Scott Hubbard, long time friend of LatemodelRestoration.com President Shannon Guderian, approached us with a problem. The track car he maintains and drives, owned by Warren Hall and sponsored by LatemodelRestoration.com, had just laid it's 32V 4.6L powerplant to rest. Unfortunately, a connecting rod broke and the aluminum block now had a nice new external window for added ventilation. A problem indeed.
The car in question is a 1997 Mustang Cobra that started out life as a white exterior/tan interior coupe. Before it was delivered to its first owner it was painted orange, received a vinyl decal treatment, and was treated to a host of suspension and safety mods. Why would someone do this? Well, if you were the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, you wouldn't know any other way. After the cars tenure at Bondurant it was sold off and turned into a full fledged track car. The original B-head 4.6L 32V gave up the ghost and was replaced with a C-head 4.6L 32V out of an 03-04 Mach 1. Eventually it was up for sale again, which is where Warren, Scott, and LatemodelRestoration.com entered the picture. For years, the #75 Bondurant Cobra performed flawlessly.
So, that brings us back to the broken engine. What to do? Obviously, a new engine was in order. The problem was whether to replace the 4.6L with another 4.6L, or do something different. A pushrod motor was considered, but ultimately we landed on a Ford Racing Coyote 5.0L TiVCT. The allure of 400+ potential horsepower with stock reliability and driveability were just a few of the deciding factors. The fact that we could retain the existing k-member, clutch, flywheel, and transmission were huge pluses as well.
Check out the build video and parts list to see whats in store for this car!
Project Coyote build video
Project Coyote Swap
Threaded Mode