Chris - There isn't much room in the engine bay of these cars so packaging
becomes a BIG issue. A supercharger installation requires a LOT of extra hardware and plumbing in an area where
space is already at a premium. From your
previous post, I take it that you want to
use a belt driven, internally-geared centrifugal supercharger like a ProCharger
or VorTech. While I think it is possible to
do, you will run into clearance issues with
hardware. A custom designed serpentine
system that will drive the supercharger,
the pumps for your dry sump system,
alternator, etc. is doable but it is going
require mocking up in a chassis because of the clearance issues. Some of these
superchargers require
oil feed and return
lines, so those have to go into the plan.
Then there is the question of the intercooler. Where to put it? Most
aftermarket systems come with a large
air-to-air intercooler that installs in
front of the radiator. But with Cobras,
cooling is already at a premium and
you want to move as much air as possible through the radiator. With
an intercooler up there, provided you
could make it fit would probably invite
overheating issues. So the best approach would be an air-to-water
system similar to the one used on the
4.6 DOHC supercharged Mod motors.
Those engines use an Eaton supercharger mounted on top and the
intercooler is basically built into the
plenum assembly underneath the
supercharger. For an FE installation
in a Cobra, one approach might be
to fab an airbox with an air-to-water
cooler inside it that would bolt down
over a stack type manifold such as a
TWM, Very Cool Parts, Hillborn, etc.
Pressurized air would feed in through
the front of it, be diverted downwards
through the intercooler and out the
bottom into the stacks. Most likely, the airbox will cause hood clearance issues
that will require modifications like a blister to make the necessary space. The air-to-water system will require
a separate water pump, (another
piece to be incorporated into the serpentine drive system) and its
own heat exchanger. Since we don't
want to obstruct airflow going to the
primary radiator, a custom two-section
radiator would probably be the way
to go. Some frontal area of the radiator
will have to go to the heat exchanger,
so the main core will have to be thicker
to compensate for the lost area and
you'll probably need generate as much
airflow as possible with fans.
It is a VERY ambitious project and is
going to require plenty of engineering,
but it can be done, just expect a
few bumps in the road while bringing it all together.
....Fred