Help With 94 Cobra Mods

[DSMwindzor]

I have a 94 cobra that's basically stock it got 320,xxx miles and counting I've had it since 210,000 miles roughly.
I can't completely park it and take it apart and build a new engine, so found a 95 mustang gt engine 1 owner car )
(36 year old woman) got the block and crank honed up and according to the machinist its the best condition he's ever seen a mustang engine in after 180,xxx miles. But anyways. As we all know the 94-95 cobra are only rated at what like 275hp? Even though some say they made closer to 300? I need/want to rebuild another 5.0 for many reasons. 1. The new v6 mustangs make more hp than my cobra and I can't have high school kids driving a car mommy and daddy bought for them going faster than me! And 2. I live 50 miles from work and I do a lot of out of state traveling. So an all orignial 5.0 isn't gonna hold up much longer. I'm not afraid to spend money on this but I wanna ask you guys which direction should I take this build if I'm looking for a streetable high 300hp maybe around 400hp car? I have somewhat of an ideal what I want like some afr heads or twisted wedge. But what size? 165cc? 175? 185cc? Maybe go up to some 42lb injectors? E303 cam I heard those aren't to radical for everyday driving? As for the bottom end I may supercharge later. But I'm defnitely wanting to shoot nitrous. I have a bottle I planned on hooking up in my 92 awd talon tsi turbo but. I'm pretty sure 25lbs of boost is enough. So with forced induction or nitrous comes the responsibilty of getting a forged bottom end (and a good ecu tuning). I know the 87-92 mustang 5.0 have forged pistons what about push rods? And the crank? Like I said I don't mind going out and buying them brand new but if there's a chance to save money and not skimp out on parts then that's a win right? But if I get used pistons from an older 5.0 I won't beable to bore over to a 306. But moving along. Maybe a 70mm MAF. 70mm throttle body. And I don't really know what's a good aftermarket flowing intake. Maybe a typhoon intake? Beef up the ignition systen? Any help is appreciated.

 

[DSMwindzor]

Head porting? Valve springs? Rocker arms? Oversized valves?

 

[ratio411]

If money is no object, AFR heads are awesome IMO...
You don't want an E cam. None of the FMS "alphabet cams"...
We have an E cam in our 94, and it doesn't get along with the ECM, and it's not a great cam to begin with.
I have been talking to Comp Cams about the problems we are having with the E cam, and he was telling me about a cam they specifically made to better the E cam... It has more lobe seperation to get along better with the ECM, has more lift, and really close on the duration @.050". The big difference is that the E cam has 'lazy' ramps, both open and close. The Comp version has really aggressive opening ramps, but still closes the valves slow enough for street longevity (it doesn't slam the valves shut).

Here is a copy/paste of one of the emails he sent during the discussion:
"A lot of people have the belief that the alphabet cams are really aggressive cams. The reason that they sound so good is that they are actually a really soft, slow lobe design. So they lack a little on the response side.

You tell how aggressive a cam is but subtracting the advertised duration from the duration @ .050.

The E cam is advertised at 282 and then @ .050 it is 220. That is a 62° major intensity

The Xtreme Energy cam is the 35-351-8. That cam has an advertised duration 270 on the intake and 276 on the exhaust. The duration @ .050 is 218 and 224 for an intensity of 52. 10° is a pretty big difference. These are asymmetrical lobes, which means they open fast and yet do not close at the same rate.

This cam will put you at .546 with the 1.7 rocker, you need to make sure that it will clear. I think it is the best all around cam for what you have."

 

[DSMwindzor]

I've heard the ecu's in 94 95 mustangs are picky and I've also heard people talking about how the E cam more specifically I'm more cases than not go haywire. So I guess I'll look elsewhere for a streetable cam

 

[Labora]

You are all over the place brother.

First of all if you plan to build up a engine get a solid plan beforehand, adding aftermarket heads a (presumably) stock intake and a letter cam will not get you a decent combo what so ever. If all the components do not match flow wise you will be leaving HP on the table and wasting money swapping parts out later.

Second your injector sizing sounds way off 42lbs are almost double what your car has now and you will not be making double the HP. (I'm aware that isn't exactly how you pick injector sizing but go along with me for now!) Also if you plan to do much above and beyond a mild H/C/I plan on finding someone to do a decent tune and get whatever software/hardware they recommend.

Good luck, plan your steps carefully or you will be wasting/time money and leaving HP on the table.