Advice Needed on a 1994 Cobra

[mustangcbr425]

I own a 1994 cobra convertible. As of right now it is completely stock, hopefully not for long. I just got it Dyno'd and it has 220 rwhp and 270 ft/lb of torque. The car has 27,000 miles on it too. Well my plan is to put a Procharger on it. However I am not sure what system to put on, does anybody have a suggestion? My goal is to make it a comfortable cruising car with a good amount of power, maybe 400-500 hp. Getting back to the supercharger, I know that I am going to get an intercooler also. I also know that I will have to build up the motor before putting the blower on. I heard something about that the motor should be at least 300 hp naturally aspirated before supercharging it. Does anyone know what I should do to the car to get it up to 300 hp NA. I also need to know what will hold up, if anything, of the original engine parts to the amount of power. Basically, what do I have to put into the car so i don't break anything under the hood. I doubt that the motor is supercharge ready with it only having 220 rwhp. Also how much psi COULD i run and how much WOULD I want to run. Finally I don't want it to turn into a track car, I still want it to be a nice driver.

My plan so far is:
Jack Roush Side Exhaust
Venom Chip
BBK Headers
MSD Digital-6 Ignition
Sway Bars
Dyno Max Cats
BF Goodrich Comp T/A Drag radials on the back
RAM powergrip clutch
Rear trailing arms
And as you know the ProCharger with intercooler

Tell me what you think.

Thanks,
Matt

[Greg@SVTOA]

1994 Cobras have weak shortblocks, they are not the best choice for a supercharger. The pistons are brittle and will not stand up to high horsepower boosted setups for very long. If you have the funds to do all these mods you plan, you would be wise to add a shortblock with forged internals to your list of mods.

As far as making 300 hp before you add a blower, that's not a requirement. You should plan your combo around a lower compression set of heads and a cam that is ground to favor the exhaust side and is also boost friendly. If you build a strong running N/A motor, (using high compression heads and a cam with a tight LSA) and then add a blower, you will probably end up popping head gaskets on a regular basis. Keep compression below 9.50:1.

[waynenorcross]

Matt, you need to hold off and do some research first. If you have a '94 Vert, that is the Indy 500 Pace car, is rather rare and a collectable. Be carefull that whatever you do to it is able to be reversed.
That said, go for a Kenne Bell supercharger. they run cool and don't need an intercooler. You don't have to tap the oil pan. The 1500 will be perfectly safe with your current, low mileage engine. You can even use your GT40 lower intake BUT don't sell off the Cobra upper because they are no longer made by Ford. The newer ones say "Motorsports". The MSD Digital 6 is made for later cars. '96 and newer. You want an MSD 6-BTM for a '94. Forget the side pipes. They cost HP and will hit on anything should you lower the car. I have had excellent results with just Ford ceramic shorty headers, Bassani X-pipe with cats and Dynomax Ultraflow catback. As far as I know, Dynomax doesn't make a cat system at all. You stock engine should be good to 400 HP and the Kenne Bell builds that power off-idle so you don't need to rev the hell out of the engine to get moving. Pill the MSD at 5800 RPM to make sure you don't over-rev, and it should be fine. I don't believe that your convertible came with subframes so that should be the first addition. BTW, the '96 and newer Cobra sway bars were bigger than the '94/95 (which were smaller than the '94/95 GT!). You will get an immense improvement by just swapping in a set of later sway bars with polyurethane bushions.

Wayne

[waynenorcross]

One more thing. One of your first upgrades should be to 3.55 or 3.73 rear-end gears. The 3.08s suck. Stick to 3.55 with a Kenne Bell.
wayne

[JymBart]

Cobraman94

I do believe the `94/`95 Cobra came with a 3:25 rear end gear , not a 3:08.

I have 3:73`s in mine, along with FMS ceramic shorty headers, Bassani high flow cats, Bassini cat backs, Densecharger with Pro M MAF, Kenne Bell super charger,

Jymbart

[1994Cobra]

Originally posted by JymBart
Cobraman94

I do believe the `94/`95 Cobra came with a 3:25 rear end gear , not a 3:08.

I have 3:73`s in mine, along with FMS ceramic shorty headers, Bassani high flow cats, Bassini cat backs, Densecharger with Pro M MAF, Kenne Bell super charger,

Jymbart

1994 and 1995 Cobra's all have the 3.08:1 rear gears. So did many of the earlier models down to the 1991-92's. I think, and I may be wrong, that the earlier models had 2.73:1 gears in them.:tmb:

In addition, I do not believe that there is a 3.25:1 gear available for the mustang, unless you know somebody who custom makes gears. I may be wrong, but if I recall the mustang ratios available are:
3.08, 3.55, 3.73, 4.10, 4.11, 4.56, and perhaps a bit tighter.

3.73 is a great street gear. it will give you enough umph, without keeping the engine wound so tight you hate to drive it.

[Rocket]

Verts had 3.27's as an option and went to 3.27s' in '96

[bbp42d]

Originally posted by mustangcbr425
I own a 1994 cobra convertible. As of right now it is completely stock, hopefully not for long. I just got it Dyno'd and it has 220 rwhp and 270 ft/lb of torque. The car has 27,000 miles on it too. Well my plan is to put a Procharger on it. However I am not sure what system to put on, does anybody have a suggestion? My goal is to make it a comfortable cruising car with a good amount of power, maybe 400-500 hp. Getting back to the supercharger, I know that I am going to get an intercooler also. I also know that I will have to build up the motor before putting the blower on. I heard something about that the motor should be at least 300 hp naturally aspirated before supercharging it. Does anyone know what I should do to the car to get it up to 300 hp NA. I also need to know what will hold up, if anything, of the original engine parts to the amount of power. Basically, what do I have to put into the car so i don't break anything under the hood. I doubt that the motor is supercharge ready with it only having 220 rwhp. Also how much psi COULD i run and how much WOULD I want to run. Finally I don't want it to turn into a track car, I still want it to be a nice driver.

My plan so far is:
Jack Roush Side Exhaust
Venom Chip
BBK Headers
MSD Digital-6 Ignition
Sway Bars
Dyno Max Cats
BF Goodrich Comp T/A Drag radials on the back
RAM powergrip clutch
Rear trailing arms
And as you know the ProCharger with intercooler

Tell me what you think.

Thanks,
Matt well i did a 6 pd powerdyne on mine. a crane cam and a few more stuff and a safe tune of 369 to the rear. without a intercooler:cool: i still have the stock heads and block. i dont race or push it daily. not to say i wont goose it from time to time but so far no problems and it has 59000 miles on it now, the s/c was on at 12000:beer:

[Cobradavey]

You definitely need to go with the 3:55 gears. It made a huge difference on my 94. I now have an 03 and will get gears on this. It is cheap and will give you tons of off the line power. I highly recommend even for daily drivers

[Gumball]

Suggest the next mod is subframe connectors, in conjunction with a strut tower brace - your car will be MUCH better with some of the flex removed from the chassis.
Also, consider a rear steer kit - which improves the bump-steer situation in rear suspension.
The IRS Mustangs do not like hi-rev launches, so if you are planning on the occasional drag-strip outing, consider a stronger rear torque brace (the front carrier bar for the diff.) with aluminum bushings.
Have fun.......

[msmap]

Please do not mod your 94 Pace Car. They only made 1000 and they are very rare and worth $$$ :(

[cobra5 0]

I just purchased a bone stock 94 cobra convertible #580. It really has all the power I want. My question is should I put the sub-frame connectors and strut tower brace on the car? Will those additions hurt the value? May drive 2-3000k a year. No racing or hard driving. Thanks in advance for any input.

[cobraken]

I don't think it will hurt the value. I've made those changes on Mustangs before and they (by seat of the pants evaluation) seem to help solidify the car so that it feels tighter and handles better. Makes the car feel like a more expensive car.