Would you buy a 94-95 Cobra?

[JCP281]

Hello all,

I am in the process of saving up for an SN95 Cobra. I will have about 7-8 grand by the end of August. I am really wanting a 94 or 95 Cobra simply because I love the 5.0 motor and the SN95 body style. However, I am finding through reading that there are some quarks that come with owning these particular flavors of Cobra. One of them being tuning, and the other being performance parts offerings that fit fox bodies, but not these.

So here is my question: I want a 300 RWHP car, preferable n/a. My plan was to toss on the Trickflow top end kit. I want to use the car as a weekend fun car and autocross/open track car (non competitive). Would the 5.0 chassis be worth the hassle, or would I be better served getting a 4v SN? If you are a 5.0 SN owner, would you buy your car again? Do you find parts more difficult to come by?

Thanks for any help, I cant wait to finally snag a Cobra!

 

[cbrown9064]

I don't have a 5.0, but can't see why not. You are a bit limited with the block,etc...for HP compared to the Teksid in the 96. I think you are going to have to drop some bucks to get. 300rwhp NA, but if that is what you want then go for it.

 

[mustangmanjeff]

One thing is 300rwhp istn very hard, you can come pretty close with a 5.0 cobra being it already comes with the better flowing gt40 heads intake stock, bolt ons and a small cam they put down around 270rwhp. with some port work you can be right around 280-300rwhp. now if you want 300-320rwhp. the trickflow top end kit will get you there. you can do a similar setup to my I run the trickflow heads on my 95 gt. my setup is a stock block / crank / rods. arp bolts bored .30 over *(306 c.i() speedpro pistons 10 to 1 compression, trickflow heads and intake, some port work a comp cam, long tubes/ bolt ons etc. my car puts down 330rwhp on a safe tune pump gas, more timing in it 93 octane it put down around 361rwhp n/a all motor. very fun combo.


the down fall for these cars from the factory was crappy flowing heads and 2.73, 3.08 gears / 3.27 gears. and low compression. that and they only made 94-95 for 5.0 pushrods so most parts are for 87-93 foxbody 5.0 cars or for 96+ mod motor 4.6 cars. that being said you need modification if you want to run the foxbody 87-93 parts to fit or work on 94-95 cars. and the computers are to smart for an old 20+ years old computer its still obd1 so alot of people cant tune them or dont want to anymore. you have to dummy up the computer to run right after mods.



Factory 94-95 cobra is rated 240hp stock at the crank *( they are more like 275-280hp) they dyno around 220rwhp stock.


That being said the mods these cars love over factory are as followed.

gears. these cars love 3.73 gears with the way the factory T5 5 speed is geared. track car 4.10's some people will say.

but gears for these cars are a must 3.55's for a good all around high way car, has power down down and high. 3.73's will have more low end. 410's max low end but pointless on the street/ streettire so I wouldnt suggest it for a "highway" car or "street " car

Headers, long tubes pick up some decent power gains.

Aluminum heads/ ported headS

compression / motor rebuilt.


a nice set of gears, heads, compression will be 300rwhp car not much in this day of age factory v6 cars making 300+Hp or new v6 mustang. but shows how bad these cars were with 80's tech motor in 94-95 with only 215-240hp. and you can get it up to 270-320rwhp all motor with a mostly rebuilt factory based car.

 

[JCP281]

Awesome post, Jeff. I do realize 300hp isnt squat these days. My reasoning for the 300 number, however foolish it may be, is I figure 300hp will get me scootin' around a road course pretty well. One of the first mods I will do, for whatever Cobra flavor I get, will be the Maximum Motorsports Max Grip box. I have always wanted to get it, but on my last mustang I chose to do an IRS swap instead. I figure if I want more power in the future, ill just toss a procharger on it.

 

[DMassey]

I love the 94/95 Cobras, you hardly see them around anymore.

Back in the day, one popular tuning method was to use the Pro-M kit to convert to an A9L ecu... is that still one of the more effective methods these days?

Like mustangmanjeff said, a set of good cylinder heads will provide big gains. The GT-40 heads were descent, but still a far cry from what you can get from a good set of AFR or Trick Flow heads. He's right about the gears too. 300 rwhp isn't "much" nowadays, but 300 rwhp with the kinda torque these make and some gears still makes for a VERY fun car to drive.

If starting with a Cobra, 300 rwhp isn't hard at all. Cylinder heads, headers, and a cam, done. The stock Cobra induction will support that out of the box. Hell just cylinder heads and a good dyno tune will probably get the job done with the stock cam?

 

[mustangmanjeff]

Awesome post, Jeff. I do realize 300hp isnt squat these days. My reasoning for the 300 number, however foolish it may be, is I figure 300hp will get me scootin' around a road course pretty well. One of the first mods I will do, for whatever Cobra flavor I get, will be the Maximum Motorsports Max Grip box. I have always wanted to get it, but on my last mustang I chose to do an IRS swap instead. I figure if I want more power in the future, ill just toss a procharger on it.

300rwhp is the magic number for a basic all motor 5.0 its a good attainable number and decent power for a mid to low 3,000lb mustang , makes it a fun street car and a 12 sec 1/4 mile car, still enough to have fun even in 2015 lol for some of us( alot of guys will say oh you need 500+Hp ) lol sounds like a good plan!

 

[mustangmanjeff]

I love the 94/95 Cobras, you hardly see them around anymore.

Back in the day, one popular tuning method was to use the Pro-M kit to convert to an A9L ecu... is that still one of the more effective methods these days?

Like mustangmanjeff said, a set of good cylinder heads will provide big gains. The GT-40 heads were descent, but still a far cry from what you can get from a good set of AFR or Trick Flow heads. He's right about the gears too. 300 rwhp isn't "much" nowadays, but 300 rwhp with the kinda torque these make and some gears still makes for a VERY fun car to drive.

If starting with a Cobra, 300 rwhp isn't hard at all. Cylinder heads, headers, and a cam, done. The stock Cobra induction will support that out of the box. Hell just cylinder heads and a good dyno tune will probably get the job done with the stock cam?

yes some do the a9l or convert all over to foxbody tb etc. or aftermarket ecm like anderson or mega squirt computer / ecu etc.


yes 300rwhp is a nice fun street car for a mid to low 3,000lb car. especially fun in a 2,800lb foxbody notch lx lol


a cobra doesnt even need cylinder heads to be honest, a guy on here has a cobra with just a small cam headers/ exaust and he put down around 270rwhp. he then kept stock gt40 cobra heads and intake ported the intake got it to around 280rwhp. then swapped out the intake to a roush intake and it was right around 290-300rwhp. with just intake, headers small cam and an exaust. still stock motor, still stock heads compression etc.

 

[JCP281]

Nice. My old 2v only had about 265 to the wheels, and to be honest was plenty fast. Thats another reason I am only really after 300 to the wheels. Its encouraging to read what you guys are saying. Should be an easy goal to achieve. I have been internet window shopping and the only bad thing I see is there is not a lot of parts for em. Seems like BBK has the 94-95 market by the short and curlies as far as throttle body/headers are concerned.

Planning on just doing headers (of some type, more than likely long tubes), off road mid pipe and catback with the trickflow kit, and a tune of course. I did some research locally and it seems there are a few old timers who are pretty familiar with Tweecer and will be able to tune it. I need to quit looking on autotrader and craigslist. I found a '94 Cobra, all original in Florida for 8 grand. I want it. HA

I am a teacher and am currently doing summer school to polish off the rest of my Cobra money stash. Have to wait until the end of August to get paid for it though. The struggle is real people.

 

[2DXTRM]

I have a 95 Cobra.
There isnt really that much thats different parts wise. engine is an engine, just the outside accessories. Exhaust (headers/ h-pipe, although you can use the foxbody stuff with some modifications), Throttle body you can swap to the fox TB setup (I have done it on my car), but you can buy larger throttle bodies for 94-95.

Tuning, its 2015, lets get over the A9L swaps.

300+ rwhp, save a little more and go beyond the TFS package. With the newer 11R Twisted Wedge Heads from TFS or the Brodix 17 degree heads, and the better intakes like the Holley SM2, The Edelbrock RPM and RPM2, should make 320+rwhp no problem, with even a better off the shelf cams or one from say someone like Ed Curtis or Freezy.

 

[nocobrafornow]

op, i agree with these guys. the 5.0 cobra are great, fun cars. for those who like to do their own work, they are easier to work on. i.e head cam swaps, header installs. i hope to looking for one myself soon. i just need to sell my 99 z28. good luck on your search.

 

[JCP281]

I have a 95 Cobra.
There isnt really that much thats different parts wise. engine is an engine, just the outside accessories. Exhaust (headers/ h-pipe, although you can use the foxbody stuff with some modifications), Throttle body you can swap to the fox TB setup (I have done it on my car), but you can buy larger throttle bodies for 94-95.

Tuning, its 2015, lets get over the A9L swaps.

300+ rwhp, save a little more and go beyond the TFS package. With the newer 11R Twisted Wedge Heads from TFS or the Brodix 17 degree heads, and the better intakes like the Holley SM2, The Edelbrock RPM and RPM2, should make 320+rwhp no problem, with even a better off the shelf cams or one from say someone like Ed Curtis or Freezy.

Wouldnt those 11R heads be a little overkill for a stock bottom end or 306 build? Seems like a 351 or stroked 302 would see a heck of a lot more out of a setup like that. I dont have a problem saving money, its just another few months to add to a project. Ha.

 

[mustangmanjeff]

Wouldnt those 11R heads be a little overkill for a stock bottom end or 306 build? Seems like a 351 or stroked 302 would see a heck of a lot more out of a setup like that. I dont have a problem saving money, its just another few months to add to a project. Ha.

deff not I have a 306 c.i motor with 10to 1 compression a regular set of trickflow heads that are ported with ed curtis high rev valve springs, a decent size comp cam and My 306 put down 320rwhp with no tunning what so ever, with a base tune it was making around 330rwhp. with more aggressive tune and timing with 93 octane it was making right around 360rwhp n/a. and the trickflow 11rs out flow my ported trickflow heads. so I would say they will be a good head with room to improve. I would say if my setup is around 320-360rwhp the 11r heads with similar engine as mine will prob make around 340-380rwhp with a 306 motor. and more room to grow with a stroker 400+rwhp easy.

 

[mustangmanjeff]

I have a 95 Cobra.
There isnt really that much thats different parts wise. engine is an engine, just the outside accessories. Exhaust (headers/ h-pipe, although you can use the foxbody stuff with some modifications), Throttle body you can swap to the fox TB setup (I have done it on my car), but you can buy larger throttle bodies for 94-95.

Tuning, its 2015, lets get over the A9L swaps.

300+ rwhp, save a little more and go beyond the TFS package. With the newer 11R Twisted Wedge Heads from TFS or the Brodix 17 degree heads, and the better intakes like the Holley SM2, The Edelbrock RPM and RPM2, should make 320+rwhp no problem, with even a better off the shelf cams or one from say someone like Ed Curtis or Freezy.

Alot more then 320rwhp. ive seen 330-380rwhp. my personal setup is a set of the regular ported trickflow heads, and intake gasket matched / ported, long tubes, a good size comp cam, 10 to 1 compression 306 and it put down 320-360rwhp n/a depending timing / tune. a set of 11rs on my setup would be prob 340-380rwhp. easily.

 

[ImThatGuy]

Hell yeah I would buy one. My supercharged 96 cobra is fun, but my old 94 Cobra with boltons and cam swap was a lot more fun to get out and drive. It made 280/311 with exhaust, E303 cam, and some boltons with 93 octane tune.