12's in a 96 cobra?
 

I am looking for high 12's on a 4.6 32 valve cobra coupe... but here's the catch... no power adders!

my starting point would look something like this:
low mileage engine
longtubes, O/R x pipe, 3.73's

ok, i know it can be done, the question is, how.... any recommendations?

12's with a 4v isn't all that hard to achieve. Longtubes and X pipe are both good places to start but gearing needs to be at least 4.30's or 4.56's. This isn't like a 5.0 that runs out of steam at 5000 RPM's the 4v 4.6 is just starting to breath at that RPM and needs to be wound out to 7K RPM to take advantage of the power band. I'd say get the basics like pulleys, timing adjuster, K&N plus the exhaust you mentioned, gears and a good set of tires and your there with some practice at the track. Slicks would be the best but it can be done on DRs.

Bill

could it be done with 4.10's? This is going to be my daily driver. what kind of suspension parts and good street radials could I use to acheive this... I"m trying not to sacrifice driveability too much.

Most people I know are running 12's with gears and exhaust.

4.30's at least. In overdrive the rpms arent bad at all.

Later,

I've done it with my 96 - ASP pullies with built in damper, BBK off road 'h' (stock ex. manifolds, stock mufflers and tailpipes), 4.30's and slicks.

At first I went with 4.10's and did not heed the advice of the fellows on the Corral board. Well, they were right the 4.10's were not enough for the DOHC especially on the street. I had the 4.10's taken out and they had only 5,000 miles on them (still have 'em). The 4.30's were installed are just about the perfect gear for these cars. You have that tall fifth gear for cruising and first gear is not a waste from a dead stop. At the strip the 4.10's are pretty easy to bog coming off the line whereas the 4.30's allow the car to 'pull' itself out of a launch much, much better. Don't fear the gear.

With over 600 dragstrip passes (9,900 miles) on my cobra and some heavy duty launching lately I had a Detroit Locker differential and Moser axles installed. Good thing too. With all that racing half of the splines on the axles were worn off and the remaining splines had a slight twist in them.

Good luck. My advice would be to locate a DOHC near you with 4.30's and ride in it and, if possible, drive it. That's what I did from the beginning only the car was equipped with 3.73's. I couldn't tell it had even had a gear change and knew that gear would be useless.

Jeff

well this is my daily driver so I think 4.10s are the biggest i'll go. What do you cruise at 70 with the 4.30's? With the 373's I cruise 2600 or so... sound right? Also, you have pulleys...

what does the stock pulley look like? Does it have 2 sets of ribs like a blower pulley?

2600 is high for 3.73's. That's about what cruising is @ 70 for me with 4.30's. Its been so long since I looked but I'm sure it is between 2600-2800 rpm. Be advised 4.10's are not a very good dragstrip gear. You shift into fourth right before the finish line so the car is no where near the optimum rpm zone that it needs to be to 'pull' through the traps.

The pulley is a serpentine type with the ribs By the way, the car has the UPR powerpipe and K & N filter for a little extra breathing.

Good luck,
Jeff

P.S. - If you're really convinced that you must have 4.10's I have a FMS set that came out of my cobra with only 6,000 miles on them. They made no noise whatsoever - $100 plus shipping.

I got 4.30 gears as well, and I've never looked back. I drive the car daily including chicago winters. It's not bad at all. Cruising the highway at 70mph net me 2600-2800 as well.

The car sees about 12k - 15k miles a year. Get the 4.30s or you'll be kicking yourself in the ***. The only thing at sucks is the highway mileage, but for me, it was worth it.

will a speedo gear work for a T5/AOD/T-45?

See sig for my mods and best time, and its not bad on the e-way with the 4.30's. I went to Chicago with my car and it was a 6 hour drive. I highly recommend the 4.30's.