Procharged 97 cobra engine options for poor ppl??? lol

FlewByU

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So I have a 97 cobra with 51k miles with the last 20k or so with a p1 procharger. Ran great, not really as fast as I would have liked but pretty strong. Anyway was out beating on it and something finally let go and it started smoking bad got home and pulled the plugs, 2 and 3 were covered in oil. Soooo that's why I was wondering about engine swap options?? In a perfect world I would forge my teksid or buy a short block it just seems out of my price range?? About 2000$$ went to a machine shop where I live and he said 3000 plus parts to build it wow. So that's why I said swap options because I see these aviator engines complete for 1500? So it will be a aluminum block and it will get me some c heads to so this is what I'm leaning towards at the moment what are the draw backs of this? I know the flywheel but what else. If I got to spend $ on bunch lil stuff prob blow the budget. What can anyone tell me about the stock navi 5.4??they are even cheaper around here. I really didn't want the extra weight of the iron block and the 5.4 but I'm listening if it makes sense. I really don't want a mark8 engine even tho that's basically what it came with. Tho price wise it can't be beat. I'm not trying to set the world on fire with hp #'s just trying get a fairly plug and play engine to put in there while I slowly build my teksid over time and still be able to enjoy the car now and if I could get something that's a lil bit of a upgrade or has some parts I could use in the future that's what I wanna do.
 
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FlewByU

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And one more thing can I take any iron block 2v 4.6 or 5.4 and Bolton all my 4v stuff???
 

ScottyDsntKnow

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If you can pull it and do all your own work, rebuild what you have and upgrade a few things. If not, $3k for a machine shop to do all the work and get all the parts is not that bad. TBTH... supercharger and poor ppl do not usually go on the same sentence unless you have the tools and skills to do ALL the work yourself.

Also your tune was likely bad or too aggressive if it let go like that. A 4.6 with a stock bottom end will live a long happy life at 400-425 to the wheels with a good tune.
 
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FlewByU

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I have allways done all my own wrenching I'm poor. Lol poorish. Anyway the machine shop wanted 3000$ basically for there labor and the machine work... Not counting for good rods/pistons bolts and gaskets... I just want a short block and I can handle building the rest of it. Ive never built a shortblock from scratch. And I don't have the tools to measure everything right. The tune is a lil off its a generic procharger chip it came with and I wasnt easy on it either. 400-425 at the wheels is all I really want.... So I've found a bunch of mark8 and aviator engines in my $$$$ range... With the goal like we said just 400whp I'm guessing a b head mark8 and my procharger at 10 psi should be 400 since from what I read my cobra has this engine anyway except it was built by svt guys moe g and Wayne I think lol. Sense that will get me 400 I would think that the aviator eng with it's c heads would do a lil more 420? or have alot more torque or may be just a better torque curve? I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble to do the aviator engine to get the c heads?
 

ScottyDsntKnow

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C heads are better but a Mark will be a 100% swap your accessories, intake, your cams and roll. You will want a 97 or 98 Mark tho, nothing earlier.

And yeah if you would have gotten a good local tune or remote tune I doubt it would have blown. Get a wideband too if you don't have one.
 
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FlewByU

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why only 97-98 mark? Even if I use my heads?
I do have a wideband and just replaced the sensor before she let go. As far as the c heads go I can't find any decent info on them with a centrifugal blower. I just want to see some torque #'s with the centri vs my b heads I'm not interested in peak hp #s I'm thinking more like the area under the curve is a what I want to see. there is so much blah blah blah c heads better no b heads better crap out there. Lol. anyone have some real torque #'s for a c heads and centri blower???
 

ScottyDsntKnow

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The 97/98 Mark VIII had the beehive springs the Cobra got. If you are going to swap your heads this is not a big deal but if you are going to buy a good running motor... why would you want to swap heads and have to buy all the ARP stuff etc...? Find a good running 97/98 Mark and swap your intake cams and go. This is if you stay with the B heads anyway.

There is plenty of info out there if you look on the 4V heads. There is a HUGE writeup on all the different heads and what is good and what the benefits are floating around copy/pasted in most forums. Simple google search of B heads vs C heads and 5 minutes of digging and you'll find it.

Cliff's notes: C heads make more power at ALL RPM than B heads. Ppl will tell you the Bs are better for boost, nope. This is not to say the B heads suck, far from it, but they don't have the bottom end the C heads have.

There are really 2 types of C heads available, the 99/01 Style and the 03-05 revised with the 05 revised being the most desirable. HOWEVER... people want a firstborn child for the revised heads in good shape especially the 05 versions which had the final updated cooling passages and 8 thread spark plugs holes. The high availability of 99/01 heads for next to nothing in very good shape makes them a real good choice on a budget, that's what I am doing. Especially boosted, the difference between the 99/01 style C heads and the 03-05 is basically nonexistent. The cheap place to find these heads in good running order is on 99-02 Continental motors.
 
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FlewByU

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lol yeh I've read that over and over it is every where.
Yeh I found a lot of info on n/a setups was just wondering about centri boosted stuff cause I've read a lot of conflicting info on that subject. Like you I'm starting to lean more toward the c heads of some sort. I'm thinking find a 05 aviator engine???? And swap my cams in that??? A intake adapter of some sort I guess?
 

ScottyDsntKnow

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99/01 heads are best bang for the buck easy. Especially boosted the difference between them and the revised heads is nil. For the 96-98 cars there is no intake adapter for the lower but a user on SVTP makes plates that adapt the 99-04 lowers with the 96-98 upper so you can keep the look and the throttle/cruise cable setup you already have.
 

Nighttrain

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If you want cheap, theres a 96 or 97 cobra motor, complete for sale in delaware. If youre looking to upgrade from what you have scotty's got you on the right path. Imho if youre going to build the teksid you already have throw the one on cl in and use the cash you got left at your build. The guy only wants $600-$650 for it.
 

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