The 03 cobra Eaton route will cost you just as much as a non intercooled
vortech kit will cost.
Yea, but then you have an intercooled, positive displacement blower, which is >>> than a non-intercooled centrifugal.
OP, sometimes these guys on the forums come off as harsh, and sometimes they are, but you really do need to do some more research. I swear I think I've read every 4.6 thread on this site, yet I still don't know anywhere near everything about them.
As far as putting a Cobra/Lightning blower on the two-valve PI GT heads: it can be done relatively 'cheaply' actually, but it's going to require you to piece together a kit and probably do the labor yourself. If you are going to pay for the labor, you'll be a lot better off just buying a new, complete kit, because shops are going to charge a TON when they have to work with old/used and mismatched parts. BUT, if you want to do that, here's what you've got to do.
You're going to need the blower, heat exchanger, coolant reservoir and hoses, throttle body/plenum, fuel injectors, and MAF sensor from a 03-04 Cobra. If you are patient and look around, all of this can be had for less than $1000.
Here's one for $1200 with all of the stuff listed above. This is just an example to show that it doesn't cost as much as some people think. I've seen kits like that go for as low as $600. You will also need a bigger fuel pump; SVT Focus fuel pumps can be had new for $150. The Tork Tech intake manifold for the blower (
found here will also be needed, and was $1800 the last time I saw the price listed. And finally you will need a tune, which will probably run in the neighborhood of $500 including a SCT chip.
That totals up to around $3500 total, although the parts can be had for much cheaper if you look around for long enough. $500 for miscellaneous parts is a gracious plenty.
So, all in all, you are looking at
$4000 for an intercooled, positive displacement blower good to around 500 horsepower, and that $4000 is on the very high end. I'm confident that it could be done for around 3 grand if you were patient.
While that is a lot of money, it is very cheap in the terms of a positive displacement supercharger kit on these cars. You are looking at $6k+ if buying a new Kenne Bell or TVS blower from Tork Tech. You could probably piece together a centrifugal kit in the same manner as this for a small amount less. But believe me when I tell you that a positive displacement blower is MUCH more fun to drive, and it is well worth the extra $500 it may cost.
And also, if you really want to supercharge your 4.6 Mustang, DON'T do it half-assed and buy a non-intercooled kit. As an owner of a non-intercooled blower, I will never recommend one to anybody. It gets so hot and heat soaked, it is ridiculous. You have to pull so much timing to keep the detonation under control that it's really not worth it. Plus, it SUCKS running half a second to a full second slower in the summer than in the winter. Trust me. If you don't have the money to buy an intercooled kit, either you don't need to buy a blower, or you need to wait until you do have the money.