Question on changing heads.
- Thread starter DUMBASS
- Start date
03killacobra
Banned
you can do it with the motor in the car. i pulled my mine this past winter and even left the manifolds on the heads. lots of tear down, you'll have a hugh pile of parts on the floor. good luck either way.
I just had mine pulled for an exhaust valve... shop droped the k-member and pulled the chassis off to expose the motor. I called around 3 shops and they all said the same thing, the motor needs to come out of the car.
I'd pull it out. If you have access to a lift, it's allot easier to pull it out the bottom and if you are going to use studs you will absolutely need to take it out regardless. If no lift is available, you can still pull it from the top, but I think that just complicates things.
You can't reuse the head bolts, so whatever you decide make sure you order new one's. ARP studs are probably the best way to go, but if your leaving the engine in the car, just get Ford TTY head bolts.
You can't reuse the head bolts, so whatever you decide make sure you order new one's. ARP studs are probably the best way to go, but if your leaving the engine in the car, just get Ford TTY head bolts.
On what a turbo, Eaton, twin screw, low boost, high boost?
You will see much better gains with a big blower or turbo than you will with a Eaton. If you plan on staying with an Eaton, the money you spend for the HP gains isn't worth it
It's all about power under the curve. Peak power is not always the be all and end all of performance. Cams that fit your combo and driving habbits can make a big difference in the overall performance of an engine and if chosen carefully will allow you to taylor your power ban to suit your needs. They can also help extract the full potential from other mods that you may have done, that you never even realised had more to offer.
Allot of people are dissapointed when they do cam swaps because the power for dollar ratio can appear seriously lop sided when considderning only peak power. Justifyably so in cases where an "over the counter" cam is slapped into a combo that didn't really have anything to gain from them since the stock cams were not limiting performance with their specific set up. OTC cams are allot more readilly available than custom ground cams and in order to be able to make them sell, the manufacturer has to design them to be one size fits most. These types of cams don't always provide you the performance your looking for and in most cases the stock cams are so well suited to the average use of the engine, that the OTC's are very similar in profile.
However, a custom ground cam that is designed for your specific setup can be an entirely different story.
If your running a BIG twin screw, a high boost turbo or a ton of nitrous on a mid to high boost set up, there is probably quite a bit to gain from choosing the right cam. As specially if you have the heads and intake opened up to their limits as well. To a point, you can virtually place the power ban where you want it and maximize the RPM range of the engine for its specific use (ie: drag, road race, street) based on boost curves, stage progression and gear ratios.
For the average Cobra owner in the stock to 650 RWHP range, it's probably not a worth while investment unless you are looking for a small change in redline and an agressive sound. As far as I'm concerned, the cost of OTC cams is just too high to justify the small increase in performance over the stockers in these types of set ups.
Now if your forced to remove the heads for other reasons anyway, that's a different story. Your already paying (or going through the headache of doing the work) for the work of tearig the engine out and down, you may as well spend the extra coin on a good set of heads and cams while you there. You can probably get a good portion of the part cost back by just selling the stock stuff anyway.
Allot of people are dissapointed when they do cam swaps because the power for dollar ratio can appear seriously lop sided when considderning only peak power. Justifyably so in cases where an "over the counter" cam is slapped into a combo that didn't really have anything to gain from them since the stock cams were not limiting performance with their specific set up. OTC cams are allot more readilly available than custom ground cams and in order to be able to make them sell, the manufacturer has to design them to be one size fits most. These types of cams don't always provide you the performance your looking for and in most cases the stock cams are so well suited to the average use of the engine, that the OTC's are very similar in profile.
However, a custom ground cam that is designed for your specific setup can be an entirely different story.
If your running a BIG twin screw, a high boost turbo or a ton of nitrous on a mid to high boost set up, there is probably quite a bit to gain from choosing the right cam. As specially if you have the heads and intake opened up to their limits as well. To a point, you can virtually place the power ban where you want it and maximize the RPM range of the engine for its specific use (ie: drag, road race, street) based on boost curves, stage progression and gear ratios.
For the average Cobra owner in the stock to 650 RWHP range, it's probably not a worth while investment unless you are looking for a small change in redline and an agressive sound. As far as I'm concerned, the cost of OTC cams is just too high to justify the small increase in performance over the stockers in these types of set ups.
Now if your forced to remove the heads for other reasons anyway, that's a different story. Your already paying (or going through the headache of doing the work) for the work of tearig the engine out and down, you may as well spend the extra coin on a good set of heads and cams while you there. You can probably get a good portion of the part cost back by just selling the stock stuff anyway.
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