7arpad7

I was looking at purchasing a Kenne Bell for one of my '97s. It looks like it offers everything that I am looking for. If anyone out there has some personal experience with these I would like to hear your story. What I am looking for is what mods you already had on the car and what the drivablility was like after the installation.

I will either get one in a couple of weeks and install it myself, or I will continue my quest for another 03/04 terminator engine. My deal looks to have fallen through.

With sincere thanks as always,
7arpad7

5.0carlo

Hey there,
I do not have any personal experience however i do talk with alot of ppl on another forum that have them. From what i hear everony loves them. With all the bolt on and running like 12 psi only expect about 400 rwhp. PPl say they are a blast to drive esp from stoplight to stoplight. However if u do that make sure u have 4.10's or lower in the rear so u wont spin all day and invest in a good suspension.

7arpad7

Well man, it is a bummer to hear that the blower would have to run 12 PSI to make 400 RWHP. Their site claims that there would be a 135 HP increase with just 6-8 lbs of boost. That should roughly translate to 400 at the rear wheels. Might you be talking about a 5.0 Kenne Bell cobra? I have not made the purchase yet, as I am just getting the parts for rebuilding the car on Monday. I am going to wait to see what the car will be like after it is all done up before making my mind up finally, on wich supercharger to get... I am getting a new TKO500, new rear end w/3.73s, Ford motorsport aluminum drive shaft, Tokico shocks and struts (car already had Eibach sport line springs), battery is going to the trunk where it belongs, and some of the other broken things (130,000 miles on the car) replaced... I know it would be a little bit considered tradership, but where can I find this other forum that you are talking about. I am interested in hearing some first hand experiences with the Kenne Bell on a 96/97/98 cobra.

Peace for sure, but not until we have lots of gas to make much horse power with !

Oh yeah, thanks for posting... I was thinking that there were really only a couple of forum members with cobras that are active. Still seems like there would be more. This Forum is set up really well.

7arpad7

HaV

Everything I have read on the 96-97 cobra's (for some reason 98's are always seperated..) say that we should not boost more then 8PSI with out getting forged internals. Thats about the max that our engines are expected to handle with out problems. That could be off or a conservative estimate. I know the 5.0's had forged internals and could handle much more boost, and that the KB charger was quite a bit different for those then the 4.6's. Thats kinda why I was looking into a used Eaton.. I really dont want to dish out for the forged internals at the moment. Let me know what you end up going with, I am looking into it as well.

What kinda cobra do you have 5.0Carlo?

7arpad7

Well, everywhere I look I only find people saying good things about the Kenne Bell for the 96/97 cobras. I am about a month away from finishing with the mechanical problems on the car, but that will include the supercharging as well. Unless I run into a string of bad Kenne Bell stories that is what I will be installing. I had also looked at getting one of the Eaton superchargers as well. There are a lot of them out there on eBay everytime I look, but I have not found one bit of information supporting your's (HAV) and my origional thought about installing one on our year cobra. I thought that the block hadn't really changed on the 4.6s, but all of the subsequent info that I have found says otherwise. Other then the unit not bolting up, the change would not be too bad. The way I figured it you would need the blower, an 03 or 04 engine management computer, bigger injectors, double checking of the crank pulley for being the right size, and a different mass air meter. Might have to figure out how to get the computer to recognize an aftermarket boost and fuel pressure guage. All of that should be about as easy as installing a Kenne Bell, again if it all is possible. Let me know if you find or know a way to do it and wheather or not the power increase is comperable to the Kenne Bell at 440 HP at the engine.

I will also be doing a reconditioning of the leather on this black stang. I found an outfit that sells all of the stuff needed to make the nearly 10 year old leather look like new. This is about a couple of months out, but I will post something on how it turns out. I am sure that most all of us older cobra owners have concerns with the weak finish on the leather...The outfit also says that their product works for fixing the ugliest leather problem...the steering wheel cover. If this works, it alone is worth talking about. I looked into, and bought a Wheel Skins steering wheel cover, but there was no match for the tan...needless to say I didn't install it.

Oh, I guess I could post the website of the leather reconditioning outfit for those that might be interested. The site has a lot of information about automotive leather repair, but you have to look a little bit to get the most out of the site. Looks like really good stuff.
http://www.leathermagic.com/index.html

7arpad7

mightysevencobra

i have 97 cobra and just installed kb supercharger couple months ago. running 6psi kit and its a nice noticeable diffrence. the only bad thing ive heard is the tune is not the best.its true. it runs good but i can feel a surge in power at diffrent rpms.also the cooling fan stays on all the time and im told its normal on this model because the engine runs on the warm side.my car is totally stock except for drop in k&n filter.i have been told i gotta get a cold air intake and at least cat back system to really take advantage of supercharger but that will require anothe tune.my plans are for intake exhaust and a diablosport tune.gonna try to do away with kb tune alltogether.if someone has input on custom tune in ca or diablosport tune be so kind to share. for now keep on boosting it man.....

7arpad7

Thanks mighty seven cobra. Is that surge in power at the 3200 RPM point when the secondary throttle body opens? I can imagine that there would be a really noticeable power change at that point with the Kenne Bell, as even when the weather is cold I get a pretty good boost in HP...The fan running all of the time doesn't sound too good.

mightysevencobra

its more noticeable when the secondaries open but its even done it right before that point. overall its great. especially after the secondaries open you can really feel the rush. i still want to get a better tune if possible. i also have a 9psi pulley for it but going to see if i can get a tune done with that pulley and still run without an intercooler. any tips on short shifter?which is better?

Trill Gear Head

No man w/ 9psi your gonna need an aftercooler. I'm almost certain of this. If you don't mind, How much did you pay for you KB blower, is it the Flowmaster or Blowzilla? and can you provide a link?

5.0carlo

hey there... I did not mean to make it seem as if i was bad mouthing the KB. Its an awesome thing and if i get a cobra it what im going to be putting on it. Im just saying on www.svtperformance.com most of the ppl with bolt ons are only making 400 rwhp at like 10 or 11 psi. But there is a big diff between 400 hp at 2500 rmp then only at peak so i say do it then make some badass videos of ur car so i can enjoy.