Transplanting a 4.6l Ford Cobra engine?
 

I'm not sure what section this goes in to so feel free to move it.

I'm not sure why this hasn't been looked at before. A nissan engine makes no sense at all. I understand a Corvette engine since the bodies are very similar and they share a similar passion but you still put in a Ford rear end. Ford owns most of Mazda and you now see Ford/Mazda combo dealerships.

The GT500 and the GT40 use a 5.4l 4v(x8) supercharged engine which is too large but a 4.6l Aluminator crate engine with a Whipple supercharger has possibilities. I don't remember what liter the Corvette Lt1 is. I don't remember the person that's been building his for over 10years? I wanted to ask him. I'm not sure abut fitting the Mustang transmission. Anyhow, if anybody has any info please post.

Hm,... my '02 Ford Explorer has a 4.6L V8 that is essentially the same as the Mustang 4.6L EXCEPT, the Explorer has an aluminum block rather than the iron block the mustang does. About 75 lbs lighter I think.

I believe that since the Ford V8s are DOHC motors they are quite a bit larger then say a OHC LSX motor.

Note: I may be wrong about this as I did not look up the specs

No overhead cams in an LSX

Pretty sure the current 4.6l V8's are SOHC..

I have a buddy that is trashing his 4.6 for a 5.4l short block, and we're putting twin turbo's on it.. gunna be mean as hell...

This has me mildly intimidated. Though him being able to go faster, sooner won't be that bad since I'm helping with the build...

We actually talked about putting one of these in my mustang. The problem was the width of the 4.6L engines. I would have to cut the shock towers to get it to fit.

Nope, the latest 4.6 modulars are dohc. there 3 different simple versions, probably with some ecu tuning differences or intake manifold tweaks, etc.

SOHC 2 valve (since early 90's)
SOHC 3 valve (new mustang)
DOHC 4 valve (mid 90's mark8, since then it's been in a few different cars)

It interesting to note that the supercharged SVT slobra uses an iron block version of the 4 valve. I know with an ecu flash those things are pretty beastly.

From what the previous posters have noted though i think you might want to go with a narrower* V.

Yeah the GT500 and GT40 (latest) are 4v/cyclinder and looks like a Roush supercharger. Ford racing has an aluminum 4.6l mustang engine and one of the guys their has it supercharged to 600hp. I have no idea about the size and fitment. What's the name of the guy with the 1,000 page thread doing the Corvette LT1 transplant?

The Ford 4.6L is a rather large motor for what it is. The motor is really lacking the technology (and in many ways, the sheer simplicity) that the Chevrolet motors incorporate to make them much better performers. I think this a rather less-travelled route, as most of the Ford guys seem to go either 302 or 351.

As for fitting a 5.4L, that is debatable. Videos surfaced a little while back of a guy with a 427 BBC mounted in an FB. Nothing is impossible, and I think a 5.4L could be fitted if someone had the time, money, and capabilities to fabricate their own mounts for it (oh, and not to mention pay Ford's prices for motors). I'd be interested to see how you worked the headers and exhaust though, as that will probably be one of the biggest problems outside mounting the motor.

It's much more difficult than that. The modular line of motors (4.6L, 5.4L, SOHC, DOCH, 2V, 3V, 4V) simply will not fit without MAJOR MODIFICATIONS.

The fact is, the modular line of motors are much wider than the older Ford Small Blocks.

The following is from Granny's Speed Shop

Haha! It was late at night and I was getting the 4.6L confused with the 302 thinking that it was about the same size! But, I would give some serious respect to whoever managed to mount a crate 5.7L Hemi in an RX-7, I haven't heard of that being done.

4.6 vs 5.0:

http://www.vorshlag.com/pictures/motor-4.6-4V-004.jpg

The modular motor is physically larger than the old 460!

my 5.0 fit in the FC like it was a tiny V6:

http://www.supercars.net/pitlane/pics/484414b.jpg

Mine had a 49/51 f/r weight distribution, and no relocation of the crossmember/steering rack. Granny's used my car to advertise their kit (even though my car did NOT use their kit) and they still got it wrong.

Funny that you're also from MD and have that color car (saw your specific one on cardomain the other day). There is another guy with an '85 SBC in Crownsville with the exact same paintjob. I'm looking to do an SBC drop into an FC, so far I emailed a guy in NJ about a convertible that looks pretty clean and I'm waiting for his response.

But yeah that 4.6L is huge and it seems to me to be rather pointless. Good job keeping it old school with that carburetor, it's the way to keep things simple and still get good performance.