rebuild my engine or crate motor?

[Cobranthony]

I have a 95 mustang cobra and my car has a 125,000 miles and in the last few years I have been burning more and more oil. When I get on it blue smoke puffs out. I probably put in about 3 quarts in between oil changes. Here are my options:

1. Keep driving it till the smoke gets so bad that nobody can see behind me.

2. Get my engine rebuilt but that might take my car off the road for too long.

3. Buy a stroker motor.

I kind of want to rebuild my motor to keep my numbers matching because it is a cobra... but I dont know anyone who is sick nasty at rebuilding plus i dont know if it will cost alot to rebuild it. If I buy the stroker it will be a swap out and hopefully not take to long but once again I dont know anyone who will do a good job at a good price... I am sure I can get another year or 2out of this engine before it blows up because I have been driving it like this for a few years already. I dont have alot of money but this will be cheaper than buying another car plus I have to much invested in this one to just start over with another car. Any input would be appreciated.

[JerseyGator]

I agree with you on keeping numbers matching with rebuild.

I hear nothing but good things about Crazy Horse Racing on rt 130 in Hamilton. You should call them and chat with Chris Winter the owner.

609 208 2550

i did talk to crazy horse about motor rebuilding awhile back. id go wiht him, hes the best. That is if you want to go numbers matching (but thats only worth a damn if you're leaving the car all stock) Otherwise its cheaper, better, faster and easier to buy a crate motor. so you just gotta figure out what your priorities are.

[Cobranthony]

cheaper better faster and easier sounds good to me. With a crate motor work with my feul injection and my computer? Alot of them I see are set up for carb.

ur looking for a direct replacement I assume? no future FI or anything?

[Cobranthony]

yeah but I would like to maybe get a motor with a 100 more HP. my car stock is only 240. i found a crate motor on ebay with 330 hp but it has a manifold for a carb.

what you need is a shortblock, meaning not a longblock. meaning engine block, pistons, connecting rods and a crank. no heads.

Therefore this "shortblock" doesnt make power. theres no such thing as a "350hp" shortblock. it either is for your car or it isnt. This would be the time when you get high compression setup for a n/a motor or forged internals and low compression for a forced induction motor. So are you planning turbo or s/c? if u answer that, ill pick you out the right shortblock and post a link. but on the other hand...this doesnt sound like a job that you want to be doing yourself. how bout leave it at crazy horse and let him handle it?

[Cobranthony]

im not planning on turbo or supercharger...well maybe supercharger like years down the road. but I want this motor to use alot of what I have already but still upgrade the HP. I would like something with a nice cam in it. it is my daily driver but I dont go very far I only drive 6000 miles a year.

[Cobraant]

U can get a short block that will make more power with all the stock stuff u have, just by having it stroked and bored. U can go all the way to 5.3l. There are shops that do that but ur looking at spending a bit more. U can have urs rebuilt bt ull have to decide if u want to have a boost friendly shortblock or NA. Basically what compression u will end up usng. Higher compression then no boost but more power NA. Smaller compression then ready for boost but less power NA. You can use ur old block and have it rebuilt to what ever u want. Most shop can do that for u. Just start looking around. But in the end u have to decide what ur goal will be in the future. Its a good time to get forged internals to. Sometimes you can find guys selling 03/04 cobra rods and cranks and then just get what ever compression piston. Hope that helps alil.

well thats the thing...a motor thats built for max hp naturally aspirated is completley different than a motor thats built for boost. so you gotta pick now what your realistic goal is wiht this motor. then find the shop thats gonna install it for you. they will help you pick what you need, and pick whether it makes financial sense for them to build or buy for you.