true story...
if the car is going to remain pretty much stock and clean on the exterior, i'd say the standard cowl, because the cobra could easily look out of place and just not flow well with the rest of the car... however if you plan for a little more show on the outside of the car go for it...
I measured the clearance needed to put my 351 in my stang. I have 17 3/4" from the motor mounts to the top of the fender. To that add about another 1/2" for the indentation in the stock hood and I have 18 1/4" clearance. I them measured from the mount bosses on the 351 to the top of the mocked up intake (Typhoon EFI) and it was 19 1/2" Long story short, I need a 2" cowl to have suffieient space just in case I was off by a bit measuring. Goodmark sells a nice looking steel 2" cowl hood through jegs. And they got rid of the stupid center cowl channel. I have a k memeber spacer kit, and can fit the engine as is with the stock hood, but I always wanted a small cowl hood for some reason......