A Superformance in Australia

[Heidelberg]

Anyone know how difficult it would be to get a Superformance Cobra MIII registered in Australia?

[Rebel1]

Heidelberg, Already been done.

The Superformance agents in Australia are Cobra Technology Centre Pty Ltd. In Warragul, Victoria. Phone (03) 5622 3370.

Web site: www.cobtech.com.au

Great bunch of blokes too.......well.....for Victorians that is.

[Heidelberg]

Thanks....I've just called them...The guy I spoke with was very helpful, but it seems that they've had a lot of trouble meeting Aust Design Regs...The biggest dissappointment was that it seems that they are not be able to get a 427 motor approved.

[BMK]

Heidelberg

The only approved 427 was in the Robnell cars as far as I know.

I saw recently that Robnell has been purchased and there may be a rising from the fire. Although this may be a little off as the new owners focus is still on the electronics - Motec - and possibly the Daytona Coupe. Perhaps ring him..

I doubt if anyone including Robnell will get a 427 approved. The accepted standard is the current emission approved Ford quad cam and the GMH Gen. motors.

I do not think anyone has tried with the bigger GM motors..

Perhaps Cameron or Garrett may chime in here with their thoughts on the handling and performance with the Gen. motors and the Ford motors and the need for bigger cubes. Both have SPF Cobras from Cobra Tech.

Cobra Tech. are big supporters of the Cobra community and sponsors of a number of events. I would start and continue working with them - my thoughts. So perhaps keep talking with them..

An article in 'Kit Car' magazine weighed up the big block. v. smaller motor and Bob Bondurant was quoted as saying that he preferred the smaller motor for handling and driving capabilities.

There was also a reference to 1.2HP per cubic inche as an ideal combination for a Cobra. So a 351 motor at around 420HP was plenty. There was a lot of discussion on the over powering of the Cobra.

Look at the Factory Five race cars with the 302 cubic inche limit and the performance that these guys get out of their cars. I attended a race at Midstates and was amazed just how they handled and performed overall. I drove an Illinois FIA car at Evansville that was fitted with a 289 - it was both fast and handled well.

Mmmm everyone has differing opinions.

Keep looking...

[Rebel1]

Heidelberg, sadly, that's the situation anywhere in Australia. We just cant register with any of the older carby engines.

The authorities view our cars as if they were a new vehicle off the showroom floor so they must comply with the various emission standard relevent to each state.

Take yours' truly for instance. I am currently installing a KOFF!!!! ... ermmm ..... chevy type engine, This is despite being a dyed in the wool ford fan, having a 302w, a 5Ltr and a 351w in the shed.

Now ... and I'm not pushing the chevy bandwagon but if 427 is a magic number to you then have a look at the chev LS7 or the LSx engines available at a very reasonable cost.

If you just have to go ford then your choice is the 4.6 or 5.4 Ltr engines but I think you'll have problems fitting them in the engine bay. Not impossible but is a bit sqeezy.

[Rebel1]

Bernie, I'm with ya mate.

My ideal engine for a cobra is either a 351W, 351C or a 351 clevor.

Any of the above are capable of 400 to 500 hp with very respectable torque figures.

As one of our most respected members found out recently in running his brand new LS1 powered cobra at the Shelbyfest. Anything beyond the above power is almost a waste as we are traction limited.

Mind you, If I owned a burger shop and had a cobra then I'd also buy shares in a tyre company to justify the frequent purchase of tyres.

[BMK]

Rebel1

Yes there is a link between the horsepower and the tyres. I'm just not sure what it is.

I spend more time going sideways and doing 360's. I keep blaming the tyre choice. I need to accept that it is my poor driving ability.

I think I need some counselling....

Anyway I'm heading to the States to do another big road trip in the GT40 so hopefully I'll sort out that performance issue - from the left seat..

Oooops back on topic.

I just sorted through the Kit Cars here - but have not found the article.

Yes Mike will have some thoughts on the cubic inche/ HP discussion. And I'm really liking that Gen. motor in Cobras.

[Rebel1]

Bernie, I've read some of your postings of late.

Am I correct in assuming that a GT40 may be in your future?.

C'mon, fess up, It'll just be between you and I, no-one else will know.

[Cameron Parsons]

Hi There,

yes I have one of the SPF cars in Australia. Mine is a Ford 347. I like the combo and I am starting to get to grips with the handling. For me I think I have enough HP for the car, more would be fun, but for me not necessarily faster.

I chose that combo as I wanted a Ford engine. A GM would also do well, and would likely be a better price/performance option if you don't mind the engine heritage.

It would be great to see another SPF at the events... We need the numbers!!

Anyway, there are a bunch of pics in my gallery of how I set it up. I would be happy to answer any questions you have on or offline.

Regards

Cameron

[Aussie Mike]

Bernie, I believe the Robnells were running the 429 motor which is a 385 series Big Block the same as the 460. The original Cobras ran the FE motor in 427 and 428 cube versions. It's a much older design than the 385 series.

Camerons Car is a beautifuly turned out machine. Its well built with all the creature comforts and still churns out amazing lap times on the track. he's running a Windsor based motor but I believe the Windsors days are done for new Cobra builds. Strict emissions laws will make getting a car registered with one of these motors very difficult.

If you are determined to run a Ford then you will probably be stuck with the 5.4 modular motor from the Falcon. This will give you some grief squeezing it into the engine bay as it's DOHC heads make it 900mm wide. It's not the lightest power plant either at 279KG. It runs an Iron block and the size of those heads even though they are aluminum adds a lot of weight. I believe the 4.6 mustang variant is a little narrower due to it's shorter deck height and a bit lighter with it's alloy block. Technically I'm not that impressed with this motor as due to the blocks tight bore spacings the only way to increase it's capacity is to increase the stroke. The 5.4 is actually under square with it's stroke longer than the diameter of it's bore. This is great for torque but not so great for revs which is dissapointing since the 4 valve heads have the potential to flow a lot. The only way I've seen these motors make serious power without breaking the bank is with forced induction.

That being said the stock 260 or 290 KW Boss motor will make your Cobra into a tyre frying road rocket. The cars light weight means a Cobra doesn't require a lot of power to give frightening performance.

If you can get past the badge I've got an internally stock LS1 that is probably making 300KW at the crank. It doesn't take much to make good power with a stock motor. A remapped ECU, cold air and a free flowing exhaust will wake it up. The cams in these motors are pretty lazy due to the emissions requirements. Adding a cam, springs, bigger injectors, after market manifold and more dyno time and that number will be pushing towards 400KW at the crank.

If you aren't satisfied with that then you can bore and stroke the LS1 using an LSX (Bowe Tie) block from GM and take it out to 7.6 litres. This block supports a 4.25" bore and adding a 4.1" stroke crank gives you 465 cubic inches. or if you just used a 4" stroke crank you would have 454 cubes. These are the same dimensions as the original Big Block Chev 454. The LS1 has almost the same length rod too at 6.125" versus the Big Blocks 6.135"

A 4.2" bore and a 4.1" crank will give the same number.

The magical 427 number can be had by using a 4" stroke crank and boring the block to 4.125". I like the idea of leaving a few over bores in the block so the slightly smaller bore appeals to me. These are the demensions of the new LS7 motor used in the 2006 Z06 Corvette.


To put this into perspective the later FE motors with aluminium intake manifolds like the 427 and 428 weighed around 280KG and made a factory rated 317KW.

The original Big Block Chev 427/454 weighed in at about 330KG and made similar power.

The new LS1 and LS7 motors weigh around 180KG.

There's an Aussie Superformance getting one of these shoe horned into it shortly.

Cheers

[Heidelberg]

Thanks to all for your comments…all comments & advise is really appreciated. It's very reassuring to see that there are people out there so willing to assist and share their knowledge. I've only recently become aware of this website and accordingly, I've really had my eyes opened at the value of a community like this.

I've been in love with the Cobra for as long as I can remember, and have wanted one ever since I visited a Cobra car builder in Bristol, England in 1988 when I was on a travelling/working holiday from Aus. The car was a slab side 289 car built from MGB & Jag parts and in hindsight, not a patch on the quality of what's around now!

I'm now at the stage of wanting to chase my dreams of owning a Cobra and want to identify and follow the best quality option I can.

Whilst I work in the US, I live in Perth, WA.

I do not plan to do any serious track work, but do plan to join the Cobra Car club of WA and will be therefore looking to do club events as well as enjoy the car on the street as often as I can!

It looks like that if I want to go with a Superformance, stay with a Ford engine from a heritage perspective and stay street legal, I’ll have to consider a modern EFI V8.

Over the years, I have tended to sway towards wanting a new 427 (S/C or Street) car, but if anyone knows of a company that offers a good quality new 289 (Street of FIA), I’d appreciate hearing about that company and what would be the best Ford engine combination you’d advise.

Thanks again,

Heidelberg

[400TT]

Sounds like one of your better options is to pick up a 2nd hand Robnell here in Aus. That way you get a complianced big block Cobra.

Then with a little(well heap) of work you can get results like what Stefano obtained:


(Thanks to RichardFerguson for the side shot)

For more photos, see Stefano's gallery: http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/s...at=500&thumb=1

[Cameron Parsons]

There is one more 'magic' option, depending on how much time you spend in the US.... If you have legal status (even a non resident alien work visa, eg L1 etc), and you have an address that sends you bills in your name.

You may comply with the personal import scheme.

Go to this page:

http://www.dotars.gov.au/roads/safet...ting.aspx#5.06

Scroll down to the eligibility section, then click on 'Personal Imports"

I haven't read this in detail for a while, but if you are in the US for a significant chunk of the year, you could be eligible.

I know that I would do this if the travel stars aligned.

Regards

Cameron

[Aussie Mike]

If you are working in the US then you have another option: Personal import. If you reside overseas and own a car over there providing you have owned it for 12 months over there you can bring the car in to the country and not pay duty. There may also be some loop holes for rego with an older motor if it has already been registered in tha other country.

I did it years ago with a Motorcycle I owned in NZ. It was a Honda NSR250, a model that wasn't sold in Australia. I had the bike for sale over there but wasn't having much luck selling it so I decided to ship it across. I rode it over here for a while and then sold it. Because it was a rare bike at the time when I sold it I pretty much got back what I paid for it and the cost of importing it.

Check out the Department Of Transport And Regional Services DOTARS web page DOTARS

Cheers

edit: Cameron beat me to it. I went for coffee and pressed the post button when I got back.

[Heidelberg]

Thanks Cameron and Mike,

I'll look into the personal import option very closely!

Were you aware of any 289 options in Aust?

Have you come across GForce in WA?

Regards,

Paul (Heidelberg)

[David Hodgson]

Heidelburg,

There are no 289 kits that I know of in Aus, either std slab side or FIA versions.

I have an older G-Force, but there are a few on this forum that have the current G-Force ie "PLUMS" who might be able to give you an insight.

[Heidelberg]

Thanks David...Excuse my ignorance...what does "Plums" stand for or mean?

Regards,

Paul (Heidelberg)

[David Hodgson]

Plums is a subscriber to this forum, from Perth. He's building a G-Force with a Chevy engine.

See "A new toy for the shed" thread

[Heidelberg]

Thanks David,

I'll also keep an eye out for Plums progress on his project...and would welcome any any insights, experiences that he or anyone else is willing to share on the GForce Cobras.

Regards,

Paul (Heidelberg)

[Aussie Mike]

From what I've seen the quality of the new G-Force body is first rate. Bobby (Plums) will be able to tell you more.

Cheers