4.6 4v Teardown & Build Thread

[JB85]

Thought I would create a thread to show my progress on a teardown and rebuild of a 4.6 4v that I have in my garage. I recently posted that I just bought a 1996 Saleen, and my plan this winter is to take out the saleen motor and swap in the cobra motor. This is my first attempt any anything "modern" for me, as I was raised around 60's muscle cars and only worked on 1969 cougars and mustangs as a kid. I still have my fully restored 1969 cougar too. So to be honest, I am a little nervous to tackle something so modern with a shit load of wires everywhere.

so for this motor I have, I found it on offer up 2 years ago. I paid $800 for it. The seller said he blew his cobra motor in his 1997 vert, and the insurance company gave him the wrong engine 3 times, so he finally rebuilt his and by the time the insurance company delivered a cobra motor to him, he had no need for it. I'm hoping I didn't buy a massive paper weight that's been blown to hell and back. So I am going to start tearing it down this weekend to see what the internals look like.

Also, would appreciate any advice, but I noticed last night that the motor has a moroso oil pan, and a different set of header gaskets that are not factory. Is that by chance an oil pan for a turbo? it has a spot for an oil line, so I am hoping this motor wasnt raced. Is there any way to tell if the cams are not factory?

 

[98 svt]

Yes that pan can be used for a turbo or sc setup. Or simply to give a higher oil capacity.

 

[gimmie11s]

Love me some motor builds. Enjoy it. Bag everything and label, makes reassembly much easier.

Staying organized is the trick to a successful/stress-free motor build.

 

[JB85]

Love me some motor builds. Enjoy it. Bag everything and label, makes reassembly much easier.

Staying organized is the trick to a successful/stress-free motor build.

yes I am placing everything in bags and labeling them, and taking a picture of everything i remove. I want the swap to be as easy as possible

 

[04DeadShort]

There's a small possibility you have a gold mine there. It could have forged rods and pistons already stuffed in it. We'll know when you tear it down. You can easily cross reference the cam numbers on Google and be able to find out exactly what you have.

 

[JB85]

There's a small possibility you have a gold mine there. It could have forged rods and pistons already stuffed in it. We'll know when you tear it down. You can easily cross reference the cam numbers on Google and be able to find out exactly what you have.

that would be awesome! I am hoping to at least get the heads off tonight, assuming I can find some spare time. Having a 3 year old running around and only getting time to work on it at night is tough.

 

[04DeadShort]

that would be awesome! I am hoping to at least get the heads off tonight, assuming I can find some spare time. Having a 3 year old running around and only getting time to work on it at night is tough.

I can relate. I have 3 kids myself, 11yr old and down. Hard to find the time for sure.

 

[04DeadShort]

Can the engine be rotated by hand?

 

[JB85]

Can the engine be rotated by hand?

not by hand, but i took a socket to the main pully and it spins prety good, it starts to build pressure after a few cranks. is that good or bad?

 

[Bullitt1448]

sounds about right to me, at least you know it isn't locked up

 

[gimmie11s]

Pull the oil pan asap

inquiring minds want to know lol

 

[freebird50]

that would be awesome! I am hoping to at least get the heads off tonight, assuming I can find some spare time. Having a 3 year old running around and only getting time to work on it at night is tough.

That's what the wife is for right?

 

[JB85]

That's what the wife is for right?

LOL I cant push my luck too far....

 

[JB85]

well..... you all are the experts lol. since this is my first ever dive at a mod motor, does it look ok? all the rods look straight to me. From what I can tell, it looks bone stock, I was really hoping to pop it open and see some internal mods lol, but just some dweeb put on the oil pan for no reason. what about all that oil on the intake runners? that cant be good. for the most part, the oil pan was clean, didnt find any weird metal or plastic pieces. the oil pan bolt had very small amounts of metal stuck to it since its magnetic. should I continue tearing it down? I hate how corroded the block looks. I want it to be show quality when its done.

 

[JB85]

iphone video of the internals

 

[04DeadShort]

Yea, it looks like a factory untouched bottom end. Doesn't look terribly bad for its age. The crank looks to be forged and not a a cast 6 bolt unit out of Lincoln Mark 8. Looks like the engine maybe suffered some extended oil change intervals. The cams look factory. The crud on the intake manifold is due to the PCV valve recirculating back into the intake. A catch can will help against that tremendously. Or pcv delete will completely stop it. But you'll have a occasional oil smell coming from the front of the car. Up to you. You are that far along might as well go all the way with it now. Especially since you want show quality. Do you have a good engine machinist nearby?

 

[JB85]

Yea, it looks like a factory untouched bottom end. Doesn't look terribly bad for its age. The crank looks to be forged and not a a cast 6 bolt unit out of Lincoln Mark 8. Looks like the engine maybe suffered some extended oil change intervals. The cams look factory. The crud on the intake manifold is due to the PCV valve recirculating back into the intake. A catch can will help against that tremendously. Or pcv delete will completely stop it. But you'll have a occasional oil smell coming from the front of the car. Up to you. You are that far along might as well go all the way with it now. Especially since you want show quality. Do you have a good engine machinist nearby?

thats good its all stock and hasnt been modded. So when you say the crank is forged? is that factory? or did someone install a forge crank?

as far as a machine shop, I feel like I am pretty lucky. One of our close friends who I have known for years in the mustang club started his own machine shop within the last couple of years. So my though is to dissamble as much as I can and take the block and heads to them for cleaning. Ill probably ask him to reinstall the crank and pistions and cams on the heads so I can finish the rest.

 

[04DeadShort]

thats good its all stock and hasnt been modded. So when you say the crank is forged? is that factory? or did someone install a forge crank?

as far as a machine shop, I feel like I am pretty lucky. One of our close friends who I have known for years in the mustang club started his own machine shop within the last couple of years. So my though is to dissamble as much as I can and take the block and heads to them for cleaning. Ill probably ask him to reinstall the crank and pistions and cams on the heads so I can finish the rest.

We could start a long discussion on the 4 valve mod motor engines that Ford produced over the years. To keep it short, all 96-98 Cobra engines came from factory with a 8 bolt (flywheel mounting bolts. easiest way to identify} forged crank made by Kellogg. The Lincoln Mark 8 shared the same engine with a few exceptions. Most noticeable being the intake manifold and 6 bolt cast crank. Over the years people have been lead to believe they was buying a Cobra engine when in reality it was just a worked over Mark 8. But that doesn't appear to be the case here. Besides, the differences are marginal and in stockish trim both cranks would hold up fine.

 

[MG0h3]

I’d ask the shop what they prefer.

They may send it over in either long block or short block.

If they are assembling the shortblock, I’d def send that over still together.


Sent from my iPhone using svtperformance.com

 

[JB85]

anyone know if aftermarket spark plug wire covers are available? I cant find shit on google. the motor only can with one side.