I Had To Buy ANOTHER Engine For My Not-So-Cheap SVT Cobra (Things are not great) 

At this point, the license plate on the cobra needs to say CLUTCH

Dude your dedication is crazy. Im at the point where I dont want to be wrenching on cars like that anymore and youre in the trenches just going at it!

Your driveway is the dreams of many people our age. We all grew up with the posters etc. Love the content.

Hey Chris, I’m leaning towards the supercharger assembly. Since you are using the S/C from the cursed engine, I would suggest you throw some dye into the oil so as to make it easier to determine where it is coming from if your new engine produces some smoke as well. Keep up the great videos.

That’s a ring issue for sure especially during cold start when there is no heat contraction. Engine builder will need to re-ring and inspect the walls. Also needs a catch can that vents to atmosphere and no PCV system.

Before you drop your blower assembly on the engine that's going in, I'd seperate it from the intake, check for oil puddling in the intake, pull the brick and clean it out. The oil around the intake ports was either from reversion, or was being sucked in through the pcv (which will puddle in the lower and brick)

I know the problem... Episode 13 when you replaced the grille Emblem. "I think he's a good luck charm and going to keep him in the glove box." That evil MFer is cursed! 😂

Chris..you are a rare breed..attention to detail that includes logging time on project..amazing...the OCD is strong with you..but pays off with organization and results...and it shows..

Man, you’re getting a lot of practice and taking that motor in and out. Gonna be a total expert.

You’re a strong and motivated person and it takes time money and patience for what you do! Keep up the great work man there is light at the end of the tunnel and as always appreciate the videos you put out for us!

Quickly becoming one of my favorite channels! Keep up the good work Chris!

In my opinion, you have the best choice of cars in all of automotive history. Old muscle, early 2000s muscle car and rcsb muscle truck, a highly modified modern sports car, and a brand new sports car. 👌

As unfortunate as it is for you we have been blessed with TWO SVT projects on Chris Sullivans channel!!! I feel bad for you my man. But this is definition of cars are pain lol. I glued to the content my guy, keep it up!! I’m loving it

Man alive the dedication Chris has is unreal. I’d love to see some C6 Z06 content. My fav car in his stable by far.

you need merch with that saying on it "Its just needed a clutch" then have a drawing of the cobra underneath it. LOL i would buy that!

With heads off. Can try placing rubbing alcohol in the combustion chambers to test for valve leaks. Spark plugs in. Or Bring cylinder heads into dark room and look for light past valves. Can place alcohol or gasoline on top of pistons rotated half way to see if their not sealing. Check for cylinder wall taper or ridge at top. Shake valves to see if the guides are tapered.

I do love mid 2000's Hip-Hop BUT I do believe the 90's, AKA the Golden Age, was a better era for Hip-Hop. Thanks for the update on the Cobra.

Only other possibility other than bad rings would be bad seals in the blower. Check the oil level in the blower.

respect, and you motivating a lot of us with projects unfinished in our garage to get off our asses.

Chris, I love your content. You are a super engaging host and it makes me so happy to watch you work. So sorry that we are on engine number 3. You are getting really fast at dropping the engine out of the Cobra. Almost like the guys that can drive up in an old VW Beetle, dismantle it, reassemble it, and drive it away,. Also, I would watch content of your back yard project if you wanted to put that out,. You are awesome.

Son of a Bit**!!!! How frustrating to have to go through all this again. Insanely demoralizing, especially with regular life and 3 other project cars. Would make a man wanna punt that sucker to the moon! Props to you to for sticking with it. Thumbs up my man! Beer 30 earned

AMG fans waiting for a W212 saga finale: _He can't keep getting away with it!!_

I admire your dedication bud, as much as i love doing work on my Cobra, i would've been so depressed doing the repeated in depth motor work youve done. Really dig your attention to details. Great video.

Unfortunately, this day and age, only person you can trust on engine work is yourself.

I'm doing the same build right now on my 03 Cobra engine. Bought a fresh short block that was just built and transferring most of the stuff from my other 03 Cobra engine to it. The fact that you're so skilled and still having these problems has me a bit nervous. Good luck with this one and thanks for the great content!

I hope the old owner of this car is watching these videos 😅

Watching your series lit a fire under my ass about 3 months ago to finish my "cheap" 14 5.0. I finished it, so to say and have small kinks to work out. I made the mistske of not recording it haha. Thank you for liting that fire with your videos. A lot of long hours and over nights with the car. 😊

Tha looks at the beginning of the video. Persistence is the key buddy.

Excited for more Cobra content!

45:47 looks like it was bored without a torque plate. JAMSI did a video showing the difference with red dykem. Those bores look oversized for the pistons. I wonder if it was “just honed” but went too far. Measure the pistons and bores with a micrometer to confirm clearance.

Definitely through the piston rings

When you tear down the bottom end check the orientation of the piston rings of the ones with oil. Ring rotate around the piston naturally during there use. Maybe there might be a machining abnormality that is causing the gaps to line up allowing oil past the rings. (Just throughing ideas out there).

Chris is so gifted with all his knowledge 😊

Oof... Man am I glad that I got my Chevy SS from a shop where I knew the owner personally and trusted him. Granted almost any upgraded part of a car can have sudden failures so who really knows how things will pan out in the long run. 🤔

Glad you got it going! Any updates on the E63?

Chris has more wrench time on terminators than a ford tech in 2004 at this point. I admire your dedication to getting this car running right.

Awesome video Chris ! Just finished my 13 hour shift and watched the whole video ! What a process !

With all this engine removal work, you should get a tubular K member and put it in there. Doesn’t really help any for ease of install, but any future work is so much easier. Replacing engine mounts, exhaust manifolds/headers, it’s lighter, and less likely to gather dirt and crud on top of it and start rusting out like mine did and most tend to.

Love your channel bro. Super educational. I've learned a lot since I've been watching. Amazing work. Keep it up

Found you from a few people who mentioned you on Alex’s videos. Awesome! Now I have more awesome car content builds to watch and learn from.

Svt cobras are one of my top cars IMO. With that being said, I’d love to see you build a split bumper. Your attention to detail and craftsmanship would set that build off.

Always stoked to have a new video from my favorite channel. Bummed you had to go through so much bs. Get the license plate CHEAPSVT and wear it like a badge of honor. Great content as always good sir.

Never surrender Never retreat ! That’s you brother and I hope you get her figured out and your new motor is a success. I’m pulling for you and looking forward to your next video 👍🏻👊🏻

Those valve seals are new, pull them now and see if they are still good. I bet you’re on the right track with suspecting other valve guides are bad. I mean is the only way oil can enter the system after the engine is tuned off. The oil around the manifold gaskets I would contribute to before you deleted the PCV, residual left over.

Bad rings… Your organization, attitude & attention to detail are to be admired.

Something I always do to my front dust shields, I punch out the rivets and drill/tap the holes for m8 bolts. That way you can just remove as-needed so it’s not in the way. 🤙🏻

Sorry to see you suffer...Hope you manage to sort it out quick and cheap and at least break even on the whole project if u cant make profit. I am grateful for all the work you do and that you take us along to enjoy the ride. Wish you luck, Cheers.

Bros shoulders are jacked. And his garage is too!

You need to add some “commercials” of fun c6z turbo noises! 😂

man, been through this a few times, stay stubborn my friend! lift is a game changer! they aren't that expensive folks.

you can get good reading with plasticizer. good enough to check

Glad to see you havent gave up on that beautiful beast of a car!

“Weird looking clutch”. 😂

Dude I’d watch you pull this motor 30 times. (Not that I want you to) but just keep the corks and positive attitude and we Will keep watching these!

Keep these great videos coming super Interested , boy you work hard!

Honestly, was pleasantly surprised to see that the “rebuilt” motor was indeed freshly rebuilt! That’s a nice find sir!

The dedication is crazy. I'd let this thing sit for 5 years lol. Nice work Chris

I dont do alot of this work anymore but I know there are only two places for oil to come from with this type of problem, especially after shutting down the crankcase ventilation. It is getting by the rings or the valve seals. New valve seals only leaves the rings, ouch. I find it really hard to believe a new set of ring and hone are alowing that much oil by. Good luck with the new engine, part out the one that is a demond.

WTF, That sucks. But we all hit that wall and possibly loose are shirt on a project. Keep up the great work Chris.

Sooner or later the odds of getting a bad motor or something else will get everyone but at least you're ready to take on the problem and defeat it. Love the content brother 👍

I love the music at 34:00 it sounds so motivating like that feeling you get when a project car is finally coming together..even though your going backwards..again lol keep up the great work and content it keeps me motivated

Chris I’d seriously consider checking out that blower on the original motor. Maybe its leaking oil into the intake.

The fact that you have oil pooling on top of the pistons leads me to believe it's coming in from the top end. Could be from the intake ports or could be leaking past the valve stem seals still. What you could try is to position the engine so the head is parallel to the ground, rotate the engine to where the intake valves are open, then flood the upper head with oil and watch the cylinder for leaks or seepage with your steerable scope. If that doesn't show anything, the seals are probable good and the oil is coming in via the intake ports. I'm leaning toward the valve stem seals though because all of the pistons had oil pooled on them. There would be at least a couple of cylinders with the intake valves closed and if the oil was coming in the intake ports, it wouldn't leak past the closed valves.

Needs a re-hone and new rings. Cylinder walls are washed that's why there is oil on the piston. Probably the prolonged idling without cylinder pressure to seat the rings. Excess oil gets into the cross hatching and is burned in which glazes it over, also not good for tuning and increases odds of detonation. Sucks because sometimes it takes an idling engine to make sure everything is operating correctly. If the compression ratio is different from that other motor and you need a retune take the car to the dyno and have it broken in on the dyno with the new engine. It doesn't just need revs it needs cylinder pressure with load getting behind the rings to push it outward against the hatching.

Another motor! Absolutely wild !

Your savage Chris !! Keep your head up, great job on getting this car up and running once more. You will get it my guy!!

Great video. Sorry for all your troubles with the Cobra, but it makes for good content! Looks like you got a super deal on that rebuilt engine, good luck with it. I went through a long frustrating engine rebuild experience too so I understand your anxiety for the project.

My stroked mach1 had dropped a sleeve. 5.3 L Motor would smoke then not smoke. Would then smoke on acceleration. Had it rebuilt with the ford performance cast iron block. All forged internals. Went with diamond custom pistons. 1/10000 in the whole. Engine does not burn any oil. I use Pennzoil ultra platinum 5w 30. My engine builder asked me if I plan on boosting it. I told him no. He went with rings for a NA motor.

Wrong hone grit, or cross hatch angle. Break in oil may have been synthetic. and possibly as you stated glazing from idling, but that's rare...

Patience is the name of the game…you got this Chris!! 💯🔥

45:04 oil on the piston and smoking on startup is valve stem. Smoking on hard acceleration is rings. You could have problems with both.

Chris I’m so bummed for you! I so admire your dedication! Absolutely love cobras!

My built 4.6 2v burned oil the same way. Started about 500-600 miles. Had Patriot heads on it that the machine shop vacuum checked before i assembled and were sealing. Those heads were known for guide issues. Seals hold up for about 500 miles but get trashed because the tolerance on the guides lets the valves wear them out. New guides and a few new valves and it’s been kicking for 30k miles. Had the motor out and apart once before that thinking same thing as you it was the oil rings. Rings looked fine. Did a hone and fresh rings and sure enough still drinking oil. Pulled the intake after running oil was pooled on top of the valve like you showed in a previous video. Just my 2 cents

Man I love these long videos... keep em coming!

Im not up on cobra motors but being boosted and oil on top like that could be oil by passing in the blower maybe or somethings cracked and letting oil by

Can't wait to see the work after this past weekend!

My favorite You Tube channel. Keep them coming. Beautiful car collection.

Just a ford doing ford activities! Talk about a PITA. The satisfaction when it’s finally running seamlessly will be worth it tho!

Man I was missing this car. I think most people would have just sold it with that little bit of smoke. Your a good guy!

Well a man gotta do what a man gotta to do! 😀 You’ve done this a couple of times, should be able to do it with your eyes closed. I’m with you, good luck on this one.

"Fully rebuilt with all the trick parts...lost the receipts..." So that's the guy that Derek from Vice Grip Garage always jokes about. In all honestly, I'm guessing the oil control rings on the pistons are the issue. Maybe they were installed incorrectly or were the wrong ones, whatever, but that's my guess.

Ironically enough, the last 2 cobra series are making me want one now 😂

Two videos in a week. Thanks for the blessing. Keep it up. 🫡

its the next morning . glad i found this channel 🍻

Im going to say ring issue or cylinder bore issue. Id measure those cylinders before taking it back to the machine shop. Have your own before and after numbers. If that machine shop messed up there should be no charge for additional work and you may want to think about another shop? Havent been following the build so not sure about specifics on that motor.

Third time is the charm. You have the patience of Job. Good luck with the build.

Another great video Chris! I do have to say that with pulling the motor yet again, I’m surprised you didn’t swap the k-member and control arms and go tubular. I know financially you’re in deep, but for a few hundred bucks you could have done the swap and saved some decent weight off the front of the car. Really enjoying the build though. I’m still finishing the build on my 94 cobra, so I feel some of your pain. Keep up the good work!

Garage goals

Edward Zimmer 03 Cobra I rebuild mine! Crank was off got mad and had Blow by Racing west palm 🌴 Beach. My Cobra A monster! I cant stand all the dumb comets! 2 time A charm bro! Its is what it is ! Thats the truth! Hope to see the next run!

I think one or two more videos and all of us will be certified techs on Cobra engines!

if it was rings or valve issue i would think the puddling would be isolated to that particular cylinder. since it's puddling in all cylinder i think the oil is coming through the intake. probably just needs a catch can

Subscribed to you for the cobra, and I’ve gotten so invested in all the other cars I forgot about this 😂

Chris, I've always been impressed w/ your attention to detail and dedication to improving what you're working on. WHAT do you do for your day to day work???

Nice video. Not sure I’d have given up on the tear down of your old motor though and seen it through to fixed. But I understand your logic with the replacement. Looking forward to seeing how it all works out. Thanks for the discount on the scope, bought one. Funny, I’d been thinking of buying one as well 😊 Cheers 🍻

Chris man I like the color of the cobra stang, hopefully you get it running great now

I think you are probably correct about the smokey engine. One thing that is kinda of left field, but I wanted to throw it out there, your EGR system is at least worth looking at. Look forward to finding out and watching the rest of this video.

I would check the heads, mainly the valves and guides. My 96 cobra has an issue where in high vacuum conditions (downshifting into high rpms), oil would be pulled past the valve seals and into the combustion chamber. Occasionally will burn oil on cold starts and WOT pulls, but never at idle or when cruising like yours. Our cars are very different from each other but maybe your issue could be related to mine. Love the content btw, I really tried to save money for an 03 but 30k+ in todays market is a little too much for me at the moment. Settled for a 96 and have been in love ever since. Hopefully theres nothing serious going on with the original engine, cant wait to hear that thing roar again!

I’d recommend pulling the pistons and looking the rings they may have been installed incorrectly. Also I’d recommend a catch can

Another long video. Excellent. Keeps me busy.

Found this channel casually and love it ❤