[805MACH]

Hey guys, new member here but ive spent alot of time looking threw corral. Best source imho. So basically i bought a mach 4 months ago that had alot of issues,
Broken guides and timing related parts. I got a good deal on it. Then i bought a drop i. 99 cobra engine that i was told was good to go but it ticks like crazy. Long story short im in middle of sending my 9 thread mach heads to superior automotive engineering here in California after some debate of having mmr do my heads. The people at superior are family owned andhave been around over 50 years and have done plenty of our heads. Peformance valve job, new bronze guides, blending of bowls and some porting all for 1500 plus im going to send them up with set of btr racing springs.
I have to make a choice to either use my 99 cams or aftermarket stage 1s im not looking for lope i want it still smog able . Looking to lift the powerband to produce power atleast up 6800rpm and be able to hold it. I know nasvt has alot of info on this.
And i also have 4 10 gears for down low. Also i want to run flat top pistons and want around same compression as mach had. What pistons should i look at budget friendly. I have E85 right down the street so im looking to make the change to corn also so i can run more timing safely, and lastly im really interested in topping the motor off with nasvt short runner intake. Please let me know what you guys think. Im in California so im trying to make it a sleeper and still pass emissions testing. Possibly in futer run a votech with e85.

 

[SilverSmith82]

Any reason you aren't just supercharging it? There are blowers with CARB numbers and the factory Eaton swap is OEM so it'll pass too. IMO you are spending a lot of money that doesn't need to be spent like getting the heads ported etc... but that's up to you. These cars can be pretty quick NA but a guy with the same car as you and a stock motor/blower is going to wax you every time even with all this work. Also the company with the 3 letter name=naughty word. They're just a volume company that pumps out stuff as fast as possible. Have they produced a lot of good motors? Yes. Do they have a much higher than acceptable failure rate? Yes.

What I would do if I were you? Put it back together and if the shop has not done the porting and blending yet, tell them to just do a rebuild/clean up and nix the portwork. Stock crank, entry level I beam rods or boss rods, basic entry level $550 forged pistons and slap a supercharger on it with a CARB number.

Reasons:

1 - You'll make way more power, like way more as in about 350rwhp you will make with your setup vs 600+ capable with the blower setup.
2 - You can't run longtubes in Cali which you need to maximize a NA motor but with a blower you don't need them, stock manifolds are fine
3 - Cost of an entry level blower and fuel to support it is going to be less than NA cams and a short runner plus all that portwork
4 - You are talking about possibly doing a blower in the future anyway after doing all this. NA cams/short runner are not the best idea if you plan on going blower
5 - I see no talk on any suspension or chassis stiffening mods. That will need to be all done prior to any sort of decent power if you want a car that can actually use it

Suggest you hit the brakes for a second and see what you really want to do. If you really want to go NA then you do you but you'd be better off with a Coyote swap in that situation if its even allowed in Cali. It is going to suck for you when you do all this work NA and get all finished and some dude with a 160k mile stock 2V with a Vortech is as fast or faster than you are.

 

[805MACH]

I was told porting would help when i add a blower down the road. And for valve job and port it was half cost of said 3 letter agency lol.
One thing is i asked a smog shop about doing the eaton swap and the feedback is it wont pass becausr it is not factory on my car. I would definitely want to do the eaton swap if i could get it threw smog.
The 106100 cams were a deal. I know its not a blower cam but can it still be used on a mild set up and blower and produce decent results?
I planned on using cobra/manley rods. I apreciate the input definitely want to keep the compression up on it and wanting to use e85.
I have not sent the heads out yet because im still unsure best way to go on this motor.

As of right now i put a upr kmember and control arms, new coilovers with caster camber plates, and other miscellaneous suspension mods when i put the 99 motor in. Unfortunately it sounds like a ticking time bomb. I really apreciate your advice

 

[805MACH]

Also whats the highest compression you can run with a blower with how much boost? To achieve 600hp
Also e85 is going to be in futer for this car

 

[SilverSmith82]

You can make 600hp with stock compression no issue on E85 or premium pump gas. Do not do a build without first finding yourself a real good tuner and consulting them.

Any C heads in stock trim can make 600hp on a blower even the 99-02 versions. Not an issue there. Save your money. Factory Terminators hit 600rhwp with just a blower swap and that's with a real conservative setup. Any entry level name brand forged piston will do 600hp no issue and so will the entry level forged I beams. Stock cranks in manual Machs and all Cobras were Kellogg forged units although the cast ones in GTs/auto Machs are plenty strong as well.

Cams... you are in California... if it doesn't sound stock then you might run into issues. Any stock cams will hit that 600hp number on a blower with 0 issues. The 99 intake cams are more aggressive than the Mach ones. I'd sell off the aftermarket cams so you don't run into any potential issues with inspections.

If you got told from a reliable source that the Eaton swap would not pass then go with a blower with a CARB number. Pretty sure the Vortech is good to go in that category. I'd find out for sure from the actual inspection station what the engine swap rules are before proceeding.

I'd start by busting down both engines to parts and inspecting what you have and then go from there. You can sell off a lot of spare 4V stuff for a decent chunk of change back in your pocket plus those aftermarket cams. If it were me I would do those Mach heads, 99 cams, stock crank, i beams, forged pistons, stock compression and a blower.

 

[805MACH]

Will it hurt to bump the compression a little bit. Maybe 10.5.1
The whole reason i want to run E85 is more timing and run less boost to achieve
Those numbers instead of having alot of boost and less timing. My buddy has a 03 cobra and he is running 16 or 18 psi feels in the pants to be about 550 to the wheels. I want to achieve those numbers on lower boost. Im really interested in finding a kenne belle maybe a 2.6. Will i need the termi timing cove to do this? Is it worth it or should i go for a vortech. I live right next to vortech and let me tell you almost every cobra i see has one. Not trying to reinvent the wheel just want something a little different. Will the Cobra 03 rods work for my build. I can get those locally for 200$ in good shape. I have a tuner lol he said no to the cams and no to the port. Basically that it wont net me much for my set up And that lifting the compression a bit would be good with E85 fueling. Also whats advantage and drawbacks to boreing the cylinderd .20 over i have one block that has some wear on cylinders were the skirt made some contact . Also what pistons that are forged will be best for these tight tolerances. I had a forged engine before that would sound like piston slap when it was cold and then go away as soon as warm. Is there a piston that helps with this? Thank you i apreciate it.
Definitely not going to waist the money on port work at this point and some of the other ideals i had! Thank you

 

[805MACH]

Also as far as degreeing were should 99 cams be set at? Worth it to get an adjustable kit or just file my old gears down and shim with new chains and tensioners or ford racing kit?

 

[SilverSmith82]

Talk to your tuner about what you want to do. See what they are comfortable tuning. No advantage to boring .020 over really, its just the most you can safely go generally so the general advice is go over as little as you can for strength. .020 over is fine tho. 03 Cobra rods will work fine. You can get new Boss rods for the same price but the Manley Cobras are stronger. Degreeing the cams ask your tuner or if not check out what some other ppl have done. Every combo is different. The Cloyes gears were not available last time I checked but there were multiple cases of them either being a little loose or shearing teeth so if you want to be safe you file the stock gears and use pieces of a feeler gauge to shim till you get where you want. For forged pistons I like Diamond myself...

For an Eaton swap on a Mach there are threads all over with the extensive parts list. Parts are getting a little harder to find and the actual KB kits that were made for these cars are long out of production. Just off the top of my head for an eaton swap you need the Terminator cover, pulley bridge, pulleys, alternator brackets, hoses, intercooler pump, lines, manifold, heat exchanger, blower etc... etc... You can get a whole kit right now off of Parts Farm though, its $3k plus freight.

03-04 Ford Mustang Cobra Eaton supercharger swap kit 4.6 Mach 1 99 01 Cobra DOHC

This listing is a GOOD USED take off Eaton supercharger swap kit. This kit was removed from a 2003-2004 Cobra Terminator engine. Its purpose is to upgrade 99 01 Cobra 4.6 DOHC as well as 2003-2004 4.6L DOHC Mach 1. This is a VERY complete kit. The kit is listed below. Message me with any...

thepartsfarm.com

If you want a Termi style blower, this is the route to go. Everything all in one package, all the hardware, done. This is the route I would be going if I was in the USA still.

And again, at the power levels you are talking about you need to ensure the whole suspension in the car is set. Why I still have not done my engine build in my car. Did a FTBR IRS a few years ago and doing a full front setup next month. Gotta be able to put the power down.

 

[Quick Strike]

I have said .020" over Cobra with cams, CNC porting, over-sized valves, almost 10-1 compression and a 2.8L KB. I have about 100 hp over stock 4.6L Cobra engines with the same blower and pulleys using the same fuel.



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