RalphSchmalph Ralph I have no problem with a windsor in a cobra even a small one. I have not looked at the prices between the bigger and smaller motors. They both come with the same warranty. You have not said what you are going to do with the car.
Street, Racing, 1/4 mile, Show and shine, everything. IMO get the bigger stroker for starters. It will give you about 400rwhp and that's alot of a cobra. You have not said which trans you are going to run or rearend ratio. This also needs to be taken into account. Try for a 500ft torque motor in your car. You can run a lower gearing, cruise on the highway in the 2,200-2,400 rpm range. This motor will have to work a little easier to push the car down the road. Gas milage will be better with the right motor even if it's more cubes. It will not have to work as hard. Hal Copple runs a 390+ windsor and does everything. He might give you a little better inside info on this than me. Sorry I'm with the FE motor guys.
I like all the torque I can get. This also keeps the RPMS lower and extends the motors life, even racing. I just got 8 years out of a 452 motor and limiting the RPM's to a 6,200 MAX range. Most times it was 6,000 rpms. That's all you need. Get an overdrive transmission and keep the rearend ration to 3.50 or less. You want to put a rev limiter on the motor of MAX 500 rpm over the max HP reading. You are just wasting motor after this rpm. There is no more power to be had.
Rick Lake