2000 Cobra R Heads

[Sophbuster]

Has anyone ever had the heads off their car? I'm asking this because I want to know if the heads have been ported or not. I have asked some people before, but they didn't know if anything has been done to them or not. And if you have had them off, were you able to do it with the motor in the car?

Thanks,

Colby

 

[JKCOBRA98]

I can tell you from experience that you cannot take the heads off a DOHC motor wile still in the car.. It is best to remove the motor and place on a stand.

The heads reportedly from Ford sources were a FR-500 style with a higher port and bigger valves installed.. the only porting work done was just polishing.. This was to remove casting flash. Each cylinder head is supposed to marked with individual numbers to show what car they are from. This is also to indicate it is an R head.

So if you are to take a production 99-01 DOHC Cobra head you would still find differences in the intake side ports and also the valves are larger. The FR-500 heads are suppose to be a closer match to the R head. Still there will be a slight difference as the R heads were cleaned up with a polishing job. No casting flash.

Hope this helps.
Matt

 

[TcM-668]

From the SVT Welcome Package:

"High-Output 5.4L DOHC V8 Powers 2000 SVT Cobra R"

Page 2 from middle down.

Ed Olin "Cobra R's specially designed 4-valve cylinder heads are the key to it's power."

"Intially we used the DOHC heads that were designed for Ford's Rough riders off-road truck racing program" "Intial development was a success, but because of tooling limitations, we had to design new heads for the cobra R. They're similar to the 4.6 cobra heads, but with a lot more flow through the intake and exhaust ports."

"the engineers achieved this(improved airflow) by reshaping the intake and exhaust ports, redesigning the intake and exhaust valve heads and increasing the exhaust valve diameter by 2mm compared with the 4.6-liter engine."

I guess I will plan on building up a running engine, and pull the '00 R motor since I don't want to wait til it breaks and have to jump thru hoops. besides, if I drop a valve, I don't want a patched head to run with...

time to call Pauls HP and Sean Hyland and see whats out there....

Thanks again guys...

Don...

 

[Andy M]

So, lemme get this straight? If we have some major problem with one or both of our heads, Ford does not have any spares hanging around to help us out??

 

[TcM-668]

The updated word I got from SVT is that if you have a major problem, then they would do what they can to get you a replacement head(s).

They want the old ones back though...Oh yeah, the replacement(s) will not be CHEAP ! he would not talk pricing though...I fiigure 7-10K for a set of heads...

I am told by the folks at Sean Hyland Motorsport that they can port a set of Cobra heads to flow as good or better than the R heads, so we should not worry too much...They would not say whether the ported heads would match the R intake though...

They say they can port the R heads and REALLY open them up and make a difference...

I would rather not hack on my engine that much...

Maybe it is just me...

Don ...

 

[Andy M]

Originally posted by TcM-668
The updated word I got from SVT is that if you have a major problem, then they would do what they can to get you a replacement head(s).

They want the old ones back though...Oh yeah, the replacement(s) will not be CHEAP ! he would not talk pricing though...I fiigure 7-10K for a set of heads...

I am told by the folks at Sean Hyland Motorsport that they can port a set of Cobra heads to flow as good or better than the R heads, so we should not worry too much...They would not say whether the ported heads would match the R intake though...

They say they can port the R heads and REALLY open them up and make a difference...

I would rather not hack on my engine that much...

Maybe it is just me...

Don ...

Don,

Who is Sean Hyland? Are they known to be Ford/Mustang experts? Where are they located?

Steve at Houston Performance has been talking to me about porting and polishing the heads on my car as well installing some higher lift and higher duration cams..ever since I bought it... But I am reluctant to begin messing with the internals of the engine?

What do you think?? He says with some good port/polishing and some more radical cams, he thinks it would be good for about 425 or so at the wheels - which would put it around 500 at the crank! Although this sounds sexy, I am concerned about any possible negative effects this may have?? And additionally, the thing is already plenty powerful for the type of stuff I use it for... Now if I were to drag race it, maybe that would be a different story?

Comments?

 

[XLR8-R]

Andy, Maybe you could start with long tube headers, 3 inch exhaust and extrude hone your intake to get 400+hp at the rear wheels. I would talk to Jason @ SVT before you pull your heads to see if there is any improvement left in the heads and cams. It would be nice for us other R owners when you let us know what works and doesn't though. Thanks in advance!

Carter:-D

 

[TcM-668]

I don't know if I'd be comfortable hacking on my engine...bolt on stuff OK, but port work/cams ??? I dunno...

Sean Hyland builds modular race motors and is quite the Mod motor guy...They got an FR-500 block to work with for some prototype work from Ford, and they have built up 1000 HP motors on N20...They have a good reputaton in the race world...They are in Ontario Canada.

http://www.seanhylandmotorsport.com/

COBRA ENGINES
4.6 COBRA SHORTBLOCK 575HP/7500RPM- $3,975

5.4 SHORTBLOCK 700 HP / 7000 RPM - $6475 Outright
5.4 Cobra 4 VALVE LONGBLOCK - $11500 Outright

They have been around for some time, and I am thinking about getting them to spin a motor for me...

11.5K is a lot of money, but I figure a replacement set of heads from SVT would be the better part of that...and they are a one-off type situation...

I dunno...we'll just have to see...

He did say that they could get me a full race prep'd engine in a week or two...not too bad...

Just my $ .02 worth...

Don...

 

[Andy M]

Originally posted by TcM-668
I don't know if I'd be comfortable hacking on my engine...bolt on stuff OK, but port work/cams ??? I dunno...

Sean Hyland builds modular race motors and is quite the Mod motor guy...They got an FR-500 block to work with for some prototype work from Ford, and they have built up 1000 HP motors on N20...They have a good reputaton in the race world...They are in Ontario Canada.

http://www.seanhylandmotorsport.com/

COBRA ENGINES
4.6 COBRA SHORTBLOCK 575HP/7500RPM- $3,975

5.4 SHORTBLOCK 700 HP / 7000 RPM - $6475 Outright
5.4 Cobra 4 VALVE LONGBLOCK - $11500 Outright

They have been around for some time, and I am thinking about getting them to spin a motor for me...

11.5K is a lot of money, but I figure a replacement set of heads from SVT would be the better part of that...and they are a one-off type situation...

I dunno...we'll just have to see...

He did say that they could get me a full race prep'd engine in a week or two...not too bad...

Just my $ .02 worth...

Don...

I think I will likely leave mine as is in the engine department. Plenty enough juice to get me in trouble as it is! ;-) Additionally, for road racing courses, it has plenty power, but could use better balance. I think I will likely spend more money in the future making it handle better....and leave the motor alone.

As far as installing a new motor to keep the other one... I am not sure I would go that far with this car Don?.. but heh, it is your car, and you need to do what is right for you. I just think the car was made to drive hard on a track, and I don't much worry about it all that much. If the unthinkable happens, I will deal with it. This car is waaaay too much fun to leave parked in a garage somewhere with cobwebs on it. I intend to drive mine!