Hello folks....I'm awaiting the arrival of my car, which is now targeted for mid Feb., so you all should probably get ready for a lot of questions. I know just enough to be really dangerous. Mike (66rdster) lives close to me and has already been a tremendous help as has Ryan Cassidy's build site. Mike will most likely feel the brunt of most of my questions. Just keep in mind...I take direction well. My car will be a cruiser and I'm planning to use a small block Ford with a T5 trans. I have been using my wait time to try and make a final decision on the engine, which brings me to my first questions. I have made some contacts with several possible suppliers, but have run across a couple on ebay that appear to be possiblities and I would some feedback on, if you have any. Has anybody used them, know anything about them,ets,etc,? The first is Phoenix Engine located..you guessed it..in Phoenix, Az. The second is Faster 5.0 which is located in Charleston, SC. I am probably less concerned about Faster 5.0, since they are about 3 hrs. from me and if they turn out to be promising I can go check them out in person. Well this is it for my first post.
Thanks, Sam
Welcome to the family Sam!
I don't know anything about either builder but I would want one close enough that I could swing by and talk to the guy actually doing the build. Maybe even go there before buying to look the place over. (I always want to see how clean it is) That's my thoughts anyway.
Any questions you have, feel free to ask.
Larry
Hey Sam,
Glad to see you check in here. You'll find this is a great group of guys. Theres a lot of knowledge and experience here and everyones happy to help. If you have any questions this is the place to ask, or call me anytime.
Mike
Since you're wanting a "Cruiser," have you considered your local Ford dealer? Nice crates at nice prices with nice warranties.
Oh. And, "Welcome!" What's your car #?
Sam,
First of all welcome to the club. I too am using a small block Ford V8 for my ride.
After doing some research through several web sites I went with Brue Couture's Modern Driveline located in Nampa ID. There phone is 408-265-0741 and the website is www.moderndriveline.com
I purchased every thing needed from them from the end of the crankshaft to the end of the tranny.
This included the following items: ( All new ) T5Z 5 speed transmission with 2.95 first gear and .63 overdrive. Aluminum Bellhousing, Block plate, Bolt kit for the entire assy, New 157 tooth flywheel,
New pressure plate and clutch disk with throwout brg, New pilot brg for the end of the crankshaft, Clutch lever, Speedo cable for 1965-68 mustang, T5 speedo gear 20 tooth black ( based upon on 3.7 gears and 295X50X15 tires ). Transmission mount and all shipped UPs for around 2,100
They helped me with what I needed and always called back quickly or answered my E-mails when I had any questions. Just let them know your gear ratio and what size tires you will run and they will reccomend the right speedo gear. They will give you a complete quote before you order anything.
Thanks all for the feedback. I'm still trying to figure out how to navigate the owners forum, so things may show up in some strange places. Like when I posted this, I thought I was in the private owners forum. Oh well.
Tom, in answer to your question...my car number is 1076. And the last conversation I had with Mike, it should ship around Feb 21. Let's hope so.
Mike W, thanks for the input on the driveline source. I've been looking at D & D Performance, so will give them a look. As I mentioned when I started this topic, I am still working on the engine choice. When I bought the kit, I was planning on a rather plan Jane Ford crate engine, but know that I've gotten further into this project and spent more time on the owners forum I have decided to up the price of admission. The only question is how much--351 W with alum heads, etc or stroked, or both. Besides wanting to do this, I feel it is necessary to maintain the value of the car. At anyrate, still working it and hope to have a solution shortly.
My buddy in Clayton, Mike-66rdster is getting his ear bent a lot.
Thanks again guys.....Sam
About a month ago I attended a "Dyno Day" with the Houston Cobra Club.
Sam,
What city do you live in? I live near Charlotte, not too far from Mike.
Steve
Steve, I live in Raleigh. I knew you were in Charlotte. I had called Mike Arps before I made my decision and told Mike I wanted to come visit Hurricane and see some finished cars. I had been following Mike's build in Clayton , but obviously he wasn't finished yet. Mike Arps suggested I visit you since you were just about finished, if I wanted to save myself a trip. However, there were a number of things I wanted to discuss face to face in addition to see a finished car and I figured if I was going to spend the $ for a car, it was worth a plane ticket and motel to go visit. I bought the car while I was there.
Regards, Sam
Great! ;) There's another NC Hurricane owner out there. Maybe someday we can all rally up somewhere for a great drive. We have a few down south also, so we could probably get a good showing.
Steve
Good idea Steve. Something like that would be a lot of fun. I know a couple places in the mountains that would be great with the Cobra. Now, if I can only get this thing finished ::) ::) ::)
Mike
Here's a great article on what you can do with a small block (http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/116_0307_ford_302_v8_engine_buildup/index.html) with little effort. I've run a stock 5.0, thee 351Ws and now a 392W stroker in my FFR. The three 351s were a disaster from a turn-key supplier. It should have only been one but had many problems. The FMS 392W @ 430HP (http://www.fordracingparts.com/parts/part_details.asp?PartKeyField=9279) is an incredible engine. Very streetable and if you'd like more, then slap on the Z heads or AFR 185s and get to the 500HP league. A really good breathing stock cam would get you a terrific driver. You may lose a little top end HP with the stock cam but you'll be more than happy with the torque at the low end.
Hi
I am also waiting for 1077 to arrive. I bought an engine from Phoenix engine last year for another project. The motor was built well but I had trouble with the edelbrock carb that it came with. Once I put a Holley on, it ran great. However there so-called turn key motor comes as a long block that you finish off.
I just picked my motor up last weekend from Proformance in Ocean NJ. I went with a 351w 440HP roller motor. These guys were easy to deal with and build a great motor. They live run it, tune and take a video for you. The best part was when they were done they called me up to here it run. They offer a wide variety of motors and many upgrades. I went with a bigger cam aluminum heads, demon carb, March cerpentine belt system and PPG paint (No spray paint) that looks great and will last. Also this was the cleanest most organized shop I have ever seen.
www.proformanceunlimited.com
Check them out on line or call and ask for steve.
Erik
So does that make three in NC?
There's three in AZ too! There was (maybe) going to be four but Tom chickened out on moving here
Yep, three in NC now. Where holding our own!!!! If we can get a couple more we can start our own Cobra club
Erik, thanks for the input re Phoenix Engine. I never heard back from them after I spoke with Randy and sent an email. Anyway, in the meantime I have made my engine decision. A friend of mine owns a performance engine shop that builds drag engines for 1/8 mile bracket racers. He is going to build me a 351W stroked to 393 with a mild street cam, Edlbrock alum heads and manifold, Holley carb, distrib., etc--turn key. As soon as I get my car and get the build underway, then I can have the engine built to meet my schedule so I don't have it and the rest of the drive line laying around taking up space on my garage floor. I have a large double garage, but for some reason my Wife wants to park her Tahoe in her half of the garage. Go figure. I haven't talked with Mike Arps lately so I guess I'm still on for a ship date of 2/21. When is 1077 schduled? I sent my seat and carpet samples last week, so we must be getting close. I have selected my colors--dark blue with silver stripes and medium gray seats with a darker gray carpeting. I hope to get started on a body buck this week, but won't finish it until the car arrives and is on the jacks so I can get some actual measurements and make how it will best suit me.
Mike and Steve are going to have to wait awhile for me to join the NC cruise.
Regards, Sam
Nice choice Sam.