Cobra 5.0

[87DeuceVic]

Well, I was wondering what the differences were between a plain HO 5.0 in a fox body GT and a 5.0 in a Cobra???

[87gtVIC]

upper and lower intake, and the look of the intakt. it gives more power at a different rpm than the stock 5.0 ho. thats all i know. wait....there is the price as well.

[packman]

I would guess that the difference would be in the intake and heads.



Packman

[1987cp]

Heads and cam, mostly, though the intake is a bit freer-flowing as well. 5.0 Cobras used early GT40 heads (F1ZE casting, I think) that are the same as '96 Explorer heads but with slightly smaller chambers.

I have a link somewhere that I'm pretty sure has the Cobra cam specs in it .... it's slightly fatter than the HO cam, somewhere in the range of 280/280 advertised duration (HO is 266/276 IIRC), and used 1.7:1 Crane roller rockers from the factory.

Pretty sure the cobra motor was rated at about 245HP versus 210-ish for the regular HO motor.

[GilroyRacing]

U/L intake, gt-40 heads...

[87_crown_vic]

well... i know in the early 90s the Cobra Mustangs with the body style of the 94 had 5.0s and had name stamps on them by the engine assembler. that way if the engine needed work, the parts could be put together and built to same specs by the person that built the engine. i saw the plate mounted on the engines back when they had them at the dealers back then when i looked at a few for fun. i think there is more to the Cobras than just the intake set up if they had specifics and were referred back to original engine builder

[gadget73]

heads, cam, intake, and 1.7 roller rockers. The shortblock is no different as far as I'm aware.

[1987cp]

Just remembered, the site I was thinking of is www.jason.fletcher.net , but it's down right now.

I did find this post by someone called "ralphie" at forums.musclemustangsfastfords.com nestled amongst various annoying misinformation ...

i called fms and they are different cams (learned something new cool). i always assumed that they where the same cause the valve lift is very close. 93 cobra cam is .480 lift with 1.72 rockers, 118 1/4 lobe seperation and 270/270 adv. duration. the stock 5.0 cam is .444 lift with 1.6 rockers and .477 with 1.72 rockers, 115 lobe seperation and 276/266 adv. duration. learn something new everyday. i've measured the lift on a cobra at the valve with a dial indicator and got around .480 so i assumed it was the same.

By comparison, among regular GT cams the E5ZE-AA had 266/266 advertised duration with .444/.444 lift, and the E8ZE-CA had 10 degrees more intake duration than its predecessor. (current source: the above post and forums.mustangworks.com since Fletcher's site is down)

[turbo2256b]

The 93 Cobras were different than the 94/95s. 93s had an ECM and Mass Air that were unique to that year. The Mass Air meter is calibrated to 24# injectors.
The 94/95 Cobras used a Mass Air meter calibrated to 19# injectors but used 24# injectors. The ECM was calibrated to tune for 24# instead of the Mass Air meeter. The Air Temp sensor was also moved in the 94/95s. 93 was in the intake (#5 runner). In the 94/95 it was moved ahead of the Mass Air meter thusly providing more accurate measurement of air temperatue.
Moving it ahead allowed the tem sensor data to be used better spark and fuel control.
Intake, , heads TBs were common. 1.7 rocker arms were used. Not shure but I believe the cam in the Cobras was more like the Exploder cam. I am almost positive of it. when i first converted to the 93 Cobra stuff I was running a HO cam with Cobra rockers and discovered a differance.
The ECM in the 93s are the easyest to convert into a earlyer SFI cars. Pinning of the ECM is very similar. The 94/95s add a bunch more sensors such as fan control, brake, PS and some other stuff. Pin locations are also moved around a bit though common with the older units.
There are also debates on the tune of the 93s being much coarser than the 94/95s.

At the time I did my conversion info on how not using pinings not used in the older cars woulld affect the operation of the 94/95 ECMs in a older car. Relocating pinnings differnt though same in function between both years could have been just a matter of moving some wiring to different locations in the connector.

Both ECMs have speed control built in. I n my case I have the stand alone system intact that cam with the 87s. It could be converted to the program in the ECM. I think it dosent affect anything but does show a error code when a diagnostic is run stating there is a weak or no signal to the speed sensor.

[cld783]

all of the above pretty much sums it up.. i'd just like to add that the cobra eec blows ass without a tune.. it might even be beneficial to have a gt eec tuned to your application.

[packman]

You guys friggin rawk!!!! Seriously though, a lot of good info. What would be a good book to read about building up and modifying 5.0L/5.8L engines?



Packman

[cld783]

why would you need a book? all the info you would ever need you can get here

[packman]

I like books because you can just pick them up and read them. It's hard to read through tech info while I am at work because my boss is right next to my cubicle. It's hard enough to look at porn with him around.



Packman

[1987cp]

You guys friggin rawk!!!! Seriously though, a lot of good info. What would be a good book to read about building up and modifying 5.0L/5.8L engines?



Packman

I've seen a couple of good ones ... one I've come into possession of is called HPBooks How to Rebuild SMALL-BLOCK FORD ENGINES, "Covers all years & models, 221, 255, 260, 289, HP289, 302, Boss 302 & 351 cid engines. Inspection, Parts ID and Interhcnage, Disassembly, Short block and Cylinder Head Reconditioning, Engine and Cylinder Head Assembly, Installation, Tuneup." I'm not sure if it's the same book as I used a few years back (different cover could just be a newer publishing date), but it seems to have pretty complete information about a wide variety of stuff.

[mitymerc]

HPBooks How to Rebuild SMALL-BLOCK FORD ENGINES

That is a good book for basic rebuilding. I remember being lent a good book years back, I think it was called something like " How to".... hot rod or maybe hop up "your small block Ford"