Procharger advice

[ECUSVT31]

So i have a Procharger P1SC with the 3 core intercooler and a 10psi pulley. My car is a 99 Cobra with about 40k on the engine. I know a lot of people put procharger kits on their stangs, but what I am wondering is at what point is it dangerous for my engine? At what horsepower and/or boost do I need to worry about the non forged internals? I'm going to get it tuned by Fastlane and I'm just wondering what power I should get it tuned around. Thanks for the help/advice!

 

[2003DSGMACH1]

Most people will tell you around 8-9psi 450rwhp and I would say that is safe, but all cars are different. Some will blow up with less and like my car 500rwhp 10psi and run great for 2 years. It all in the tune.

 

[97desertCobra]

Most people will tell you around 8-9psi 450rwhp and I would say that is safe, but all cars are different. Some will blow up with less and like my car 500rwhp 10psi and run great for 2 years. It all in the tune.

+1. The tune is the most important element IMO. 450rwhp is about the limit of the stock rods and pistons. When it comes to FI its still a gamble because you are putting boost to an engine that had no intention of seeing boost from the factory. My engine melted at just under 5k miles under boost and I was making just over 400rwhp with only 2 degrees of timing at 8#. Now I will admit that the tune was not the greatest and I did beat the piss out of my car from time to time so I hold ALOT of responisbility in it not lasting.

OP I would suggest that you supercharge with caution and prepare yourself for the worst, that your car will blow in the dyno. Not saying thats going to happen or even that thats common but if you spend all your money on the supercharger and nothing left over for a built short block should your engine go, then you could put yourself in a shitty situation. Believe me I know. Its been 9 months since I destroyed my engine and it will still be several months till I can start rebuilding it. If I could do it all over again I would rebuild my short block first then get the supercharger after I've perfected the n/a set up.

 

[ECUSVT31]

i got the supercharger for real cheap so i couldnt pass it up. what if i found a slightly used 03/04 shortblock with the stock manley rods/pistons and cobra crank? that should hold up for a good amount more power correct?

 

[ECUSVT31]

im thinking ill prepare myself for the worst and maybe put it on and get it tuned. ill then drive it and if it ever comes down to the worst, ill have to invest in building the short block or purchasing a used 03/04 shortblock?

 

[2003DSGMACH1]

i got the supercharger for real cheap so i couldnt pass it up. what if i found a slightly used 03/04 shortblock with the stock manley rods/pistons and cobra crank? that should hold up for a good amount more power correct?

Yea a 03-04 cobra shortblock will work, but you will lose compression. I think your cobra has 9.8:1 compression and the 03-04 cobra has 8.5:1 compression. If you can find a 03-04 cobra shortblock cheap you can run 16psi or more on that block with that P1SC.

 

[redfire04gt]

I've been at 404hp for a year and have a buddy that is at 420hp for a little over a year both procharged on stock bottom ends (GT's). As everyone else said it's really up to the tune. I'm satisfied with my numbers until I do a short block. I've really only put about 1500 miles on it as it's not my daily anymore either. I kind of figured too that worst case scenario I'd need a new short block and the car would be down for a while. If you want big numbers then do the short block now!

 

[Black*Death]

Like someone stated, 8psi or 450 RWHP is what I have seen. Again, the tune is important Too lean and it won't matter how much max HP you are making.

I would tell your tuner you want a "conservative" tune so there is no chnce of running lean.

 

[AntiHeightPunk]

you will be fine with the motor if you keep it conservative however running an 03-04 motor will make ur car seem like a turd without any compression....with a centri you need ATLEAST 9.5:1 compression

 

[GoatSlayer]

Your stock motor will blow up at some point depending with the tune. The stock rods can only hold up to the stress until a rod gives out.
03/04 shortblocks have way too less compression for centri-blower. Get a shortblock from MMR with atleast 9:5 compression ration IMO

 

[harvboi05]

you can run the 03/04 short block, just make sure you upgrade to 4.30s or 4.56s, ha.

my motor just popped at ~480whp.

 

[cobraracer46]

The question that you should ask yourself is what is it exactly that kills the stock connecting rods and pistons? The answer is detonation. Even a forged piston will fail under detonation.:burn: A proper calibration along with running
race fuel or some type methanol system will eliminate any chances of detonation.

 

[IUP99snake]

I agree with the earlier posts. It's all in the tune. I put a procharger on my stock motor with the 10# pulley and the tune that came with the procharger kit. It made 461 HP with only a cat back and 500 HP when I added an off road X pipe.

It only lasted about 10K miles before it blew the #6 piston. Granted, back then, I was doing a lot of street racing and I was a lot harder on the motor than I am now.

I had a forged motor installed, but the shop didn't burp the coolant properly and blew the motor before I had a chance to drive it.

Strapped for cash, I went to the junkyard and found a lincoln aviator long block. It's the same long block that's in the mach's and marauders. No forged internals, 10.3:1 compression.

This time, I had it dyno tuned. It made 414 HP with 6 LBS of boost and 450 with 10LBS of boost. The tuner was really conservative with timing and fuel. It basically pulls a ton of timing and dumps fuel in the higher RPM range.

I've put 65K miles on this combination and no problems with the motor whatsoever. Plus, the extra compression (and the later 03/04 heads/cams) gives it about 50 more horsepower in the lower below 3000 RPM than my other motor made, even though the other motor made 50 more peak HP.

I wouldn't recommend going with an 03 cobra short block. You'll add 100LBS of extra weight, plus, as someone else mentioned, the lower compression will cause the motor to make about 4% less power and worse mileage, holding all else constant.

Get it dyno tuned, and give it a conservative tune. If it makes more than 450 HP on the tune, have the tuner dial back the timing a bit. You could get meth injection as an extra safeguard to help against detonation.

If you've got the extra cash to spare, you could start preparing yourself with a forged short block or long block ready to go when your motor starts showing signs.

Go to the junk yard, pick up an aviator motor for around $1500. Sell all the accessories and other things you don't need and you'll recover most of the cost of the motor. The only thing is that the aviator motor doesn't have a forged crank, so you'll need to either reuse your stock cobra crank, or buy another crank in the meantime. I'd recommend a stroker crank while you've got it apart.

If you're lucky and have this spare motor completed before your existing motor goes south, you can swap them and sell your existing, functional long block and further recover the costs. If you're lucky, you might break even on the parts.

Homer

 

[Dreamspawn]

+1 for tune my car has been boosted long before i got it and running 10psi just fine ...

 

[ECUSVT31]

so im thinking about 450hp is a good hp to shoot for and im strongly considering running meth injection. i really havent seen anything bad about it and its cheap insurance. what meth kits are you guys running? im looking at snow stage 2, then at AIS