My 97 SOHC 5 speed swapped sport street/drag build

I picked up a rust free 2wd 97 big flare sport with the SOHC 4.0l about a month ago now. This thing is SPOTLESS!!! I bought it for Penny's with a bad transmission in it and the plan to turn it into a 12 second turbo'd street/drag truck.
As of last week I finished swapping in a 5 speed manual transmission I built for it with the lower gear ratio out of the 4 cyl ranger. 3.73 posi rear end, I put on a custom bent Magnaflow stainless exhaust, lowered it 3" and put a set of 18x10 Ford Racing "Cobra" wheels on it.
The difference in power and acceration is incredible with the 5 speed compared to the 5r55e. I'm not entirely happy with the M5ODR1 though and will be swapping it out for a Tremec before I turbo it. I'm also swapping back to taller gears in the transmission since this thing has no issues launching in second gear with excessive tire spin as it sits now.

 

[Twisted1]

The 5 speed definitely puts different stresses on the truck. I'm fairly smooth and quick off the line but I grab second like an Ethiopian reaching for a turkey leg. That's when you really get pinned back and it pulls.

There's my windshield, if you look in the second pic you can see the wave across the top of it now

This is the drivers side. Look top and bottom of the C pillar right between the two rear windows. I tried catching the light right so you can see the ripples and dent. (Excuse the flaking paint on my wheel, it was a rough winter and I haven't sand blasted and repainted them. Lol)

This is the pass side, not as bad but you can still see it

 

[Twisted1]

I had similar issues with my mud drag truck when this engine was in it. I would break at least one axle shaft every single time I raced it. I had the engine in a 98 reg cab short bed ranger that was formerly a 3.0l. After just one season I had gone through 6 or 7 axle shafts, 2 front differentials, had to upgrade to a Dana 60 rear, one broken tail shaft housing, bent the rear shackles and actually pulled the drivers side motor mount through the frame, bending everything in its path. Granted it had front and rear lockers, 4.10 gears and 38" tires but the way this put the power down was harsh to say the least

 

[vroomzoomboom]

those dents you see are from the factory when they stamp the 1/4's. how do i know this? years ago when i was doing the bodywork on my truck, i saw them as well. my buddy even gave me **** for not fixing them. this was when i had the stock driveline in and not the one i have now.

 

[Twisted1]

those dents you see are from the factory when they stamp the 1/4's. how do i know this? years ago when i was doing the bodywork on my truck, i saw them as well. my buddy even gave me **** for not fixing them. this was when i had the stock driveline in and not the one i have now.

Those aren't factory on mine 3 days ago my 1/4's were flawless. I owned a body shop for 15 years so I'm particular about where and when every ding or scratch comes from. They are more pronounced in person than I can get a pic of.

 

[Twisted1]

couple teaser video's

Video of my truck launching

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmVGTceNEKo

Third gear fly by

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPz9UsLbQww

 

[4pointslow]

no dents

I have no dents or marks on mine. My truck has apparently had body work done. I found out in December when I removed the rocker panel molding to install LED strips. Looks like the dog leg area was done on my truck, both sides. I could see where it was seemed together.
If your plans include going faster than 11.99 in a 1/4 mile at the race track, you will need a cage anyway. Or maybe it is 11.49.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Those aren't factory on mine 3 days ago my 1/4's were flawless. I owned a body shop for 15 years so I'm particular about where and when every ding or scratch comes from. They are more pronounced in person than I can get a pic of.

if you are talking about these spots in black

those are from the factory stamping the 1/4 panel

if you look at my truck you can see the beginning of the waves from it. those have been on my truck since i bought it.

 

[Twisted1]

if you are talking about these spots in black

those are from the factory stamping the 1/4 panel

if you look at my truck you can see the beginning of the waves from it. those have been on my truck since i bought it.

I got confirmation on what's going on with mine tonight. My buddy with the 5.0L swapped sport was behind me and he said when I launch it you can see the frame and body twisting from the rear. I guess my rear bumper looks like it's separating from the frame so I must have broken a body mount or something else. Hopefully it's an easy fix with some urethane body mount bushings.

 

[Twisted1]

almost track ready!

I'm wrapping up a few more upgrades this week and hopefully....I'll finally have some track times next Friday! These bad boys will be in on Tuesday or Wednesday

I'm hoping between the drag radials and reworking my suspension a bit with different leaf springs, more rear squat ability and leveling the front, I'll be able to be a bit more aggressive off the line instead of feathering the clutch. I'm also trying to get the battery relocated to the rear and hoping to get my front bumper swapped out for the skin I have. CAT's are being deleted on Thursday and changing the exhaust a little for fewer choke points. Next week I'm shooting to upgrade the MAF and possibly the TB if I need to (mine has already been ported) then going back in for some actual dyno tuning.
I've done a few test hits with it locally and I can't explain the confused questions and looks I get when they see it run. Lol

 

[Twisted1]

4pointslow

You need to get your rocket up here to one of these events at New England Dragway!http://www.newenglanddragway.com/
They have an all Ford day coming up middle of August and a truck only event in October. Plus every Wednesday and Friday is "street night" and you can run as many passes as time allows. Your not too far away, one of my customers is bringing me a turbo Ranger from Rhode Island this weekend for some upgrades and your not much further than he is. No pressure...:notworthy. Lol

 

[4pointslow]

New England Dragway

It is a little over 5 hours away, kind of far for me since I have Atco Raceway about 26 miles away and Maple Grove Raceway about 65 miles away. I get to race twice a year at MapleGrove for free against my students, some of them have fast cars.
I do most of my racing at Atco since it is closest. They have Tuesday and Friday street nights. I got 17 runs in one night. Problem is I am at work most of the time now. Starting the 20th I will be working double shift again for a week. I don't even see the light of day sometimes.

How is the weather there right now? Temperatures are too high here 85-95 and high humidity, slows the truck down. I love September - December at Atco, nice cold air temps full of oxygen!

 

[Twisted1]

hot humid and slow

I'm only 5 hours away so it's similar to what you've got for temps right now. Around 100 degree's today with 150% humidity! I usually pick and choose my track nights but I'm getting to the point where I just need to get some base #'s at the track and get it back to the dyno to be retuned for 7am before the air gets too hot. Ill pick up a few tenths by October just from lower air temps alone and the new tires should stick on a cold track, at least better than my 18's do now.

 

[Twisted1]

I've got a limited time frame at the dragway also, the last official open day for the season is October 30th. After that the track closes until April and my plow's go on my other trucks :-/ We've had snow on or by October 31st several times so this is when my race season ends. If Atco is open into december maybe Ill take a drive down to see you instead with the Explorer on my trailer.

 

[4pointslow]

Atco

That would be awesome.
December is awesome there as long as it doesn't rain.
The temps are as low as 40 degrees and they put a lot of VHT on the track.
Good stuff!

 

[Sedition]

sub'd

 

[Twisted1]

That would be awesome.
December is awesome there as long as it doesn't rain.
The temps are as low as 40 degrees and they put a lot of VHT on the track.
Good stuff!

I've got a powerstroke dually that loves to haul and 2 car trailers. A 23' single place and a 36' 2 car, maybe I can convince Adam to go for a ride and bring his V8 swapped sport also!

I plan on getting out to Carlisle Pa next season also with all my trucks for both the Ford event and their truck event. I've got that built B2 on my avatar and my 2wd super crew dually that's in the process of doing custom body work and paint on then it's being bagged.

 

[4pointslow]

Carlisle

AFN at Carlisle next year should be an amazing time. I plan to bring my truck up on that Saturday.
Besides, it will be Explorerforums 20th anniversary!
We have to get some track time at MapleGrove Raceway that Friday night for all the Explorer racers if possible.

 

[Twisted1]

count me in

AFN at Carlisle next year should be an amazing time. I plan to bring my truck up on that Saturday.
Besides, it will be Explorerforums 20th anniversary!
We have to get some track time at MapleGrove Raceway that Friday night for all the Explorer racers if possible.

Keep me in the loop and Ill bring both my trucks

 

[Twisted1]

I did some chassis work on it today. It's now sitting level and not nose high. I'm swapping out my rear leafs for something I think may work better. If I'm right I'll be able to pull my rear lowering blocks out and get my leafs right against the axle and hopefully get rid of the axle wrap/wheel hop. If that doesn't cut it I'll make up some ladder bars for the rear. Either way the new leafs "should" squat better but keep the axle off the bump stops. If it works out I'll let you know what I did. If not I'll quietly change it again and never mention another word about it. Haha

This pic is just to give a comparison how low it is compared to my Ranger with stock suspension

 

[4pointslow]

Lower

Looks good!
I like the lower look, what did you do to lower the front?
Also please drive it up to "highway speeds" and make sure there are no vibrations.
I want to lower my Ex, remove the step bars, and change the rims and tires but I can not find the right rim and tire combo for the look I want. That and since I have the 4.88 gears I have to make sure that I don't run out of rpm before the 1/4 mile is over.
I have a ranger with extended cab too, its a 2000 4x4 4.0 ohc.

What size are your front rims, are the front and back 18 x 10?