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Coyote swaps are the hot ticket right now and likely for the foreseeable future. Ford has finally given Mustang and other blue oval fans a high-tech platform that is easily swapped into a variety of vehicles, and also responds well to everything from minor bolt-on modifications to the wild side of the horsepower spectrum.
1996-1998 Mustangs tend to be somewhat of a step child to the performance world. The GT’s suffered from the anemic first-gen 4.6 SOHC engine, and the Cobras made just 305 hp with their DOHC engines. While PI cylinder head swaps have been popular with the SOHC crowd, and blowers popular with snake handlers, it would seem that neither yields the potent power or drivability without considerable financial investment.
That brings us to the subject of this feature. This 1998 Cobra belongs to and was built by Power By The Hour owner Jake Long. We talked with PBH’s Frank Perdomo about the car and the swap after spotting it on the company’s Facebook page.
Perdomo explained that Coyote swaps are becoming increasingly popular, especially with the 96-04 Mustang crowd. “By the time you build a 4.6 to make the kind of power a Coyote does you’re at virtually the same cost,” says Perdomo. Of course options on those builds and swaps dictate the price, but consider the cost and effort to build a 400-plus horsepower older 4.6, and the sacrifice in drivability verses the stock drivability of an out of the crate 420 hp Coyote, and you can see where this is going.
PBH’s accessory swap kit allows for retention of the stock 4.6 accessories in their stock locations.
Of course this being Long’s personal car, it couldn’t be just another Coyote swap. The engine has been built using BOSS 302 parts, including the rods, pistons and valve springs. Comp Cams stage 3 NSR cams, TSS oil pump gears, Whipple monoblade throttle body, Cobra Jet intake manifold, and PBH cold air intake.
Power goes through a custom built 4R70W transmission that’s controlled by a Baumanator transmission control unit, and to the ground via 3.73 gears in the 8.8 rear end. Ken Bjonnes of Lund Racing is the man behind the custom tune, and after he was finished the Cobra put down 453 hp and 377 ft-lbs of torque to the tires. Perdomo says they estimate the 4R70W is robbing about 60 hp from the combination.
Adding to the unassuming looks of the car is the retention of the stock hood. This was done by spacing the K-member and sectioning the inside of the hood to clear the Cobra Jet intake manifold. Close inspection under the hood also shows that PBH was able to retain the 4.6 power steering pump and AC compressor, without moving them. This was made possible by the use of PBH’s Coyote swap accessory brackets, which allow those accessories to mount in the stock locations on 96-2010 4.6 Mustangs doing this swap. The brackets also allow retention of the stock lines for those accessories, eliminating the need for custom lines.
From the outside it looks like just another nice 1998 Cobra. PBH constructed a custom exhaust to fit the ARH swap headers. The automatic shifter is the only external hint that something is different about this car.
With over 450 hp to the rear tires, PBH’s Cobra should already be a street going terror, but the shop is known for cranking out some of the most powerful Mustangs in the country. With that in mind Long of course isn’t going to be satisfied with just having typical daily driver levels of horsepower. A set of twin turbos will soon find their way onto the engine, and make for what will surely be less sane power levels, and fast track times as well. We can’t wait to see what this Cobra does once Long and his crew finish up that part of the project. Stay tuned, this car is going do more than just turn some heads.
