Cobra Engine Swap...Ways to improve my 98 GT...

[xtrememach1racer]

Hey guys,
I'm very interested in swapping the 2V 4.6L engine from my 98 Mustang GT with the much more powerful 4V Cobra Engine. It doesn't really matter that much to me whether I intall the 96-98 version or the 99/2001 version). I have read that this swap is relativley simple, with the initial purchase of the Cobra engine being the most expensive part of the whole swap. My problem is that my GT has the stock automatic trans, and I have no idea of how hard/effective it would be to conect this to the Cobra engine? How much additional trouble might this create? Would I be better off swapping my stock trans for a C4 or something to that effect? How much time would it take (in aproximate hours) to complete this swap? What would I need to buy besides the engine to make this work in my GT? Where might I be able to find these items, and what might they cost me?

Also, if this swap would be extremly complex (on the labor side), then what else might you recomend that I do for my car? I'm getting pretty sick of the anemic power that my 4.6 puts out with its pre "P.I." heads, and I can't go ahead and don't want to buy a supercharger becuase I don't want to exactly advertise my power from 2 miles away. I know of all the little bolt ons already like underdrive pulleys and exhaust work, but what else is there? I know that I can buy a head upgrade for my car to match the power of the new GT's, but from what I hear, it generally requires the engine to be taken out to be done most easily, and takes 12-14 hours in labor, meaning a huge cost for that. Would I just be better off swapping my 98GT engine for a newer 99+ engine in terms of labor cost? I guess in short...what is the best thing to do for me to get more power from my ride, while still keeping it as a daily driver, as I am a senior in highschool. I have about $5000 to spend on this from saving up for so long, so I'm really anxious to put all of that hard work to use! Thanks a lot for any help that you can give me!

Sincerly,
Dave

P.S.-I was cosidering installing a Powerdyne Silent-Drive Supercharger system on my car because there is suppossed to be no noise, but I have heard that they seem to break and require rebuilds very often. Is this true, or is that really the solution to my problem? Sorry for all of the questions, but any help would be great. Thanks again!

[surfbeast]

Unfortunately us 98 GT owners have a lot of work to do to get any real HP from our machines. First, if you go the cobra engine route you need the engine 3-4K, the cobra computer $ ? , other misc parts as always + more $$. The 4r70w tranny you have could handle the cobra motor for a while if you don't abuse it and if it bolts up. The 4r70w is actually a very good tranny. For 600 bucks you can convert it to a manual type auto with a art carr manual/auto valve body. The conversion to the manual is best but will run about 2K with a used swap kit from MPS. Then you have the supercharger route. First you need the unit 3K minimum, a upgraded chip and a few other goodies. Then you need to worry about blowing up the plastic intake so for 1500 bucks you can get the bullit intake, also you need to upgrade the pistons and go with the cobra crank or you will most likely blow up the motor with to much boost. They do make blower kits for the 98's but have heard they can cause problems down the road if you don't upgrade the internals. Last but not least you can get the FRP roots type blower for about 2500 bucks. No need to replace intake cause it is the intake, it produces about 70 extra HP. Then there is always N2O. a good 75 shot now and then will not kill your motor and if the plastic intake goes they are only about 250 bucks. There are many options as you can see and all cost alot of bucks. If I were you keep saving your money and trade the 98 and about 5 - 7K cash for a nice used 98 Cobra or 99+ GT, you may still have money left over for the extreamly high insurance you will have to pay once you move away from MOM and DAD.

[91LX2Bfast]

The 4R70W should bolt up. The Lincoln Mark VIII had a 4.6 DOHC w/ the 4R70W. You may need a few MK8 parts to make the swap work.
My Tbird will be getting a 99+ PI engine in the upcoming months mainly because of the labor involved. It'll be an easier swap then the heads, plus I'll keep a lower CR for doing a power adder down the line.
You can do a 6-8 psi blower setup relatively safely as long as you give it enough fuel and get a conservative tune. There are a number of blower setups that don't have that typical "swoosh" sound at idle like some of the centifugal s/c's have. Any roots blower like Saleen, AED, SVO are pretty quiet including some new centrifugal blowers like the Vortech SQ (super quiet) series. There no reason you shouldn't run at least low 13's with a decent blower.

[tireburner163]

Surfbeast: There are many people running blowers without upgraded internals....just look at Hammer, he's making 450hp.


xtrememach1racer : I would go with a roots blower just as the FMS blower or the Saleen blower. With the money you have left over, do gears, exhaust, etc.