All i really wanna do right now it to get my car back on the road. tired of just paying payment and not even being able to drive it. so if i get a Mark VIII engine can i just put my 99 cobra heads and intake? in the long run i wanna get and 03/04 cobra engine for it but that about an year or so down the road. summer is hitting soon and i don't wanna be drivign the bug all summer long...

 

Buy a mark short block from ebay. It should work and sometime just put a forged rotating assembly into it. pitmitch910The 96 cobra DOES NOT have forged internals only the crankshaft is forged and the rest of your statements arent exactly on the dot either.In 1996 ford put the 215 hp Sohc engine in the gt to replace the 5.0 ford put the better designed 260 hp4.6 sohc in the 1999-2004 gt's.The 1996-98 cobra has 305 hp and the 99/01 have 320.The 1996-01 cobra's have a forged crank and are all dohc. The 2000 cobra R the 2003-2004 cobra and the gt500 are the only ones that have a fully forged bottom end. Not to crucify you or anything I just want to make sure anyone who bothers to read this gets their facts straight.

 

haha thanks for straightening mine facts out no offense taken. but hey thats how u learn lol

 

You're right about most people never coming close to the power limits, but the iron blocks are not stronger. In his book, Sean Hyland states that the 4.6L iron blocks all suffer from the same problem: not enough material around the bores. He goes on to say, "While iron blocks are certainly adequate for street engines, high-HP race engines should be built using aluminum blocks." He's specifically referring to the Teksid blocks and the block he manufactures though.

Of course if you're not looking to make more than 900 hp, any of the 4.6 blocks will work fine, iron or aluminum. The iron blocks will be cheaper. You'll just take 85 pounds off the front wheels if you go aluminum.

 

Yes you can just swap you heads, intake, TB, etc. and get going. But it won't be the same as a Cobra. The compression is a little lower so you'll be a few ponies shy of the Cobra. The Mark doesn't have a forged crank, but I don't think this matters since an unforged crank can handle much more power than the unforged rods and pistons in that engine. In other words, if it breaks, it won't be the crank, the rods and pistons will go before you break the crank. The biggest thing to consider though is the time and labor to do the swap. If you're going to do all that, you might as well build it right.