Is the amber colored sealant OE or did you apply it as seen on the clean intake photo? When the intake is dirty, you can't see the sealant in the photo.
Just purchased 97 cobra
- Thread starter ml504
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It is OE. From what I’ve read it’s the epoxy the factory used. Brake cleaner did wonders on getting some of this clean. I’m going to go ahead and pull the valve covers and get them and the upper intake redone since I already have it down the far. One of the plug holes had some oil in it so may as well replace the grommets now before it gets worse.
Oooh! Shiny parts. Looks great.
Damn that looks good. What was the process as I’d love to have my 93 & 97 Cobra intake done this way.
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Thanks. I used aircraft stripper to remove old coating then rustoleum self etching primer and then a high temp wheel paint. It’s holding up great so far and only took a few hours and about $30 total. I’m curious about long term results but I think it will do fine.
So I’ve been driving the car around after cleaning the IMRC plates and verifying the controller is working and it just feels like this car is lacking power. I don’t have other cobras in the area to compare to so maybe some can chime in here. Shifting pretty hard from first to second will leave only a chirp and there is really no seat of the pants feel throughout the rpm range. Things I have done in addition to the IMRC is cleaned the maf, new iac, new plugs, rebuilt injectors, and new pcv. Any ideas or am I expecting to much? Thanks.
Stock 3.27 gears?
Edit: Just read your original post where you mention 4.10s.
You may be expecting more than the 260-270 rwhp. These engines are well know for their lack of low end torque, but the 4.10s and IMRCs should mostly take care of that.
I'm thinking you are in need of some boooooost.
I have a stock 97 with functional IMRC plates and the 3.27 rear end. You should be able to sense the IMRC plates opening at 3250 rpm, with a subtle but noticeable, power increase. Third is the magic gear, where it pulls until you are at extralegal speeds. Essentially, you have to keep it at 4K and above to enjoy the stock engine. It is just a bigger version of the SVT Focus and SVT Contour, i.e. the NA DOHC power curve gets fun at 4K and above.
Verified it does have 4.10 gears and had a buddy drive it who used to own one in stock form and did confirm it is way down on power. It runs good with no hesitation on acceleration so not sure where to start on trying to track this problem down.
If you're not feeling the kick at 3250-ish, then it's possible the IMRCs are stuck closed...I'd think with 4.10s you'd be spinning a good bit when you power shift into 2nd. Are you throwing any codes?
Here's mine with functional IMRCs and 4.30s...I've since deleted my IMRCs b/c they were stuck closed (still waiting to get a dyno tune tho) :
Agreed. My 97 had stuck closed IMRC plates when I got it. Once the plates were cleaned and the controller tested fine on the bench, it was put back together with a noticeable power increase.
I would imagine he would see a CEL if his IMRCs weren't opening though.
Congratulations on your new purchase. As others stated, she should pull hard when that sweet spot RPM is reached 32/35k. 4:10s wake those old 4.6 DOHCs up!
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