Casper the Cobra - Procharged 96' Cobra

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Venompower

Venompower

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Clean it up and run it to track down where it’s coming from. It looks like it could be coming from the head gasket area so it could be a head gasket.
These are the times I hate DOHC engines… cam in block engines are so much easier to work on… I’d probably remove the Procharger and trade for a 95’ Cobra at this point lol.
 

lwarrior1016

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Well… how complex would head gaskets be?
Complex is a relative term, really. It will require you have a few special tools like a harmonic balancer puller and installer. Then just various sockets and wrenches. And a hood torque wrench for assembly.

Take off the exhaust (header removed from head), intake manifold, blower, balancer, power steering pump from the block, ac compressor from the block, water pump pulley, cam covers, then the front cover. At that point the timing chains will be exposed and we would just have to put the crank keyway at 9 o’clock then remove the primary chains.


THEN the head is ready to come off.

I replaced a piston in my coyote with the engine in the car. You can do it. C7023D0D-EC5F-4183-88E3-66D34350BEAF.jpeg
 
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Complex is a relative term, really. It will require you have a few special tools like a harmonic balancer puller and installer. Then just various sockets and wrenches. And a hood torque wrench for assembly.

Take off the exhaust (header removed from head), intake manifold, blower, balancer, power steering pump from the block, ac compressor from the block, water pump pulley, cam covers, then the front cover. At that point the timing chains will be exposed and we would just have to put the crank keyway at 9 o’clock then remove the primary chains.


THEN the head is ready to come off.

I replaced a piston in my coyote with the engine in the car. You can do it. View attachment 21041
You make it sound so easy… I wish I had friends closer that could drink my beer and tell me what to do.
 

lwarrior1016

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You make it sound so easy… I wish I had friends closer that could drink my beer and tell me what to do.
Really man, once you just make the first few steps toward the goal and you start taking things apart, it’s not hard. Getting started is the hardest part. Mustering up the courage to tackle the project, then getting started.
 
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Really man, once you just make the first few steps toward the goal and you start taking things apart, it’s not hard. Getting started is the hardest part. Mustering up the courage to tackle the project, then getting started.
So based on the amount of stuff that would need to come apart, what other things would you refresh while doing it?
 
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Venompower

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Ford Mechanic in my local Mustang club advised he thinks it’s a leak from the front timing cover that worked it’s way back. He said these engines aren’t known for leaking oil at the head gasket, but are known to have timing cover leaks. I’ll have to take a look tomorrow.
 

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Really man, once you just make the first few steps toward the goal and you start taking things apart, it’s not hard. Getting started is the hardest part. Mustering up the courage to tackle the project, then getting started.

^^^ All of this! Getting the courage to start on a project is always the hardest/scariest part! Felt the exact same way multiple times with my GT. Just do your research, take your time and of course post on here if you get stuck. There is no need to rush it, turn it into a winter project... not like you'll be driving during an IL winter anyway lol.


As for "while I'm in there" parts I would do valve cover and timing chain cover gaskets as well as a new front crank seal for peace of mind. Besides that, just take a good hard look at all the other components.
 
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Between the festivities surrounding Halloween with my boys, and the weather I haven't been able to check anything else out. I'm going to reach out to some local machine shops to get a feel for how much the machine work would be to add forged rods and pistons, and then if that's crazy... I'm just going to start saving for a modmax forged shortblock. I'm tired of wondering about the engine, tired of being slow.
 
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Just went out and looked and found some oil on the bolt for the tensioner, leaning towards timing cover gasket... possibly due to the added weight of the Procharger and corresponding bracket on that side?

Update:

Took the car out on my lunch break and did an approx. 15 minute data log.

Everything in the log looked good, I got only two misfires the entire drive on cylinders 5 and 7 which is opposite of the side with the oil leak. I did find what appears to be an exhaust leak before the Bank 2 02 Sensor as it was consistently low compared to the other 02 sensor. I did two first gear pulls and also managed to hit 10 psi in first, the pulls looked good on the log. So I think next step is UV dye in the oil, and then checking it with a UV light
 
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Akurma

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LiquiMoly makes oil with green UV dye in it. not sure if you're due for an oil change but figured i'd mention it
 

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