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Upgrades
DYNO: I went to the dyno today 12/8/2004. The car responded very well to the new intake, throttle body, and
adjustable fuel pressure regulator. It laid down 249 rwhp
and 283 foot pound torque. That's an increase of 36 rwhp and 15 foot pound torque. Needless to say the intake and throttle body were huge bottle necks. I also gained a few hp with the adjustable fuel pressure regulator. I also did a dyno pull with the nitrous and laid down
303 rwhp and 379 foot pound torque. I've posted two 15 second videos below of the naturally aspirated pulls.
video 1 (5 megs)
video 2 (5 megs)
12. Cobra intake, 70 mm Throttle Body, and adjustable fuel pressure regulator. I recently went to the dyno and found out I had a few bottle necks in my near stock set up. Here are the before and after pictures:
DYNO: I'm heading to the dyno this week to see what the new intake, throttle body and fuel
pressure regulator net. I'm hoping for a conservative 10 rwhp increase. I'll post the results.
11. 100 amp alternator and mini gear starter. I recently had the alternator catch on fire, not
really sure why but it was a 95 amp G3 model. I replaced it with a one wire 100 amp alternator from Summit Racing. Along with the new alternator I got tired of the weak stock direct drive starter. I
replaced it with a 1995 Ford Mustang gear starter. That cured the problem.
DYNO: I recently went to the dyno shop to see what the car put down. It laid down 213 rwhp (rear
wheel hp) and 268 foot pounds torque. With the 75 hp shot of nitrous it laid down 276 rwhp and 358 foot pounds torque. I did find out that my setup is running very rich so I'll be purchasing a
adjustable fuel pressure regulator to cure the condition. Supposedly I'll pick up a few hp too. For comparison a stock 5.0 usually lays down around 190 rwhp.
10. Crane 2030 cam shaft. A buddy of mine Rich who seems to come across some crazy deals
brought me a slightly used cam shaft. I had recently read an article in Fast Fords about a mostly stock cam upgrade with a Crane 2030 camshaft. In their dyno tests it netted about 10 hp across the power
band. Guess what cam shaft he found? It now resides in the car.
9. One Piece Steering Shaft. I recently installed a one piece steering shaft from Breeze Automotive. This replace the butt welded 3 piece shaft that comes in pieces with the car. This will
give me piece of mind and it also happens to look better.
8. Powder Coating Kit. I just purchased a powder coating kit and I have to say I am very happy
with the results. I will be posting some of the before and after pictures.
7. EFI Computer Cover. While I'm in the cockpit area, I also decided to order a EFI Computer
cover from Breeze Automotive. Currently my computer is exposed. Not only to the elements but to
everyone who sees the car. Mind you my carpet isn't in yet either. This billet aluminum cover will clean up the interior and protect the computer also.
6. Steering Wheel Bezel. I just ordered and installed a custom billet aluminum steering wheel
bezel. I order it from: www.mikescustomcobraparts.net. Mike is a very friendly guy who makes some
top notch parts. This bezel isn't supplied with the FFR kit and leaves a hole in the dash around the steering shaft. Needless to say it is not very attractive and looks unfinished without the bezel.
5. Upgraded Gauges. The converted Mustang gauges have done a fine job of keeping me aware of
what is going on but the new nitrous system has spawned the upgrade in gauges. A complete nitrous
system requires a bottle pressure and fuel pressure gauge. Therefore those were the first additions. I have recently been having problem with my fuel gauge so that was the next upgrade. The oil pressure
and water temperature gauges will we the next to be replaced. I used Autometer Sport Comp. 2 1/16 inch gauges that drop right into the dash sold with the FFR kit.
4. ZEX nitrous system. Well as most of us know you can never have enough horsepower, ever.
Now don't get me wrong, the Cobra is really fast but faster can't hurt can it. I am currently running the 75 hp jets along with 14 degrees of timing. The ZEX kit is a new kit that uses bottle pressure to measure how much nitrous to safely inject into the intake tract. I also installed a in dash nitrous
pressure, and fuel pressure gauge to complement the system. Here are some pictures of the nitrous install.
3. Wiper Park feature. This one has been very annoying for me personally. When I bought the
wipers from Factory Five I expected the wipers to park at the bottom of the windshield like any (normal) wipers do. Not so with the Lucas wipers. The stop where ever you turn the switch off.
You need to use the following schematic from my buddy Wade or dig up the Lucas part to do so. It will cost yo about $7.00 in switches and relays which you can also obtain from Radio Shack. You can
download the schematic from here:
Wiring Diagram for Wiper Park feature
2. Security system. Once I had the Cobra registered a sudden panic came over me. How do I keep
it. Sounds like a silly question but once you have but hundreds of hours into something you want it to be as secure as possible, right? We'll other than a good car theft insurance I have done the following
for theft deterrence.
Basically it is a very simple design. I used a keyless entry system tied in with a latching relay to
disable the starter and ignition. I also added a blinking LED to be a warning.
I looked into various alarms and they have great features for regular cars but a Cobra doesn't have
a top, or switches on the doors for lights, etc. The only thing that even remotely interested me was the proximity alarms they offered. However car alarms are annoying at best. How many times have
you walked by a car with its alarm going off thinking "damn that is annoying". Well I took the passive approach. One thing to remember is that people will stop to look at your car. It's fairly
unique and most people are just curious and aren't out to steal your car. The other thought I had was how hard would it be to steel a car like a Cobra and be low key. Come on, ever cop in the world
probably knows what a Cobra is. I'm going to post some pictures of the basic install. The thing to remember is that insurance is good but other deterrents make sleeping at night much easier.
1. Gauge lighting. Sounds like a simple concept but if you use the donor Mustang gauges then be
aware that you will have to do this upgrade. This is because the lighting for the Mustang is integrated into the dash pod not the gauges. This was a fun upgrade. To do so I used miniature 12 volt bulbs
from Radio Shack. Drill a hole in the light channel and epoxy them in. Note: You can bypass his is you go with after market gauges.
Maintenance
8. I put 800 miles on my car this season (2004). This year has been busy. The car got painted,
a new cam shaft, new alternator (old one burnt up), and new gear starter, NOS bottle heater, intake, adjustable fuel pressure reg. and a new throttle body.
7. I put 500 miles on my car last season (2003). No real maintenance other than oil changes.
6. The Autometer Fuel Pressure gauge was recalled (2002). Therefore I have a wonderful
hole in the dash until it's returned from Autometer.
5. I put 2000 miles on my car last season (2001). Since the drives side cat. glitch there hasn't
been anything else except for the upgrades and the needed oil change.
4. My latest issue is with the drivers side cat. The weld seem started to break and leak. I
replaced it with the straight pipe and plan on getting it rewelded at the local muffler shop.
3. I put 400 miles on my car last season (2000). Due to the minor mechanical bugs above. I
haven't seen much wear on any of the components though. I have looked for leaks primarily.
2. My rear end is making some really weird noises. Ahh the joy of using something you
bought second hand. I got the rear end for a steal or so I thought. I have already replaced the regular items: calipers, rotors, break lines, and pads. Now I get to replace the traction lock unit for a
additional ($250) because the clutch plates are inconsistently engaging when the rear end gets warm (about 10-15 minutes). I recently came across another 7.5" rear end with 3.08 gears so I'll be
swapping the rear out to remedy this issue.
1. My exhaust manifolds keep burning plug wires. This is due to the GT-40P heads that I
have used. I read from various people that you can dimple the headers and run spark plug boots. That isn't true. If you want GT-40P heads because they are cheaper factor in a set of GT-40P
specific headers ($230 for the pair). I have replaced my stock 5.0 headers with GT-40 specific headers and no longer have a issue with my plug wires burning.
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