any diff in 96 and 98cobra engine

[danielson631]

hey guys i was just wondering if there are any differences between a 96 and a 98 cobra engine.

myy orig engine is pretty much destroyed and will be swapped out for a new motor soon.
im not sure if this guy it trying to jerk me around but he said they cant find a brand new 96 cobra longblock , but they found a 98 which they say is a little more expensive. i do not understand why, since i thought 96-98 was all the same.

 

[KWClutch]

I believe the 98 had more aggressive cams. That should be the only difference.

 

[TxCobrA98]

I believe the 98 had more aggressive cams. That should be the only difference.

ive never heard this before. who said this?

 

[KWClutch]

Im trying to find it but I can. I also know the 96 had cooling issues.

 

[96_SVT_Cobra]

i believe the only thing was a different ram air intake pipe. the 96 had some... mine never had a prob since i owned it besides the ccrm late last year, but i have a 04 cobra radiator in mine for like a year and a half. lol

 

[danielson631]

i had a few issues with cooling in my 96. ive never heard anything about the cams being different either but idk.

for a brand new 98 cobra longblock apparently all i need to do is swap my intake(which i believe will fit from the 96, right?) they can get it for 4500. i think he said they orig. wanted 5500

they are pricey on the labor, they want 1800 for the swap. AND the sad part is i have to give them the old engine if i wanted it id have to pay 1000.

does this all sound reasonable or a bit much? regardless, im going to get it done here bc i need to spend some real money at a local performance shop, and let them work on my car for once bc i know i will be going there in the future. that place is magic

 

[96_SVT_Cobra]

the only other diff i can think of is around mid 98 they switched to returnless fuel system

 

[atlanticblue98]

the only other diff i can think of is around mid 98 they switched to returnless fuel system

that would mean different fuel rails

 

[Marvin97]

thats $4500 for a brand new engine right? It better not be used, they can be had used for $2500 complete with accessories all day. Now, if you already planned on spending $4500, I would find just a used longblock somewhere, possibly a hurt one, and change to forged rods/ new bearings at the least. I would say you could also add forged pistons and keep it right around the $4500 price tag. What exactly happened to the motor thats in the car? Something that can't be fixed?

 

[KWClutch]

I bought my 04 motor with 52k miles for 5k including computer and harness

 

[danielson631]

I bought my 04 motor with 52k miles for 5k including computer and harness

thats sweet i wish i could find a deal like that around here right now. right after i bought the car some guy was parting out an 03 cobra that was totaled in a roll over. he wanted 8 grand for the whole drivetrain including tranny and ecu. think it had around 50k. was neg too but i had to pass it off bc i just spend 6k on the car

i would however like to stick to the aluminum block thats why i figured id just get the same motor again.

thats $4500 for a brand new engine right? It better not be used, they can be had used for $2500 complete with accessories all day. Now, if you already planned on spending $4500, I would find just a used longblock somewhere, possibly a hurt one, and change to forged rods/ new bearings at the least. I would say you could also add forged pistons and keep it right around the $4500 price tag. What exactly happened to the motor thats in the car? Something that can't be fixed?

there is what i believe is a thrown bearing , the pass. side head has a severe tick that has only gotten worse, and one of the pistons is cracked, as well as the cylinder wall is scored.. i wanted to get a stroker kit and have it overbored, and have the heads rebuilt ported and polished,new cams and all that good stuff, BUT i do not have the time to go through this process, considering this is my D/D. thats why i figured it would just be good to start fresh with 0 miles on the clock( btw how can i set the miles back to zero? never thought of that). and next winter i can possibly start doing up the new motor. at least for some summer time fun im thinking about throwing a bottle in


also thanks for the input guys

 

[duff daddy]

1) you cant set the mileage back to zero that's Odomiter fraud. Just document the swap at the mileage and then do math from then on
2) You do understand that to remove an engine and install an engine on your car should take NO MORE then 4-5 hours right? (this is basically take the old engine out, have the new one ready, put on the trans, k member and stuff back in the car) But book time to do the job i bet is 10-12 hours. Also with this long block is it a Re-man or is it used???
3) your idea to do an overbore on your stock block will get SUPER expensive when you get in to hot sleeving your block.

 

[BMOREstang]

I believe the imrc runners were made from plastic instead of aluminum in 98 and the ports were a tad larger. Probably a difference that doesnt make a difference though lol.

 

[TxCobrA98]

I believe the imrc runners were made from plastic instead of aluminum in 98 and the ports were a tad larger. Probably a difference that doesnt make a difference though lol.

yeah the IMRC's were different. aluminum IMRCs were ran in the 96 and 97s and 98 had plastic.

the plastic IMRC's are the ones you want, they dissipate heat better.

 

[MustangChris]

I bought my 04 motor with 52k miles for 5k including computer and harness

i bought an 04 with 32 for 6k with all computers and harnesses
talk to jeff about buying an 04 termi motor, he might have a lead for you.

 

[danielson631]

i already bought the 98 cobra longblock it was sitting on the shelf since it was manifactured, wasnt a refurbished one. its coming from NJ so it should be here in a few days and in the car by the weekend.i would like to do the swap myself but i dont have the time tools or the space to get it done. not to mention the experience of swapping a motor.(except with a friends honda, which was a joke lol)

i wanted to stick to the teskid block alhought i would have loved a terminator for the eaton, but there something i like better about the aluminum block over cast iron. in the future would like to go turbo, and still have a stroker kit in mind but that would be much further down the road. for now im thinking a 125shot, 410s and some sticky tires should do me good for this summer.

3) your idea to do an overbore on your stock block will get SUPER expensive when you get in to hot sleeving your block.

im not too mechanicly inclined here, can someone please brief me on the process of hot sleeving and or why exactly it would need to be done?

also, if someone doesnt mind can they please explain to me the proper way to break in a brand new motor? first time thing for me

 

[MustangChris]

sleeving a motor is where they bore out the cyliner and place a tube down it. The tube (sleeve) is made out of stronger material than the block and therefore provide a stronger cyinder wall. This is common when you want to do a big-bore. Due to the stronger matierial of the sleeve, they dont hae to be as thick as the cylinder wall was originally for teh same amount of strength.

for example: you have a 2L engine. your options are to bore it out to 2.5L or bore it out to 3L, sleeve it, and have a final product of 2.8L, with the same strength and reliability of the 2.5L.

The other benifit is that you can choose what the sleeve is made out of. Alot of people avoid having pistons made out of the same matieral as the block (forged aluminum pistons with an aluminum block.) if you put a sleeve in there thats not aluminum, you can have an aluminum block with aluminum pistons. many people use ductile iron because its somewhat "elastic" opposed to cast iron....

there are a few problems...
if you have an aluminum block and pistons, they cool rather quickly. and because the sleeves are a seperate material, they will heat-up, cool-down, expand, and contrast at a different rate than the block and pistons...

worst case scenario: sleeve sinking.
one of your sleeves comes loose, i'll let your imagination take over from here on what that can do...

heres a motorcycle sleeve that slipped.
<img src="http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1461/6266009/20575610/335079640.jpg">

 

[danielson631]

thanks chris for the very detailed explanation of how this works. i have a much better understanding now.

as for breaking in a new motor, anyone have and tips or suggestions about that??

thanks, you guys rock

 

[MustangChris]

proper engine break in is one of those never-answerable questions... everyone has different opinions and different experiences.

"use conventional oil, run it hard"
"use synthetic blend, run is soft"
"use synthetic, run it hard"

i suggest changing the oil often... ever 150 miles or so for the first 600 miles.
i suggest conventional oil for two reasons: sythetic oil will by-pass the new rings before they are properly seated. you will be changing the oil quite often, why waste money on synthetic?


my neighbor is kind of old school. he does alot of stuff on carbed engines, so he puts a gas tank in the air, primes the engine, primes the carb, puts the distributor back on, gets the fire extiinguisher ready and starts 'er up. he then takes it to 2,000 rpms, lets it sit for aobut a minute, then takes it to 4000 rpms for about 20 seconds, then back to 2000... aftera few minutes he'll take it extremely high in the RPMs, lets it drop... lets it "idle" as he re-fills the gas (high idle, at about 15-1700 rpms)... puts it back at 2,000 RPMs, and zip-ties the carb open at 2,000 RPMs and lets it nearly run out of gas. once the tank is low on fuel, he'll kill the motor... (lets it sit at 2,000 RPMs for half an hour or so)

he then changes the oil and filter, re-attaches the proper fuel system, and calls it good to go for soft-driving...

once you've hit 3000 miles, switch to synthetic blend. once youve hit 4000 miles, switch to fully synthetic for the remainder of the motor.


now, keep in mind you are asking for suggestions off the interwebs... you will got alot of "opinion" based comments... my reply to you is my nighbors "opinion" of proper engine break-in.... if you are having this swap done by a shop, be sure to ask them for their process, because if your motor fails and you followed their rules, you will have a better chance of getting retrobution; whereas you'll never get anything from anyone off the internet...

 

[pmot]

I believe the only differences are plastic IMRC, and improved radiator fans and maby slightly different wireing harnes for the new fans. I don't think the heads are different nor the cams. The air intake is also different i think.