So I Get My New Cobra, and Blam! Disaster!

[yamazee]

So all week I have been waiting for my Backdraft to be delivered from Jerry at Suncoast Cobra. Finally after all the waiting, he pulls up to the house with the Cobra on the trailer. It looks hot, I take it for a spin around the block, everything seems ok. We do the paper work, I sign the check....and off he goes. I cant wait, so I get in, go down the road, pick up my buddy and we're off on the mayden voyage. We get to the highway (about 10 minutes from home) and I get on it a little, the rear wheels break loose a little and it hooks up and goes. Wow this is friggin awsome,,,,all of the sudden I look in the rear view mirror and Holy SH*#! There is more smoke pouring out of this thing than 007's Aston Martin! I pull over, call Jerry to have him turn around and bring the trailer and get the car back. He takes it back to sarasota, and I take back my check and tell him we'll sort it out tommorow. Today he calls and tells me that his guys put the wrong oil filter on it, (a little too long of a filter according to him) and that the filter pushed something from oil pressure switch against the exhast and it melted which is what caused the major oil leak and smoke as the oil was pissing directly on to the exhast.
Does this make sense to you guys? Also what do think? would you still buy this car? Anyone have any experience with the guys at suncoast cobra? Other question I have is, the oil pressure was running at 80PSI, seems high to me, but then I dont know much about a 351 motor that has been stroked to a 392. Any input or help you guys can give would be very much appreciated.

[pmfranke]

kind of depends how long you ran . five min with no oil pressure would be very bad. five min with oil squirting on the headers would just be a mess.

[Blittleton]

Yam,

It makes some sense if you have auto meter guages. You would have a plastic oil pressure line to your guage. If it was pushing on the line or sitting on the headers it would melt and spill oil every where. 80 psi seems to be a bit high. You might want to ask about that to Suncoast.

Bill

[Gatorac]

That sounds like a reasonable explanation to me. It is not unusual to have issues with a new Cobra. It can take some time to "sort" it out.

I have not heard anything good or bad with about Suncoast.

80lbs cold may not be an issue. 80lbs hot seems a little high.

[turnpike boy]

Not knowing just what got melted, it would seem that you caught it very quickly and, as a result, prevented any real damage. Good on you.

80 lbs, even cold, seems high but not impossible. Since you got to do an oil change anyway, tell 'em to refill with 10W-30 and see what you get then. Remember, it's a new motor so heavy (i.e., 30 wt.) oil is not necessary.

Yes, if I wanted the car, I wouldn't be troubled by this event.

BTW, I had the plastic oil gauge line split on my car when it had less than an hour's running time on it - hadn't been on the road yet. BIG ball of flame out of the (open) engine compartment......testicles retracted to somewhere around my heart.....no damage whatsoever. Braided steel followed immediately.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Sounds like one of those little plastic or nylon oil pressure lines, and yes if it rubs against anything it will rub a hole in it, or the exhaust will melt it in a nano second, then shoot a small stream of oil on most nearly everything in sight and make tons of pretty smoke!!!!!!!!!

Had it happen to me once....since then, I only use small copper lines or small stainless braided lines for oil pressure.....I doubt it hurt anything in the motor, more than likely made a huge mess under the hood and car.......it would take more than a few minutes running like this to pump out the oil and hurt the motor, as long as you had oil pressure, the motor should be just fine, car will probably need a good cleaning though..........


Depending on the type of oil and oil pump, 80psi would sound a little high, but would be about right for rpms over 2000 and cold oil......

I would not worry about it too much, have your dealer clean up the car and replace the oil pressure line and route it in a way that it's far from the exhaust........I route mine straight up the front of the block and then over the intake, next to the valve cover straight to the rear of the engine thru the firewall to the gauge, also cover it in that corrugated looking black stuff the wire harness is in on cars, I get mine at the local junk yard, just pull it off junked out cars, costs next to nothing.........once he finishes the repairs, go inspect it and see what kind of line he used for the oil pressure feed and where it is routed, if the job was done correctly, you should have nothing to worry about.........also, I would not "get on it" for a while, get some easy miles on the motor before getting on it........

David

[yamazee]

I said new backdraft, but what I should have been saying is that its new to me, only has about 5,000 miles on it. As far as oil pressure, I would say it was not cold when reading 80psi. When it blew and had oil spewing everywhere it was still at about 60psi.

[yamazee]

Oh, also I forgot to ask...what RPM would a stroker motor like this one max out at? If its a 392 stroker, I would think that it would rev out higher than a normal 351? seems that it should have a max torque curve well above 5500-6000 rpm?

[ENTDOC]

just the opposite may be true. Your Rev limit would be based more on the quality of the components and has nothing to do with stroke except a longer stroke motor has a harder time Rev'ing. Short stroke big bore is generally a higher rev'ing motor all other things being equal

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Depending on the cam/heads/intake/carb combo, I'd say 5500 to 6000 rpms would sound just right to me..............

If you still had 60 psi oil pressure, the motor should not have suffered any damage at all.................

David

[Excaliber]

Max rpm, or should I say, MAX HORSE POWER rpm is mainly dependant on the cam profile. Two things come to mind with high rpm.
1. Will the bottom end 'live' at elevated rpm numbers?
2. Will the heads, intake, exhaust profiles support your max cam profile rpm?

The shorter the stroke of an engine the higher the rpm potential. The longer the stroke the more difficult it is to make the engine 'live long'. So your stroked 351 is not necessarily a higher rpm engine or as reliable as a stock stroke 351 (using similiar parts in both engines). Laws of physics come into play.

But max rpm is more a function of the cam profile and ASSUMES the intake, heads and exhaust will support that profile at it's max rated rpm. Which also assumes your engine is built to 'live' at said rpm.

[onefastmustang]

I have a 392 in my cobra and it reads 50-65 psi. I personally think 80 might be a bit on the high side..

[Clois Harlan]

Things will happen, even after you have had the car for months things can and will happen. I think if it were my decision I would ask to see what melted and if in fact it was the oil pressure line I wouldn't be to concerned. Replace it with a AN 3 braided line not more than $50 from a speed shop. I had the exact thing happen to my oil pressure gauge about 5 years ago.

Replace the oil with 10 40 or 10 30 and also change the oil filter to a motorcraft oil filter. I bet after you do that your oil pressure will settle around 55 or 60 PSI.
Clois

[Chaplin]

Originally Posted by turnpike boy

testicles retracted to somewhere around my heart.....no damage whatsoever.

What about damage to the car?

[yamazee]

Thanks for all the responses, wow i must say you guys are awsome. Looks like i joined the right club. I took delivery tonight,,,,again, and I have to say this time so far so good, it went much better. Took the car for a about a 45 minute ride, seems to run very well, especially considering yesterday. I love the sound, and the power of this thing! There will some things that will need tweeking, but that could be on any used car I guess. I know from word go, I dont like the shifter, way up high, to far away from comfortable position. I know its supposed to be close or true to the original, but really I have to ask, how the hell do you guys drive like that? Also I dont like the half back seats that are in it. First thing to do will be replace guages, with electronic guages and get rid of that stupid plastic line. Second will be to put a top on it, and at same time at a/c heat and defrost. After that, its just some little stuff here and there. So far Jerry at Suncoast has been really good about everything, so no complaints there at all for the moment. I'll keep you all posted if any new gremlins pop up! Anyone in the Tampa, Pasco,Pinellas, Hernando area up for getting together sometime? Let me know. Thanks again, all your responses made for an easy decision!

[Excaliber]

There are a few of us who prefer to build a car just like it was 'back in the day', warts and all. The shifter works great for me and a side oiler is the way to go!

[SS COBRA]

We purchaased our Backdraft from Jeff and Jerry at Suncoast and have nothing but good things to say about them. When we took delivery in Sept 2005, they drove ours for 100 miles and when we took delivery it was trouble free. Wayne is a detail tech and I trust him.

[Cracker]

Running "high" oil pressure can cause undue strain on your distributor gear. If your engine ever starts missing, and then simply dies - pull your distributor and see if there are any teeth left.

Regarding all the changes you want to make...you should have bought a vette. Cobra's are pefect - bare bones and all, the shifter I'd expect would grow on you. Best wishes.

[yamazee]

Ok, got the bugs sorted out, Jeff brought the car back. And after the first day of driving it, I have to say.......WOW Holy crap is this thing fun! Should have done this a long time ago. So far everything works perfect, car looks awsome. Cant believe how many looks this thing gets, I had a 911 and it never got half the attention this car does. Wooohooo! I think I am going to enjoy this one for a long time. Thanks for all the help, and input. You guys rock!

[yamazee]

Oh and I almost forgot to give credit where it was due. Jeff and Jerry over at suncoast, did everything they said they would and I would definatelty recomend them to anyone.