FAQs on our Cobra Replica Engines

• How Much Horsepower do you really need?
• Which engine to choose?
• What options are recommended?
• How much Customizing is allowed?
• What's the lead time for ordering?
• Transmission Questions / Recomendations?
• Fuel Injection or Carburetor?
• What else is needed to complete the installation?
• How long can the engine sit in storage while building my car?
• 302 , 351w, Big Block or 4.6 Mod. Engine. Which is best Combination?

How much Horsepower?

Let's first off say that the Weight to Horsepower Ratio of these car's is incredible, better than a Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini at a fraction of the price.  Something with a classic muscle car sound, street friendly, tear a little rubber, handles nicely and still gets decent gas mileage, is accomplished with an engine in the 350-400 Horsepower Range.  Some of our stroker Small block Engine packages in the 400-450 HP are great too, especially for the adrenaline seekers. Quick revving, a little more rumble, smoke the tires and gobs of power! When you want earn some bragging rights of than our Windsor 500+HP  408w, 418w or 427w have crazy power. You can roast your tires on demand. Surprising still street friendly, more attitude, more rumble, scary fast and more conducive for a street / strip use.

Which Engine to Choose?

The two most popular setups for the Cobras has been the 302 and 351w Based engines. There are of course the Big Block engines - 390 and 427FE's.  The 4.6 litre engine is now in the mix too.  Can't forget the venerable 350 Chevy small block motor. The reason for the 302 and 351w being as still being the most popular is they are good happy medium.  Lightweight, nice power gains. run cool,. Putting a Ford into a Ford is still important to the purist, most of the chassis are set to accommodate the small block Fords too.  The FE engines are still popular for some manufacturers like ERA and Kirkham. These engines are bigger, heavier and create more heat.  The 4.6 litre is newer technology but a tight fit for more Cobras and more installation time is needed for these cars.

What options to choose from?

Most of the Engine Packages are setup based upon street use and RPM power range. If you have any ambitions to supercharge, turbocharge , running nitrous or road racing then notify us.  Some upgrades to the internals like gaskets, compression, induction can be upgraded. Don't get caught up in big Horsepower the magazines advertise, again we stress the Cobras are very lightweight and can be overpowered.

How much Customizing is Allowed?

Henry Ford was famous for the statement, "You can get any color so as it's Black".  He was a smart man especially when working with economies of scale. The internal recipes of our engines we prefer to leave alone. The parts work in harmony and sometimes changing something throws off the equilibrium, but this doesn't mean were not flexible.  In regards to the Cosmetic standpoint we offer some different options. The standard engine color is the traditional Ford Blue. Black Blue or Red is an option.  Ignition wire colors are available in Blue, Black, Red and Yellow, standard color being yellow. Polished options available too.

What's the lead time for ordering?

Some of our hotter selling engines we try to inventory to ship within 2-3 weeks for delivery. Some other engine / tranny combos that are more involved allow in the areas of 6-8 weeks.

Transmission Questions and Recommendations?

Most of these cars are setup for a 5 Speed Transmission, so we will concentrate on this. There are a number of 4 , 5 and 6 Speed Manual Transmissions but we recommend going with either a T5 or Tremec TKO series trans. They fit the best, have a 5th gear overdrive gear and are strong enough to handle some pretty big horsepower. In general the T5z Trans. is is sufficient for an engine up towards the 350-400HP range. Beyond this the TKO0-500 Trans. has the torque capacity of 500lbs. The TKO 600 5 Speed capacity is 600+lbs of torque. We do sell engine / tranny packages as an option to our customers for the convenience of one stop shopping. We are not  a Transmission dealer and don't promise to have the lowest prices for trans. Being that these cars are very light the power to the rear wheels is converted more easily than much heavier counterparts.

Fuel Injection or Carburetor?

We still provide more Carbureted engines than Fuel Injection. For a very clean and traditional appearance, minimal wiring , installation time, and cost A Carbureted engine is a great way of going. We setup the fuel mixtures, idle, timing and tuning. In the past fuel injection hookup and tuning was difficult , this has changed as of recently.  Engine Factory offers a plug and play Fuel Injected Boss EFI Engine. It has the appearance of a retro look Carbureted engine but is definitely not carburetion. The new Boss EFI has taken a quantum leap in technology for aftermarket fuel injection systems. It is the least expensive and easiest to install of any full featured system, The features the Engine Management System (EMS) mounted directly onto the throttle body thereby eliminating 80% of the necessary wiring harness. The throttle body assembly includes the EMS, throttle position sensor, MAP sensor, idle air control, and four 62lb. /hr. port style injectors. The linkage on the side of the unit is identical to a Holley 4-barrel and the throttle body has overall dimensions that are the same as a 4150 style Holley. We install a standard Air Cleaner on top. Despite the compact size of the EMS, it is still laptop programmable but for most vehicles the standard program is suitable. The EMS is self-learning which you can start the car up after installation, drive it around for 20 or 30 minutes and it dials itself in to the perfect tune. SEE OUR COMPLETE EZ EFI ENGINE PACKAGES.  This system will run approx. $2,000 more than our carbureted engines.  So the question is which way to go Fuel injection or Carbureted?  We try to sum it up like this:  If you plan on driving your car once in a while, show and go, or on a occasional cruise than a Carbureted engine will work great for you. A carbureted engine will adapt to some weather changes and altitudes.  If you put a lot of miles on your car, drive in different altitudes, want a smoother idle, emissions is a concern and drive a lot in colder climates than Fuel injection is probably a better way of going. You can get 10-15% better gas mileage. This will pay the difference in initial cost.

What else is needed to complete the installation?

Part of the fun of getting a Cobra Kit is the pride in building it the way you want it. There is plenty of miscellaneous items to make your car Road Worthy, Trying to Piece Meal together and Engine shouldn't be one of them. Speaking for most Kit Manufacturers, Wheels, paint and Transmission would be the only items need to finish once you purchase the Complete Engine from us. Our engines come complete with all the accessories, pulleys back to rear flywheel. We provide the engine with a DVD of your engine running, instructions on where the fuel mixtures, ignition timing ect have been set.  Stickers and labels on some of the installation basics. Most of our engines are shipped with oil as well. A few items that are needed water and oil temp temp switches and a throttle cable bracket. Most kit suppliers will furnish the headers, engine mounts, wiring harness and sensors to complete the job. We don't supply a starter with the Ford engines mainly because it doesn't mount on until the transmission bellhousing is bolted on first. We do offer a mini high torque starter as option, or when you purchase one of our Engine / Transmission packages. We provide some instructions with our motors to give you some indication as well.

How long can the engine sit in storage while building my car?

In a perfect world these kits can be assembled in a couple months time with some help along the wa., Going at it solo and on a part time / weekend project it can take many moons to complete as many of you can attest to.  So to answer the question about how long the engine can sit in storage, the answer is for a long time. We have customers need to get the engine ahead of time to mock things up and then pull the engine out again to put aside.  We have a lot of heavy duty lubricant on the bearings and load areas for the first start up.  If an engine sits for over 6 months then fogging the upper cylinders with some lubricant like CRC or WD-40 will do some good. We don't recommend pulling the distributor and priming the oil pump. We do this ahead time, plus it defeats the purpose of purchasing a Turnkey Engine.

302 , 351w, Big Block or 4.6 Mod. Engine. Which is the best Combination?

302

The 5.0 litre Engine has been a venerable part of Cobra Replica Industry for 20+years. Lightweight, Plentiful, can be upgraded to achievable impressive Horsepower, fits very easily in chassis, lightweight and overall pretty reliable. Carbureted or Fuel Injected. For someone who wants to use their car as a cruiser with some extra kick we would suggest going with the 302 / 350 HP or 375 HP engine package. To increase the torque capacity of the motor, stroking it to achieve 331 or 347 cubic inches is the way to go. The "stroker" is impressive with 0-100mph times being very fast! Usually when trying to attain horsepower beyond 425+ we would suggest going with the 351w based motor. The 351w has thicker webbing, larger main caps and Head bolts and doesn't have to work as hard to generate Torque.

351w

The 5.8 litre engine is a great way of going for a number reasons. This motor shares the same engine mount and bellhousing bolt pattern as the 302.  It's a couple of inches wider than the 302 so the headers are different otherwise still makes for a great fit. It weighs only 70lbs. more than the 302 which isn't anything significant. Apples to Apples to a 302 it's a capable of handling more Torque and Horses being that the block is more reinforced. Our 351w / 400 Horsepower engine is probably the best bang for the buck we offer. The 351w Stroker combinations we offer - 393w, 408w, 418w and the 427w deliver up to 550HP. This is just amazing output from a Naturally aspirated small block V8!! So for anyone who wants get a mean sounding engine with the benefits of the small block this is the way to go!!

460 Big Block Engine

The Big Block Ford engine without a doubt delivers huge torque at low RPMs and can sound pretty mean. From a practicality standpoint we don't recommend it though.  Weighs a lot more than a small block, poor fuel economy, Tighter fit for engine and Trans. tunnel, more cost, car is harder to handle and steer. The small block ford these days can deliver some phenomenal power without needing to go as a Big Block.

4.6 Modular Motor

The 4.6 Mod engine has been out for quite a while but the jury is still out on this motor installing into a Cobra Replica. The DOHC engine is a torquey motor with modern day technology. The input we get is that there is definitely more labor time and wiring involved with this engine.  Much tighter fit and weighs more as well. As far as an original look along with a simpler installation the 302 or the 351w would get the nod.