Well, it's not exactly a turbo project (yet...that's coming next), but I thought I'd post a few progress photos of my 2003 Cobra engine / 1994 GT swap project. I'll update them as I make progress.

The goal is to have the car at the PRO-Edelbrock True Street race in Bradenton on April 1-3. I'll have to haul ass to have it track-ready by then.

Here's a photo of what I'm starting with...my engineless 1994 GT convertible. Since this photo was taken, all AC parts have been removed. A stock 2004 Cobra airbox is being test-fit in the lower left corner.

Mark

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your changing the kmember and brake booster setup for the 03 right? the T-5 wont work either unless you have a mod motor bell for the T-5.

 

Should be fun!!!

Shouldnt be too hard I wouldnt think.


Looks like a Trmec from here Houdni

 

is it gonna be a turbo ?

what are you doing for a computer?

 

Cool project! Where did you find the engine?

 

too bad it's not that easy with a fox car.

 

Here's a pic of the engine on the day I got it home. The blower belt accessories were removed from the front of the engine, but they have since been replaced.

Houdni - I snatched a complete HydraBoost setup from a 1998 Cobra, so I should be OK there. I think some hoses are different on the 03 cars, but nothing major. I already have the AJE Y2K K-member in there, so I'm all good.

Disney Lincoln - Good eyes, that's my old Tremec 3550 hanging from a red-painted 302 bellhousing. I have a Lakewood blowproof bellhousing for a 4.6/3550 combo, along with an SN95 clutch fork.

57t-bird - Eventually, I'll throw a turbo at it, but not for a little while. I just want it to run first, then I'll get funky afterwards. Computer will be my stock 1994 harness with a Fox ECU and EEC-Tuner, which will require a distributor drive conversion (see below).

RPM Inc. - I drove to Maryland from Orlando for that sucker. 13 hours up, load the truck, chat for 20 minutes, and 13 hours back!

Mark

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This pic was taken last night (02/21/2005). I made a bracket to mount the coil to the side of the supercharger last night, so the 2-wire harness should hide nicely in the injector harness.

You can see the approximate location where the distributor drive will be. I was going to drive it off of the exhaust camshaft, but since the PS reservoir is in the way, I'll have more clearance by driving it off the intake camshaft (they both spin the same direction, and I have a little more room there, so why not?). I bought the raw materials to make the setup yesterday, so hopefully my machinist buddy will be able to make a part or two tomorrow night. The dizzy conversion will allow me to basically plug my 1994 harness into it, and all I'll have to do is swap to an old-style injector (42s) and abandon the crank and cam sensors. By using a stock distributor, it will stick forward quite a bit, but will end within 1/4" of the back of the electric fan, but up a little bit.

Mark

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Looks good! How exactly do you drive the distributor off the cam? Just curious what the mechanical components are to do this.

 

It's relatively easy, but it's critical that everything lines up. Basically, you cut a hole in the front of the valve cover. Weld an aluminum collar to the front of the valve cover, perfectly aligned with the centerline of the camshaft. Take a distributor, cut the shaft down, and weld/pin an 18mm socket to the shaft (or whatever fits over your camshaft bolt). Slide distributor into collar, set timing, tighten it down, and run away. That's overly simplified, but you get the drift.

Mark

 

18mm socket welded on the end of the dist shaft....slips over the int or exhaust bolt......bam, that easy. You'll love this set-up.

 

I was going to send this off to Cali for a $800-900 conversion, but after thinking about it for about 10 minutes with my buddy, we feel that we figured out the process fairly well. He has access to a machine shop, so hopefully we can make something work.

This reminds me...WANTED...a 4.6 DOHC driver's side head. I just need the bare head and the cam caps. Condition isn't terribly important.

Mark

 

how does the dizzy setup exactly work?

How would one set timing?

Im interested in this myself for my 97 cobra...

 

For the assembly, go 2-3 posts above your question.

To set timing, there are marks cast into the timing cover at 0* and 10* BTDC around the 11 o'clock position. There is a notch cut in the back side of the crank pulley/balancer flange. They might be a little hard to see, but at least the marks are there. Just hook up the timing light to the #1 plug wire, and rotate it like normal.

Mark

 

Pretty cool! When you say 18mm socket, you mean an actual Snap-On, Craftsman, etc. socket?? I know those don't fit 100% perfect, so won't you have some slop in the timing?

 

Yup, just a regular ol' socket. I'm heading to Sears now to pick up normal and short impact sockets. Look at a normal distributor...there is some slop where the rotor plugs onto the shaft. The shaft also moves up and down slightly within the housing. With the 90* orientation of the distributor shaft to the camshaft, this up and down travel translates into rotational travel at the end of the rotor. There's a little slop in the camshaft gear, too. This cam-drive setup can be no worse than a stock 302 setup! lol

Mark

 

02/22/2005...I picked up a pair of 3/8" drive, 6-point, 18mm sockets at Sears during lunch today. One is a normal socket, the other is a short impact socket. I'll try to make the impact socket work first, since it's a little beefier (and there's no possibility of chrome plating flaking off inside the engine, like with a typical socket). I'll also make sure that the hex and the OD of the socket are concentric.

Mark

 

Look Here
http://www.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=611026

 

and after i blow 4500 on a motor.

 

Here's another progress photo from 2am...well, I'm not sure if you can call it "progress" or not. It's almost fully gutted under the hood, getting it ready for paint. I need to yank the passenger fender, weld a few more of the unibody tack-welded seams where the strut towers meet the front subframes, and do some sanding/scuffing for the new paint.

Mark

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