The Sean Hyland Motorsport...
The Sean Hyland Motorsport 78500 short-block is fitted with forged pistons, turbo-spec rings, billet rods, tri-metal rod and main bearings, deck plates, and a stud girdle. People are surprised to learn Tim's engine uses stock '97 heads and cams, but the factory pieces work well with his high-velocity airflow strategy.
One of the goals for the induction system was high velocity. "Everything on the car is small, other than the 91mm turbo," Rob says. "It has very small headers, 1 5/8 inches. We were firm believers in high velocity, so we made everything on the small side-smaller than your average race car. We maintained that all the way through the runners. Everything we did on the intake manifold was small and had a real short cross-section to keep velocity up. That may be some of the reason Tim is running so well, in conjunction with the Four-Valve heads. They really are a premium set of heads. They're stock, but Ford did some homework on them."
The turbo setup relies on a 91.5mm Precision Industries Thumper turbocharger, an HKS wastegate, Axis custom headers and crossover pipe, and 5-inch exhaust with modified DynoMax mufflers. The underdash intercooler is a four-core Axis custom utilizing Spearco cores.
Packaging can be a problem when combining the Cobra engine with a turbocharger, but Tim found room. The narrow Griffin radiator is offset to one side to allow room for the turbo, and a Meziere electric water pump cleans things up further. "There's a surprising amount of room in the front of that engine once you get all the regular stuff out of the way," Rob says.
Tim aims to compete in Outlaw,...
Tim aims to compete in Outlaw, but he started the car in modular classes while working out the bugs. He has made quick progress, winning the Pro Mod class at the Modular Shootout in Maryland in June.
The Cobra engine did have some other quirks that needed to be addressed before running this fast. "Ignition is the biggest pain," Tim says. He deferred to "people who know" for much of the final engine-management tuning, enlisting Mike Murillo at Murillo Motorsports to custom-tune the FAST sequential fuel injection and EDIS 8 module.
At the time of this writing, the Cobra had been up and running only about three months. In that time, Tim steadily progressed through regional and then national events, before winning the (admittedly small) Pro Mod class at the Modular Challenge. He's come a long way in a short while, under the radar. Sneaky, you might say.
Tim Palmer's yellow Cobra is a unique race car, but it probably won't stay that way for long. Axis Industries is offering the race-only Four-Valve mod-motor turbo kit for sale, in base form or loaded with every option used on Tim's car.
If you're scratching your head wondering where Axis Industries came from, look to the diesel-powered tow rig. The company's primary business is with Mack trucks, Cummins Diesel, and the like. Axis designs and builds prototype engine parts for diesel-engine lubrication-testing facilities. The company started taking on performance parts as a side job, to fill the gaps between slow periods. "It's such a passionate sport, it's hard not to get drawn into it," Axis president Rob Tynmann says.
The base Cobra Mod Motor Turbo Kit from Axis includes a GTB 88mm turbo from Innovative Turbo Systems, a 2-inch Indy Gate wastegate, powdercoated mild-steel inlet tubing, a mild steel downpipe with Straightline Performance muffler, an underdash liquid-to-air intercooler, stainless steel headers and crossover with V-band clamps, and silicone connectors and T-bolt clamps. The intake manifold, as used on Tim's car, is one of several upgrades.
The base price for the kit is $9,990. Expect a three-to-four-week turnaround time on orders.