[vettestr]

Ask any question ya want and no need to worry about thick skin or not as I'm guessing it's not your first rodeo. Just put new batteries in your BS detector.

Karlos is running a chebbie so uses the GM family of auto's, the turbo 400 is a battleship with 3 forward gears but has a 1/1 final ratio. His new tranny offers an overdriven 4th gear ratio. It is also getting a history of being able to survive .... spirited use.

Your engine selection would require adapter plate to use the GM bolt pattern but not a bad thing. In the end survival and availability of aftermarket parts with a proven history is what most folks want. Ford has autos with an overdrive too and others will chime in.
I can quote GM parts and interchange as well as most but was not raised with Fords so defer to the Ford experts.

The paddle shifter set-up is very cool when installed and set up properly (like most things). It is not a set up that any tranny guy can install, tweak or resolve issues on and not compatible with every tranny available. Might want to do your homework on this option.

I have run a automatic's in my own cobras and they worked great at all the things they do and better than a standard in some ways. I do like a standard tranny in a cobra better just because it seems to fit my own image of the TOY a cobra is for me. I like shifting and ability to short a shift or stretch it out a little just because. An auto never misses a gear or the right gear.