Thinking of some mods

[Craig K.]

I got a little money at Christmas, and have been finally selling some stuff on the net so I am making a little extra cash so I have been kicking around some mod ideas for the '95 Cobra.

The car needs some cosmetics, but I think I would rather do some engine mods instead.

I do not want to sacrifice gas milage, so here is what I have thought of so far.

Option 1
Buy used supercharger kit (low PSI, engine has around 100k).
Down falls - expensive even used for a SN95 5.0, may sacrifice MPG unless tuned well.

Option 2
Buy a set of AFR 165's (either new or used)
Buy a Cobra lower and have it ported by TMoss (?)
Change fuel pump
Maybe upgrade the MAF (calibrated for the 24 lbs already in the Cobra)?
Get a new EEC and have it reflashed for the combo (I want to keep the original computer intact in case I ever want to go back to 100% original).

What do you guys think???

[Shankin]

Do the afr 185s ,have your intake gutted ,get a cam with a 114 lca and you will be well on your way to 300 at the wheels!

[QWKSNKE]

get the heads and a cam. This is a better pick over a low boost blower. also go ahead and get a 65mm t/b

I wouldn't bother porting the lower as you will not see any gains from it. Have Doug put a chip on the stock eec to make everything work nicely or get a Tweecer and learn to do it yourself.

Not sure if I would bother throwing another MAF on it but you can research throwing a Pro-M 80 on.

Edit.. forgot to add

My car with the 165's, b cam w/ 1.7 rockers, stock intake, stock MAF, stock t/b (65mm on the 93 cobras) put down 295/314 with a tune

[QWKSNKE]

Do the afr 185s ,have your intake gutted ,get a cam with a 114 lca and you will be well on your way to 300 at the wheels!
well we responded about the same time. Do you think 185's is a good idea if he is not planning to get radical with it in the future?

[Craig K.]

The main reason why I do not want to do a cam is because I need to keep getting around 25 MPG on the highway, also I do not plan on changing gears because of this reason (I have stock 3.08 now).

I drive nearly 20,000 miles per year (90% on the highway) so MPG for me is a costly topic.

Lee - what kind of MPG were you getting with that combo, also what gear did you have?

I will replace the ECU with another stock '95 Cobra would have that one modified, the main reason for this is so I can always go back to a stock baseline if needed (ie if I sell the car or restore it back to stock).

[QWKSNKE]

my car stock got 21 mpg highway with the a/c going. 75-80mph

3.73's, MSD ignition, AFR 165's, cam my mpg went up to 25mph on the highway w/a/c on (75-80 mph)

[93Cobra#2771]

I will replace the ECU with another stock '95 Cobra would have that one modified, the main reason for this is so I can always go back to a stock baseline if needed (ie if I sell the car or restore it back to stock).
No need to do that, as the ECU is never modified, a chip is simply stuck on the J3 Port. Remove chip, and the tune goes right back to baseline. Or in the case of the tweecer, simply turn the tweecer off... :D

With that many miles driven per year, I'd shy away from any cam work, unless it is VERY mild - you want drivability to stay at a premium.

[Craig K.]

No need to do that, as the ECU is never modified, a chip is simply stuck on the J3 Port. Remove chip, and the tune goes right back to baseline. Or in the case of the tweecer, simply turn the tweecer off... :D

With that many miles driven per year, I'd shy away from any cam work, unless it is VERY mild - you want drivability to stay at a premium.

Thanks for the clarification on the chipping!

Concerning the cam, thats what I am thinking as well.

Perhaps best route for the near future is heads, maybe TB and maybe MAF.
I do think I will buy another lower and have it ported and through it on since I will have the heads off anyway.

[93Cobra#2771]

I agree with the porting on the lower as well. A TMOSS port job would be a good idea and eliminate any restriction, as well as balance out the flow between the runners. I would also shy away from the TB, unless you plan on going with an Accufab. Even then, you prob. won't gain anything from it, and drivability can sometimes suffer with bigger TB.

Actually with that mild of a combo, I'd be surprised at a need for a bigger MAF than stock. Plus, keep in mind that Ford's MAF's are some of the most accurate Ford style meters out there, which greatly enhances drivability.

Do you have a full exhaust on the car?

I'd also recommend 3.55 or 3.73 gears - the better heads will like the higher rpm and produce better power/torque in the 1800-2200 rpm that the gears will put you in at highway speeds.

[coupe]

Putting heads on? If you're tearing into it that far, I recommend a timing set too and might as well do cam for fun-factor as we all love the sound.

If it were mine Craig, I'd do this: Aluminum heads (cheapest I could find), New timing set, roller rockers, and a Crane 2031 Compucam. It's 50-state legal, good gas-mileage and power, and sounds good. Of cours, I'd also put a MAF and headers on as well. I think it has a 65mm TB stock, doesn't it? Check w/ SLVRBULLIT on his 95 Cobra and it's mods.

[QWKSNKE]

Putting heads on? If you're tearing into it that far, I recommend a timing set too and might as well do cam for fun-factor as we all love the sound.

If it were mine Craig, I'd do this: Aluminum heads (cheapest I could find), New timing set, roller rockers, and a Crane 2031 Compucam. It's 50-state legal, good gas-mileage and power, and sounds good. Of cours, I'd also put a MAF and headers on as well. I think it has a 65mm TB stock, doesn't it? Check w/ SLVRBULLIT on his 95 Cobra and it's mods.

Nope. Only the 93 cobras came with 65mm t/b's. 94-95 cobras carried the same 60mm t/b as the GT.

Truthfully Craig (and this is just my opinion) I don't think I would fool with doing a headswap if you are not going to change cams. The 93-95 cobra cam is not that great (actually the same cam as what came in the 5.0 t/birds) and would not really match the heads that well when changed over. You can get custom grind cams now that have little chop and that will wake the car up without sounding to much like a 'cammed' car

Like Richard also mentioned, head change is really going to kill your bottom end and you really want to change the rear gears to at least 3.55's (I recommend 3.73's).

[Italian LX]

Nope. Only the 93 cobras came with 65mm t/b's. 94-95 cobras carried the same 60mm t/b as the GT.
:yup:

I would upgrade the throttle body myself; the 60's are pretty small.

[coupe]

Aw hell Craig, just call Hellion Turbo. :D

[TheJeanyus]

Just buy Edgar's motor. :jester:

[slvrbullit]

I would go with the 185's,. a good FTI cam by Ed Curtis( he is the man on that part from what I hear), ported TMOSS lower or for the same money get the Typhoon intake, timiong chain.


As for the mods to my cobra, they are 3.55 gears and a CAI, noting else is done to the car it has 150k miles on it. I can still get about 300 miles on a tank of gas on the highway.

In the silver car, I have gotten as high as 260 miles on a tank of gas on the highway as it sits now before the tweecer.

[QWKSNKE]

I can tell you that Ed will not recommend the 185 (or any 2.02 valve'd head) on a 302 other than TW heads. There have been big threads about interference problems using 2.02 heads on stock 302's on corral and svtperformance

[slvrbullit]

yea that is true, damn little ass reliefed pistons.

[Craig K.]

Current mods to the '95 include pullies, off-road and cat back (summit), K&N drop in and silancer removed, thats it. Still set on factory timing :)

Concerning the Helion Turbo, thats what I really want to do, just through one one put down a very nice realible 400 to the wheels and be done with it. The only problem is that I don't have $4-$5k to spend.

I have around $1k or so (or will in the next few months).
I have been thinking of changing the gears, and hearing from Tommy that he can still get that milage with the 3.55's I might be more tempted to do so.

Aslo about the timing chain, I have one here I would probably through on that has about 15 hours on it (hell it's free and I am a cheap bastered).

Hmmm, still thinking, throw out some more suggestions.

Also didn't Eric (KBZilla) have just the GT-40X heads on his '94? Might have to check and see what kinda of power he was making.

[QWKSNKE]

yeah he bought the GT-40y heads that I had planned on using (I bought them new to put on the 94) and used my b cam when I pulled it out of the 93.

I wanna say the car put down around 270 to the pavement with a tune. Natedawg on here has the car now

[86GT]

With the simple mods below:

70mm TB
Edelbrock 6037 head with 1.94 , 1.60 valves
shorty headers
cat back
1.6 roller rockers
stock MAF and injectors (19lbs)

I put down 303hp and got 22mpg on crapy california gass.

[Shankin]

well we responded about the same time. Do you think 185's is a good idea if he is not planning to get radical with it in the future?


Oh yeah! The 185s make tons more power than the 165s.

[jwillburn119]

put a light cam with a high LSA like 116, and go to like 491 lift... you will be alright on gas... and it will at least work with the AFR's... never do the heads without the cam