This is a great question and one that will most likely help others. The challenges were many, and I’ll list the main ones here.

     As stated the Ford Cobra engine was never offered with an automatic transmission, why? I am not sure, but most likely because most performance drivers prefer an manual transmission.?. I think a Automatic option would have helped sales personally. I choose to use a 4R70W Ford Automatic Transmission because it would be the better option for my car.  Automatics are quicker, smoother and take up much less inside room compared to an manual transmission. I choose the 4R70W because they offer the same transmission in the Ford Mach 1, which has a very similar engine, same except for the supercharger. This was the obvious choice because the transmission fit the engine perfectly and without modification. All I had to do was change out the fly wheel for a 8-hole flex plate, remove the needle bearing in the end of the crankshaft, and bolt the whole thing together. My automatic has been rebuilt by Performance Automatics, and has been modified to with stand the additional power and torque the engine will produce, I also run a slightly higher stall torque converter. To keep the car working properly and computer controlled, we used the EEC or Computer from a 2005 Ford Mach 1 with a automatic transmission.(yes I know there was not a Ford Mach 1 offered in 2005, but they sell the computer for one? Go figure?) By using this computer we already had all the code for complete transmission control, now all we had to do was to modify it to accept the additional code for the Cobra’s Supercharged engine.

     I modified many aspects of the engine, most for power and many for looks. A Hot Rod has to catch your eye and spark the imagination. First up was the blue powder-coated valve covers and chrome coil covers, they really make the engine look nice. The next most obvious change was the polished aluminum blower or supercharger. I had the blower Polished and Ported for both looks and performance. The polish supercharger really gives the engine a new look and the port job is good for about 60 extra horse power, when combined with a smaller front pulley. In that same area you would notice the polished intake manifold and throttle body, both are from Accufab and both work to add 10-15 more horse power then stock. If your going to be adding more air, you are going to need more fuel, it’s just that simple with an internal combustion engine. So we added 42lb/hr Ford Fuel Injectors, Billet Fuel Rails, Fuel Regulator, Walbro Fuel Pump, Fuel Filters, AN-8 Feed lines and An-6 Return lines. These will flow more fuel then the stock set-up and not require the computer to run the fuel pump. Next we added a breather system to the valve covers, this takes the oil mist out of the air before it re-enters the intake system and keeps the intercooler and manifold clean, something of a problem for the "Terminator" Engines. The front Idler Pulleys were changed out for some Double Ball-Bearing Aluminum units, and we add a new Idler Pulley just below the supercharger that will help keep the belt from slipping under load. Next we added BBK Ceramic Coated full length Headers and a full 2-1/2" Dual Exhaust System from Borla. This will allow all that extra air to exit the engine and probably add another 10-20 HP. We have several other performance items that are not attached to the engine but really help make more power. The Kenny Bell Adjust-A-Pump supplies extra voltage to the fuel pump to get extra capacity and pressure, while the Kenny Bell Boost-A-Spark does the same thing but this time to the ignition coils, adding extra primary voltage which will increase the secondary voltage at the coils, this produces a extra intensive spark for better fuel burn under heavy load and boost conditions. We also installed a new and much larger intake air system, this along with the new 90mm Mass Air Sensor allows for more and correct regulation of that air. This about covers the major changes made to the engine. On any modern Electronic Fuel Injected engine, you have to modify the "Tune" anytime you make changes to the engine operating system you have to modify the electronic tune in the computer. This is a major deal and requires specialized equipment and knowledge of the operating system. We had this none by "The Detail Zone" the same time they removed the anti theft system and the EGR system from the computer. While this put us very close to the final tune needed, we will still have to take the completed car to a shop where they will load it onto a Dynometer and measure the power and set the final calibration.

     This is one of if not the biggest small blocks there is, we had to make several major modifications to the body to get it to fit and clear everything. We first cut out the original firewall and added the biggest modified firewall we could get, it was made to accept a big block chevy engine, but still was way to small and we had to section it for better filament. The BBC firewall was cut and 4" added to make it deeper, then we had to section the two sides to clear the huge heads. It is the heads that gave us the most trouble, they are so tall and wide they require a lot of room. By going with this engine, and modifying the firewall like we did, we ended up with very little space behind the dash. The top of the supercharger is not an issue in this car, as it sits relatively low, but because of the heads, we most likely will not be able to install the side panels that sit under the hood. This would be a problem for the owner that likes them on the car, but for me it was a worth while trade off. Of-coarse we had to fabricate our own engine mounts, we used polyurethane mounts and made the parts that attach to the frame. This wasn’t that complicated, but you would need welding skills to finish it. This engine is also not a light weight by any means, in-fact it weights in right around 640lbs complete with engine and transmission attached, which makes it one of the heavier engine packages. We are lucky that we were able to set our engine back, and that the original flathead was mounted so far ahead of the front axle.

     Sub-systems are all those systems mounted to the engine or in that location that are not vital to the engines function. Our sub-systems are:

     Nitrous Oxide System, this is another separate system that uses stored Nitrous Oxide from a Tank and mixes it with an additional amount of gasoline to produce more power. These systems can be jetted to produce from 25 to 600 more horse power. The system consist of a Storage Tank W/High Flow Valve, Tank Heater & Pressure Gauge, Hoses, Purge System, Injector Nozzles, Injector Jets (For both the Nitrous Oxide and the Gasoline), Electrical Relays and Solenoids, Electronic Timers and Controllers. The system is very complicated and can lead to great performance, but if not installed correctly or used with reason, can lead to permanent and instantaneous engine damage.

     This is another separate system that monitors the engine and all it’s vital functions. We will monitor the Intake Air Temps, Engine Coolant Temps, Oil Temps, Oil Pressure, Fuel Pressure,Transmission Temps,Nitrous Bottle Pressure, Blower Pressure, Exhaust Gas Temperatures (at all eight cylinders), both Headers for Oxygen Content, Vacuum, Throttle Position, RPM, Cylinder Head Temps,  Injector Duty Cycle, and many other Pressures, Temperature, Positions and Conditions. All this data will be recorded so we can, at our leisure, look inside the engine and see what is happening, how hot it is getting, what pressures are present, and what is open or closed. This data will aide us in achieving the correct tune-up.

Wiring