Cobra is 20 years old

Don Schlusemeyer

Contributing Member
Member
My son and I picked up our kit from Factory Five the day after Thanksgiving in 2002 and we were driving it on 3/1/03. At the time it was a pretty basic kit using the required parts from the donor car (which by the way was a really nice 1989 GT Convertible that was bought for $2,900). It has been upgraded a bit over the last couple of years; installed a three link, new brakes, new front suspension and power steering, new radiator and finally got the headers and side pipes powered coated. The motor is a warmed over 302, stock heads, E303 cam and Cobra intake with the original 5 speed. The car runs great, it can sit for months and will start up on the first crank every time. But, it is 1989 technology and it is time to upgrade the drive train. The plan is to get a small block crate motor, some street-able aluminum heads and a new transmission. The big decision is the intake system. I had been leaning towards a stack system (for the cool factor) but as I get further into this, even the expensive complete systems aren't necessarily complete. Then it takes a good tuner to get them set-up correctly. I am not looking to build a science experiment especially since I have a perfectly good running car right now. The new plan is looking like the Holley Sniper system with the related electronics and ignition system. It gets good reviews, looks to be mostly a plug and play without a lot of "tuning" involved. I still need to pick out an appropriate intake manifold, lots of good possibilities. Summit Racing hasn't been making daily deliveries to my house for years, it's time to get that started again.

Happy Holidays!
 
I concur w Elder.
My FFR is 20+ years old and I’m running a 351 w a 4bbl Holley w mechanical secondaries. Always reliable, very streetable.
425hp/425tq.
 
I had thought about going the 351W route. The side-pipes will fit the engine but with the taller deck height the cutouts for the side-pipes might not be enough. Not looking to get into body modifications. Might have to look into this further though.
 
Go with a carburetor! They are not as responsive as EFI, but the reliability is there and it is simpler to fix and tune.
I have a Holley Sniper, which has been, per request, sent to Holley for repair after one year of little driving. Apparently, there's a bad injector. They won't sell me an injector to repair it myself, but, who knows, there could be other issues. I have had EFI issues since my first EFI system (Mass Flo) crapped out after 10 years. I'm SO done with aftermarket EFIs. :tickedoff: Oh, I forgot to mention that I had a Holley Terminator X ECU with my Mass Flo throttle body and injectors. That failed miserably. EFI systems don't mix.
 
Contrarian view, the OEM injection system is super reliable other than the computers being 35 years old and the caps drying out.
Doesn't look very cool, but if you don't mess w it it will be reliable and you already have one!
 
Factory Five sells headers for the 351w, they come with a "ball socket" connection at the collector to allow some adjust ability.
 
I ended up getting (ordering) a 347 from Blueprint Engines, engine is complete except for the front end accessories. Right now the lead time is about 3 months. After talking with Factory Five about how the 351 would fit, it looks like some bodywork would have been needed to get the headers/side pipes to work. The 347 has an honest 400 hp which should be plenty.
 
I ended up getting (ordering) a 347 from Blueprint Engines, engine is complete except for the front end accessories. Right now the lead time is about 3 months. After talking with Factory Five about how the 351 would fit, it looks like some bodywork would have been needed to get the headers/side pipes to work. The 347 has an honest 400 hp which should be plenty.
Way more than enough to get you into trouble. Great to see you back on the site Don. O0
 
Contrarian view, the OEM injection system is super reliable other than the computers being 35 years old and the caps drying out.
Doesn't look very cool, but if you don't mess w it it will be reliable and you already have one!
Agreed. My slightly modified (Bigger TB and Injectors) OEM system on my 5.0 looks UGLY. But it has never let me down.
 
Contrarian view, the OEM injection system is super reliable other than the computers being 35 years old and the caps drying out.
Doesn't look very cool, but if you don't mess w it it will be reliable and you already have one!

I have to agree with Tim, no matter how you dress it up, it's like putting lipstick on a pig....

DSC08114 right view.jpg
 
The Summit Racing deliveries have started. A Tremec T5 and QuickTime bell housing just delivered today. New fuel tank, electric pump and other fuel line stuff last week. New flywheel is on order. Trying to decide on a clutch/pressure plate.
 
Engine just delivered, have just about everything else. I have a couple of projects to finish at my house and my son's house, then let the fun begin.
 

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