speed, and that can be placed in a GT for a decent price. If you are worried about a hot rodded car, just look for one that was left stock, that's what I did. Plus, almost any V8 mustang has been hot rodded a time or two, unless the driver is a total ******!

 

Well, first off, my tranny is alive. It was the fuel pump that died on me. Getting to that this weekend. Second, I am looking for something in the 10K range for the time being and until I get a place of my own I won't have any project cars. I just wanted to know the the GT V8 and the s/c'd Cobra V8 were the same block or not and if there was a difference in the internals, heads, ext.

Right now I'm looking at a 99 4Runner and an 02 Jaguar X-Type.