I'm on the virge of buying a cheap MII King Cobra. It's dirt cheap, and there have been some engine mods that might make the package worthwhile.
The owner doesn't know much about it (it was modified before he got it and he knows very little about mechanicals), but from what I can see it's got an aluminum intake, edelbrock 4 bbl carb, and headers.
Worst case scenario - assuming whoever built this up only added bolt-ons and no internal changes to this 8.5:1 smog motor - what would you guys estimate this thing is pushing as far as HP?
If it was ~135 hp stock, I figure the 4bbl/intake/headers would bring it up to, what, 190 hp? That might be optimistic, the crappy stock cam and compression ratio would hold it back alot... then again, that's alot of displacement held back by a restrictive exhaust and 2 bbl carb...
Anybody modded an MII smog 5.0 with bolt ons, and if so, what were your results?
Posts: 6968
Joined: 12/19/2006 From: Citrus County, FL Status: offline
with those modifications the motor wouldnt be higher than 150 or 160. the thing holding you back is the cam and the low compression..... but the mods dont make the car worth getting, the fact that your looking at a king cobra make the car worth getting.
Top bang for the buck? This suggestion will do it, however, it may STILL cost more than what you may have or will have to pay for the car. Vortex, better yet, Paxton. This engine is a perfect canidate, what with the factory cam and compression. You could end up with close to 300 hp when done (my son and I put a Vortex on his 94 which we put a slightly modified 4.2 v-6 in, with a premliminary break in tune it has 322hp @ the rear wheels, when broke in, it goes in for the performance tune). You get the benfit of a mild driver when not pushed and a beast if it is. You can EASILY spend more than the blower in motor mods for this engine and still not get that HP out of it. besides, if you sell the car, you can take it off and use it on another and still have a drivable vehicle to sell.
Posts: 6968
Joined: 12/19/2006 From: Citrus County, FL Status: offline
what you have to worry about with nitrous is leaning out due to lack of fuel and melting a piston since the stock ones are cast aluminum. i wouldnt slap any power adders on that thing if you want it to live, and by power adders i mean forced induction or juice. definately pick the car up though - king cobras are getting very very rare
I'd be adding a supplementary fuel pump if I went the nitrous route, and probably wouldn't use any more than a modest 75 shot. Just enough to make it interesting... :)
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Got to get the car first, and I want to get your opinions as to how much it's worth before I do that. Pics are coming! :)
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How much can you get out of a '78 5.0 with bolt ons? - 
