01 cobra build thread. (One step closer)
- Thread starter Badaz01
- Start date
Congrats on the numbers. What size pulley and do you have a pic of the finished engine bay. I still can't figure out how to get the stock intake pipe on. AC components and the radiator sensor are both in the way.
Well folks as the title says one step closer may be coming sooner then I would’ve liked. Noticed oil leak the other day and upon further investigation I found oil in my plug well in the plug closest to the driver side. Any have experience with this and what may cause it??!!
theres a little rubber donut gasket that goes valve cover at the bottom of each spark plug tube, when they fail you get a spark plug tube full of oil. If the plug is fully seated there's no explanation Im aware of for a hurt cylinder to push oil in there. The driver side VC kind of sucks to pull in the car but can be done. Get a FelPro valve cover gasket kit - itll have the valve cover gasket and donuts. You also need some black RTV where it meets the timing cover. The valve cover gaskets seem too big but they arent, you have to push it in against itself.
also jumping back to a previous post - you do NOT need ported and polished heads to make 600hp on pump gas with a D1. I was told by my tuner and builder I was far better off to up the boost a tad if needed vs the money in a port and polish job. With 10:1 I made 640 on 14psi on 93 (13-14 degrees of timing). On E85 and 15#s it made 715 (18-19 degrees of timing). If anything I'd get the heads cleaned up and gone through - seals, guides, valve job if needed, if you wanted to to 8 thread inserts that'd be the time too.
Lastly if you have a single bolt tensioner timing cover and go built motor I would highly recommend changing to the 3 bolt tensioner cover and save yourself a ton of headaches. I've kicked my own ass repeatedly for not doing it either time my motor was out
This.
Side note. I also had oil in my #8 plug. It was the little plug gasket. Cleaned it up, changed it out, checked it 2k later or so. All good.
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Yes all that sounds encouraging and I hope the 20 year old gaskets are the issue. I pulled my oil cap today though and my blow by vapor in the valve cover went from looking like a toy train to blowing out like a steam engine not so encouraging but idk we are going to do a leak test before we dive into the valve covers. Other than the three bolt timing cover are there any other small parts I should beef up if we do indeed tear down for the build.
take a good look at all the timing components, consider how far you really will push the car down the road then decide if the timing dowl/pivot upgradge is worthwhile. New pump with billet gears. if it's still the original crank pulley the bonded rubber tends to fail and the outer ring will separate, go ahead and put on an aftermarket 8rib (run the belt on the back 6). If youre gonne go 8 rib Id do it on the stand and get everything aligned while its out. If you're gonna run an OD crank pulley go ahead and grind down the crank position sensor boss.
lastly with the 3 bolt timing cover - my shop here said they re-do the tensioner mounting bolt holes for 1 size larger bolt
lastly with the 3 bolt timing cover - my shop here said they re-do the tensioner mounting bolt holes for 1 size larger bolt
Excited for you man !!
Well folks just got done with compression test and two of the cylinders on the passenger side only blew 70 psi. So not sure what to expect from here. The thing that sucks the most is gonna be the down time while the nice hot summer days go by. But I guess that’s the chance one takes when boosting a stock 20 year old motor. I just hope this adventure I’m about to embark on is worth it and hopefully the build will/can be reliable. I know that depends on a lot of variables but we shall see. I will keep you all updated as to what happens. For now you all have a good one.
were they adjacent cylinders? I mean thats a pretty low number but a HG on adjacent cylinders can make em both show low. You can also try a little oil in the cylinder to see if it comes up (piston/ring damage)
I took it to my mechanic today he is gonna do a more detailed check and let me know what best move is to make. The cylinders that were low were on the passenger side the two next to each other in the middle not sure the order of the cylinders but I’m wanting to say it’s #3 and #5.
pass side radiator to firewall would be 1-2-3-4 so the middle cylinders would be 2-3. Driver side radiator to firewall would be 5-6-7-8.
Even if it is just head gaskets with already planning to build it, sounds like its gonna be time.
Good luck dude. Now build it for boost.
Heck yea man Lord knows I need it.
Well ordered my parts for the bottom end today. Going to take the heads to fox lake racing to have them freshened up along with a cnc port job valves the works. I’m gonna stick with around a 12 psi tune which will get me into the 500-525 rwhp range or so. I want to keep this build as reliable as possible. Only trying to do this once.
Skip the port job and all that. Just get them cleaned up and the seals replaced. You don't need ported heads for 500hp. You don't need ported heads for 600hp. Put the money somewhere else.
Yea that’s kinda what I thought thanks for the reinforcement on that decision. When we initially dynoed the car it put down 506whp and that was with him cutting off the pull about 800 rpm early. That was with bone stock 01 cobra heads. Thought about just using those as they are but then again maybe a heavier spring and new seals would be warranted while it’s apart being everything in there is 20 years old.
Nice setup you are building, I have an 01 Cobra with a D1 also. Just as others mentioned I too would forgo the port job unless you plan to make big power down the road. 525 with the D1 is going to be really easy. If you send the heads in I would go ahead and do the spark plug threads, oversize valves and upgraded springs.
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