Ordered My 1st Cobra - Need Advice Please!!

[Kiwi Steve]

Hi all,

Just ordered my 1st Cobra - a new Superformance MKIII from HillBank, CA. I live in New Zealand, so doing all of this from 6000 miles away is a bit hard not being able to go and talk to the guys at HillBank and see cars 1st hand, although they have been great over email. I have a love affair with the Cobra, but am not a serious garage mechanic!

Main use will be road, with the odd track day with friends for a laugh (nothing serious) - in NZ we have a 100km/h (60mph) limit that is staunchly enforced - I need a setup that will cruise well @ 60-65 mph for highway and obviously be a blast on the on back roads and fun track days.

I'm planning on Roush 427SR and R15s with Avons (295/50 rears). The trick is chosing the trans/diff to give good cruising and spirited driving options.

I may have gone overboard, but here is the current plan - T56 Magnum 6 spd (ratios 2.66, 1.78, 1.3, 1, .8, .63) and 3.73 diff. Tires give 465 revs/km giving following speeds at engine revs:
1st - 6000rpm/48mph - good reach with 1st?
4th - 3000rpm/64mph - in the band for backroads
5th - 3000rpm/80mph - in the band for backroads
6th - 1800rpm/61mph - perfect for cruising with 427SR/TW and having "not-awful" gas consumption?

I could save some real $$ going for TKO 600 and 3.45 stock diff, but the 0.82OD seems too short and 0.64 seems a bit tall in the 60mph range:
0.64OD - 60mph in 5th - 1650rpm - revs seem too low - engine lugging??
0.82OD - 60mph in 5th - 2150rpm - revs higher than necessary for mild cam 427SR??

So the big question is, am I going overboard and wasting money with the T56 and 3.73 diff, or would the 427SR and TKO600 with 0.64OD with stock diff be OK around the 60mph range?

Next question is engine/trans installer. No NZ shops are familiar with Superformance, so I'm keen to get US guys to install enginge/trans and import into NZ as a turnkey. HillBank have put me onto V's Performance in Orange CA as their prefered shop. I've had a couple of good talks to Vlado there - seems like a great guy. Anyone familiar V's?? Recommendations or not??

Miscallaneous stuff:
- V's has recommended ball joint upgrage - thoughts?
- Have seen posts recommending rear shock mount upgrade - is this necessary with new SPF MKIIIs these days?
- Is it worth a front/rear sway bar upgrade for mostly crusing use with a bit of friendly track comp?

Thanks in adviance for the advice.

Steve