Can Terminators be good...

CWJameson

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hahahahahah Im wondering more like ya know a 40 mile road course racing the whole way

the general consensus iv gotten from shops around town is itle overheat and die

cause of the head design

they say gt500's don't have this problem?
 

exdeath

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You'd need a differential cooler, other than that no problems.

The engine/head issue only comes into play when seeing full boost beyond stock under heavy load for extended periods of time and is due to the piston clearance, not the head. eg: standing mile kind of top speed pulls.

Cooling system and head design can result in the infamous but non catastrophic "tick". But it's the tight clearance + forged pistons so your grandmother doesn't complain about piston slap in the morning, that destroys the engines when they are held in boost for prolonged periods. If you can get to and maintain 150+ without keeping it to the floor with the boost gauge pegged in 6th gear for 10 mins straight (exaggerating), you won't have any problems.
 
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CWJameson

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2.6H KB @ 17 PSI 20 degrees advance
/w all supporting mods

I have bigger intercooler and resiovier for the I/C
stock radiator

and by top speed pulls do you mean anything in 5/th 6th gear
 
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mu22stang

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@ Road racing long distances
or will they overheat and die?

Short answer: Yes

Long answer: The preparations and modifications for any road race car are endless, but there are some things that need to be done before attempting this feat. The most important is cooling. Not just engine, but brakes. These brakes aren't big, and the car is. Getting a front brake cooling kit is ESSENTIAL. A good pad and good brake fluid will be necessary as well to keep from boiling the brake fluid and melting the pads.

Next is engine cooling. The key is to improve the efficiency of the car's current cooling system. The '03-'04 Cobra cooling system is actually quite healthy. Throwing aftermarket parts isn't really going to help you, at least, not at first. The only aftermarket component I would recommend would be a Reische Performance thermostat. If you have a handheld, adjusting the fan settings will help a bit, too. I also run a 20/80 (coolant/water) mixture in both the aftercooler and engine coolant. Houston doesn't get too cold, and water is more efficient.

In addition, being smart with your driving style will pay dividends. If this is your first event with your Cobra, shift at 5,500 rpms MAX. You will be astounded at how much this regulates your engine temperature. Work in some more revs as you see fit, but engine heats increases dramatically with RPM's.

Run at least 7 qts of 30 weight oil. One of oil's main functions is engine cooling. Another simple modification is to remove the fire blanket and cut the flap on the heat extractor vents. I remove the vents completely when I road race.

Lastly, if you have a pulley and no port, forget about it. Even with a port and an upper, you need to be extremely careful. If you have a twin screw, you can get away with slightly more boost than a ported Eaton setup. Simply put, more boost leads to more heat, especially with the Eaton. The ideal setup is the stock pulley. A good tune is a good idea, too. My road race tune has stock timing and a low 11.X:1 air/fuel ratio to keep the engine very cool. This conservative tune will also keep your longblock alive.
 
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exdeath

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2.6H KB @ 17 PSI 20 degrees advance
/w all supporting mods

I have bigger intercooler and resiovier for the I/C
stock radiator

and by top speed pulls do you mean anything in 5/th 6th gear

Yup, more specifically sustaining WOT and full boost in 5th/6th for long periods of time, as when watching the tach spend 10 minutes climbing to redline while pulling full boost the whole time (again exaggerating but you know what I mean). The moment you put the pedal down at low revs in 5th or 6th gear and hold it there, you're putting the piston burner on "high" and starting a timer that counts down how long it takes the pistons to heat soak and expand beyond their .001" factory clearance.

Upgrading the cooling system will not alleviate the problem, the best cooling system in the world can't help you. The only real solution is replacing the pistons with an appropriate clearance (something around .005" for forged pistons vs. SVT's .001").

I don't know what all your road racing will entail, but I'm thinking a typical autox or road race course won't have you accelerating for all it's worth in 5th/6th gear for any appreciable length of time. You're more likely to run into brake or differential heating problems.

And agree 100% with mu22stang. Cars with borderline tunes with high boost and aggressive timing are fine for the dyno, street,or drag strip where you're just sprinting from stoplight to stoplight in 1st-4th and it's done with very quickly and you have cool down periods. But you want to be more conservative with any kind of prolonged hard driving like auto-x or road racing where the car is under stress for hours at a time.
 
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