Considering a 4.6 l engine and 5speed transmission from a 98 mustang Cobra. Not too familiar with the mod motors from that year. Most of my experiences are the 95 and older 302s. Found it at the turkey rod run in Daytona Beach. Seems to be a good deal. Engine transmission computer and wiring for about $3000 106,000 miles on them. from what I can tell there is no aftermarket mods on the engine except for a b&m shifter. Hoping that means the car was taken care of and not too ragged out. Looking for some feedback or point me in the direction of other older posts that discuss the pros and cons of trying to get this motor and transmission into my 68 F100 Ranger. If you guys have a better suggestion for bang for the buck on an engine and transmission for our truck please point me in that direction. Looking for a V8 with 5-speed manual transmission with around 300 horsepower.
Our Ranger was flooded in hurricane Irma and the insurance we kept on it did not cover flood damage so my 15yo son and I are finally getting around to rebuilding it, which means new engine and transmission as well as many other things. All new electrical and interior. Body and metal work is still in decent shape so just focusing on getting it back running for now before the pretty stuff goes on. Going to do rear fuel tank conversation. We have stripped the interior and cleaned it but it will be a long road from here. Any help and direction on parts and pieces as they come up would be greatly appreciated.
Certain there are hurdles to overcome with the O2 sensors and other electronics associated with airbags and safety sensors that will need to be eliminated or bypassed somehow. Hopefully there is a few people out there that have attempted this in their 5th gen f100. Thanks again in advance looking forward to this project we have a lot of homework to do!!!
Also just throwing this out there I have some motorcycles (on road and dirtbikes) and rifles that I will be considering for trade on parts and or donor vehicles. If anybody has anything that would work on our F100 and would like a list of the motorcycles and or rifles for consideration private message me.

Rob

 

My understanding is the mod motors are solid. They lack in the cubic inches but can be built up. It looks like it is a 300 hp motor and a lot of the 4.6 mods are getting cheaper. I have seen used 4.6 superchargers for under 1k if more hp is needed.

I feel like 3k is a little high for a 20+ year motor with 100k miles. I paid 2500 for a 2013 f150 coyote/6r80. There is cost to swapping the coyote that the 4.6 would probably not have.






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3k is outrageous! The 4.6 motors are dime a dozen and don't command that price. You can buy the full car for less or get one from a F150.

 

The 98 cobra 4.6 DOHC is a high reving engine. Ford didn't make that many cobras, not dime a dozen. It's downfall was low torque at low rpm. Not a good fit for a heavy truck, IMO. w/ 5 spd it is still better than whatever was available in 1968.

 

Good catch. I didn't see the Cobra which is DOHC, this would put the 3k back into a reasonable range.

 

I have a 96 Cobra, with 4.10s and a Novi 2000 Supercharger. About 525 crank HP.

Good motor, EXPENSIVE to rebuild, but the mileage sounds reasonable.

There is a component called IMRC (Intake Manifold Runner Control) that is a set of butterflies on each head that close off one intake port per cylinder to increase low end torque. They get gooey and sticky, and the cables that run them can break. This can lead to problems with loss of torque off the line.

I would be interested to see how much more a old truck weighs compared to a new car. I bet about the same. My F250 4x4 is about 5200 with me in it.. I think the Cobra is around 3500. So, I think this is a fine motor for your truck. Lots of people do the 2v version from Crown Vics.

You are probably paying a premium for a Cobra motor (versus a 2v), but it would make the project cool IMHO. See if you can get it for less!

If you are in to computers, you can get tuning software (Binary Editor) and a board that piggybacks on the computer (Quarter Horse). Those will allow you to change most all parameters on the system. You have to pay for "definitions" which are decompilations of the Factory code done by individuals with a the ability to decompile assembly language. Then you could turn off things like Air Injection, post cat O2 sensor IMRC, etc... You need both front O2 sensors for the system to run in closed loop, which you want.

I would run at least 3.70ish gears in the rear. If you put a 8.8" in from a Mustang or Crown Victoria, you will probably get much higher gears than 3.73 (low number, high ratio). Something like 3.27 or higher would be in a lot of cars. So, buy a set of lower gears. If you get a 8.8, get one with trac lock.

I have 4.10s on my Cobra and it was probably too low.

If you have the budget, go for it. It would do great in a F100, better than a stock mid 90s 302. And with an X pipe, sounds way cooler (different firing order).

YMMV.

 

Yes definitely understand 4.6 out of an F-150 is not the same motor as the cobra. Would not even considered it if it was a two valve.

 

Pulled the trigger on the motor and trans ended up negotiating and trading a couple of rifles for it. I've been doing a lot more research very excited about this build. Here are some pics of the engine and the truck it's going in.... Let the fun begin haha!!
Thankthank you very much for the other feedback so far definitely will put it to use keep it coming.
We we have had the truck for several years, I drove it regularly until hurricane Irma hit us pretty hard and we took six feet of water across our yard. Flood insurance would not cover the damages on the truck and having to repair our house and everything else that we lost in the flood the truck ended up sitting for a little while. We are going to start stripping it down and getting it rolling. Very excited to finally get moving on our old truck! Her name is Betty!

 

The starter solenoid broke off in the delivery but other than that motor seems to be in great shape

 

Look forward to your progress!

 

Looks fantastic! Starter is cheap on Rock Auto.

Ping me anytime for advice on the motor. Know it well.

I didnt see if you got the air injection pump, not needed if you are not doing cats (or doing modern cats). Therefore you can take the valves/solenoids and tubing off the manifolds, cleans it up some. I took and cut off one of the pipes about an inch above the nut and welded it shut, and then capped off the manifold. The threads and flare are not US or JIC. No one could match it up. You can also just leave the tubing and valves on and not connect the air pump. The are normally closed (vacuum opens them), so no biggie.

I didnt see on the rear of the intake (above bellhousing) there should be a box with two cables that go to the inside of each head. That is the IMRC box and cables, leading to the IMRC plate. See if the cables are still intact and if you can easily open the butterflies. That will tell a lot about the integrity of the IMRC.

One odd note, I got my Cobra at about 70k mileage. I switched to Mobil 1 and it smoked on decel. Could smell it also. Switched back to Motorcraft basic (semi-synthetic?) and the smoking and the smell stopped. Maybe just me.

Did you get the intake with the MAF? The OEM MAF was the old style. You can just build tubing out of pipe and couplers and put a slot MAF in, but you will need to redo the MAF curve. That is where BE (Binary Editor) and a Quarter Horse come in handy.

Get it running and it will make that truck rip! Awesome!

 

I have that same engine in my 67 XL that I have had on the road since 09. My engine came from a 98 MK8 that was water damaged”hydro locked” with a bent #8 rod with only 6k miles on it. The only difference between the MK8 and the Cobra is the intake cams. The block is known as a. “Tecksid” and they are cast in Italy.
I have a T45/3.70 setup. It is turning 2100 @ 70 which is a sweet spot. It gets between 17-19 mpg on the hiway. The XL weighs 4100 lbs with the wife and I. I figure it would easily top out over 140.
I had the cats and pats tuned out and it had the fuel curve slightly fattened up.
I know the engine will fit in your truck but also figure on a CV front clip. Then use the later style motor mounts and the engine will fit perfect. Reinforce your firewall so that the hydraulic clutch master cylinder will not crack it over time. You will not be able to use the original mechanical clutch linkage because the fork goes forward to release the clutch.
I hope these suggestions help.

 

Cool good luck with build. That motor is begging for boost and/or nitrous! Make sure to build the rear suspension enough to be able to hook up all it has.

 

Have to ask, sorry! What rifles did you trade????

 

Good trade... Great rifles from my collection.....
AR10 IN 6.5 CREEDMOOR
MARLIN MODEL 444
​​​​​​ SCOPES MAGS AND 120 ROUNDS OF AMMO.

The AR-10 was very fun to shoot but the Marlin lever action .444 would give you an *** kicking that felt good at the same time! Serious power in that 444! It was my favorite 200yd rifle!!! Kind of like being punched by Muhammad Ali.... hurts like a SOB but very excited to get hit!!!One of those things you have to experience to understand... Haha!!... I have others though.... .338 Lapua Mag PSR that is the baddest of the bunch!