"Red Bull"

Red Bull
(Bandit #7)

Specs:

1998 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer
5.0 V8
4R70W
4.10 D35 Open
4.10 Ford 8.8
Manual 4406
BFG All-Terrain's 285/75/16 (33's)

Mods:

Engine
302 bored .030 over (306)
XE264HR Cam
Dual Valve Springs
OBX Headers
Machined GT40P Heads
Red Powder Coated Intake, Oil Pan, and Valve Covers

New:
Injectors, valve seats and seals, lifters, pushrods

Steering
2003+ Sport Trac Knuckles
Mevotech TTX TRE's

Brakes
Sport Trac Brake Upgrade:
-12" Rotors (Front)
Ceramic Brake Pads

Lighting
6000k 30w LED's
Clear Headlight Corners and Lenses

Suspension
Warrior Shackles
Add-A-Leafs
2" Torsion Twist
1" Body lift
Bilstein 4600 Shocks
Mevotech TTX Ball Joints and Upper Control Arms
Extended swaybar links

Interior
Limited Steering wheel with redundant radio and digital temp controls
Digital HVAC
Custom leather upholstery (red leather in place of perforated leather)

Electronics/Communications
CB Radio

Exterior
Custom chili pepper red Paint PPG concept
Tupperware removed and holes welded up
"Serious Explorations" license plate frames front and back
Cut and re-welded front fenders 5" to clear larger tires
Limited Color Keyed Front Grill
Painted Rear Bumper
Chopped front bumper bed-lined

Sound
JVC KW-NT300 Nav/DVD/CD head unit
PAC adapter for steering wheel controls
Kicker DS68 6x8 Coaxial speakers
OEM 8" sub
SiriusXM

Exhaust
Flowmaster Super 44

Replaced:
Fuel tank
Cats
Tailpipe
Leaf Springs
Steering Rack
Inner Tie Rods
Front 4.10 Diff
Water Pump
CPS and Synchronizer
Radiator
A/C System
Front O2 Sensors
Muffler
Wheel Bearings
Multiple Fuel Pumps
Motor Mounts
Transmission mount

Rebuilt
Transmission
Engine

Kris' Old Registry

 

[410Fortune]

headers should not tick??? not normal
After a few heat cycles (or 120 miles) some of the exhaust hardware is likely loose again. Also check the ball flange connections to the down pipes make sure they are straight and true.
Now a ticking exhaust leak is DIFFERENT then the sound of exhaust traveling through headers.... headers will add a different noise but you should not have a tick tick tick header leak....... look for black soot or smoke with flashlight when the engine is cool, good way to find the leak. Mechanics stethoscope is helpful too if you have access to one

120 miles with loose caliper bolts!! Maybe consider 12 miles and then a good once over

So glad its driving around!!!

 

[MrQ]

Actually I found that before I drove the 120 miles, I wasn't taking any chances with a sound like that! (I originally thought it was the leaf springs, like the clunk you feel when they shift and the pads are gone, but since it was still there after replacement I knew something was really wrong.). Before then it was only about 10 miles driving around testing the engine and suspension. I'm going to check everything one more time before I take him home, so no more surprises.

I went and re-tightened all the header bolts I could reach and I am not seeing any smoke or feeling any exhaust fumes around the collectors. I will check again though, it would really be great if that took the noise away. It really bugs the crap out of me.

 

[MrQ]

Kris confirmed this morning when he moved Red that there is an exhaust leak.

I don't think I was describing it correctly to them earlier when they commented on the sound I was hearing.

 

[Rick]

These are the best exhaust gaskets I've ever used:
V6

I haven't tried them on the 4.0, but they have worked great on both small and big block Mopars.

Remflex’s unique flexible graphite material has been proven for more than 30 years in industrial applications, where temperatures routinely exceed 2,000 degrees—day after day, week after week, year after year. Now, we’re bringing this technology to enthusiasts of all kinds to eliminate exhaust leaks for good! Whether you have an old pick-up that needs a manifold gasket, or a race car with custom-built headers, you can be assured that Remflex exhaust gaskets will work properly the first time, every time.

 

[MrQ]

Thanks Rick, I'll be sure to check those out!

Gonna be an absolute pain to swap those gaskets out with the headers in the truck, but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes.

 

[410Fortune]

Its not as bad as it looks
Do the passenger side first so you know what to expect on the drivers
All you have to do to replace the gasket is pull the header away from the block, remove old, slide in new....you don't always have to even remove all of the difficult bolts, just back them way out

You can do it! I had to re seal the TMH a few times before I learned about good sealing gaskets. The trick to the TMH header gasket replacement is when you install the header back to the head you have to tighten all of the fasteners slowly, start them all but only turn them each a thread or three at a time.
All of your bolts are fresh, they were just turned. The heads and manifold surface areas were cleaned....you just need better gaskets
The gaskets Rick posted look awesome!!

 

[MrQ]

Once I start adding funds back into my shredded budget for this build (I have lost track on how much I have actually spent on this, SMH. Edit: $6800), I can start buying the replacement parts. Key thing for me is to get it home. Everything else is a relatively minor, albeit annoying, fix.

 

[MrQ]

Bringing back Red this weekend turned into a big fat NOPE! During the alignment process I found out there was not enough adjustment in the camber/caster bolts to get a good alignment. So I spent Sunday taking out all the upper control arm bolts and replacing them with an +/- 2° adjustment kit. Also the driver door latch decided it would finally not open anymore, so in came a new latch, wherein which I destroyed the door lock actuator and the tumbler keeper in my clumsy attempt to remove the old one. Thus Red got a new actuator along with his latch. What a difference. It is so easy to open the door now.

Tracked down the exhaust leak to a couple of passenger side header bolts. Once I tightened them and re-tightened the collectors the noise went away. Also finally found the source of the oil leak, the front oil pan bolts were not tight enough and oil was coming out under the harmonic balancer. Tightened those up and I should be good to go. I then discovered coolant dripping from the transmission bell housing. Yay! I had to leave before diagnosing that issue, so that's a problem for next time.

FYI if you have stock camber/caster bolts with OBX or TM headers, on the passenger side there is no way to remove them as the bolts hit the headers. I wound up having to cut mine out. The aftermarket bolts slips in without an issue, however. So if you plan on putting those headers in, I suggest replacing those OEM adjustment bolts too or you are going to be cursing when you need to change out the upper control arm.

 

[CDW6212R]

Bringing back Red this weekend turned into a big fat NOPE! During the alignment process I found out there was not enough adjustment in the camber/caster bolts to get a good alignment. So I spent Sunday taking out all the upper control arm bolts and replacing them with an +/- 2° adjustment kit. Also the driver door latch decided it would finally not open anymore, so in came a new latch, wherein which I destroyed the door lock actuator and the tumbler keeper in my clumsy attempt to remove the old one. Thus Red got a new actuator along with his latch. What a difference. It is so easy to open the door now.

Tracked down the exhaust leak to a couple of passenger side header bolts. Once I tightened them and re-tightened the collectors the noise went away. Also finally found the source of the oil leak, the front oil pan bolts were not tight enough and oil was coming out under the harmonic balancer. Tightened those up and I should be good to go. I then discovered coolant dripping from the transmission bell housing. Yay! I had to leave before diagnosing that issue, so that's a problem for next time.

FYI if you have stock camber/caster bolts with OBX or TM headers, on the passenger side there is no way to remove them as the bolts hit the headers. I wound up having to cut mine out. The aftermarket bolts slips in without an issue, however. So if you plan on putting those headers in, I suggest replacing those OEM adjustment bolts too or you are going to be cursing when you need to change out the upper control arm.

You've been busy, that's a lot of work, well done.

What camber/caster adjustment kit did you refer to in your post? I've seen what I thought was everything available, and basically the common Moog parts are just like any other brand, kit etc. I did see mention of hub washers that supposedly would affect a 1* change, but the part number comes up as a Wrangler part. I could see a gasket helping if it fit and was cut in half to only be used on one side, but I wouldn't have thought of that.

 

[MrQ]

This is what I used. The last time I did an alignment was when I put the Falkens on, 7-8 years ago. Surprised they were able to align it without these, then again I had the two piece passenger control arm then, so maybe that helped

However I have had a few suspensions changes since then.

 

[MrQ]

And Red is home!!

After almost 18 months, $7000, and many, many trips to Austin, Red is finally home. Much thanks to Kris (@Kris Guilbeaux ) and Russell (@NICE59FORDF100 ) for storing him for over a year and putting up with me crashing on their couch on the weekends I could get up there to put him back together.
It was a hell of a journey and made all the better by these guys' support and friendship.

Also big shout out to Jamie (@410Fortune ), Don (@CDW6212R ), and my bro Matt (@96AWD5.LOL ) for all their help through this build.

Couldn't have done any of this stuff without you guys!
Looking forward to rockin' Red Bull for many more years!

 

[MrQ]

So about two weeks ago, while driving Red to work at 6 am in the morning, his hood flies up. About 6 years ago I removed the safety latch because I kept smacking my head into it (dumb, I know) so I had nothing but the standard latch. Worked fine for years, but on that day something let go.

Fortunately, I was going relatively slowly so the only damage, was hinges, supports and my pride. Picked up replacement hinges from the JY and ordered new supports off Amazon.

I'm still being plagued by the exhaust leak, so I ordered some special header gaskets (thicker and better material) from Remflex and @410Fortune gave up one of his trade secrets about utilizing some Chevy seals on my exhaust flanges. I also picked up a "new" steering shaft from the junkyard as mine has a lot of slop in it.

I determined that my oil leak seems to be coming from the oil filter extension housing. The seal was kinda messed up when I reinstalled it, so I think that's the leak path. Since it looks like an oil filter seal will work I picked one up.

So sometime this weekend I'll start working on fixing these issues... and cleaning the oil both my trucks pissed all over my garage floor.

 

[Rick]

Oh that sucks. I had the hood of a pickup truck I was driving for auto parts delivery fly open at speed and it basically wrapped itself around the windshield.

I've had great luck with the Remflex gaskets on both engines I've tried them on.

 

[410Fortune]

Its nice to have your own garage floor to catch all the leaks!
FYI they sell bags of rags at the goodwill, I use these ALOT
For the oil filter adapter to engine don't be afraid to use a a little sillycone to make sure it seals up next time, just a light coat on both sides of the O ring, clean surfaces and time to cure is all it needs......

Keep up the good work!

 

[MrQ]

Sunday I installed the hood hinges and struts, so now I can finally open my hood again without a metal grinding sound. I did find my vacuum leak, its the EGR valve to intake. I loosened it up and tightened the crap out of it, but every time I sprayed the area, up went the RPM's. So now I'm wondering if I should use double gaskets to help seal it. These headers are a f'n headache.

I didn't get a chance to do the headers yet. I have to park Stripe in the alley sideways in front of my garage in order to have enough room to do stuff and I am not allowed to keep him in the alley overnight. So if I need to use the whole garage I have to do it all in one day or park Stripe on the other end of the complex. Now my next wish is for a driveway.

It does look like the headers came with exhaust collector seals on them. They fits so tight on the header I guess I never noticed them. When I re-seal the headers, I am going to be putting the seal for the extension housing and the steering shaft in at the same time since I am right there. Gonna be fun on a bun!

 

[CDW6212R]

Use a little Ultra Copper on the exhaust gaskets and flanges etc. That can take the heat and is better than a dry seal.

Is the EGR leak from the gasket or possibly the valve itself? The rubber diaphram inside might be the issue, could you suck on the hose to see if it holds the vacuum for a bit? Ultra Copper can seal the gasket for sure.

 

[Rick]

Use a little Ultra Copper on the exhaust gaskets and flanges etc. That can take the heat and is better than a dry seal.

I wouldn't do that with the Remflex gaskets.

 

[410Fortune]

no not on the remflex at the headers
@CDW6212R is talking about on both sides of the EGR to manifold gasket.....
Ultra copper for this for sure
I was going to say the same thing.
So glad you found the vacuum leaks! Conversions are conversions, whether they bolt up 98% or not.... it is still a conversion You are most of the way done!
Last week I sealed up the last exhaust leak on my BII. I did that conversion in 2005..... so it can take some time to get it all perfect.

 

[MrQ]

Use a little Ultra Copper on the exhaust gaskets and flanges etc. That can take the heat and is better than a dry seal.

Is the EGR leak from the gasket or possibly the valve itself? The rubber diaphram inside might be the issue, could you suck on the hose to see if it holds the vacuum for a bit? Ultra Copper can seal the gasket for sure.

It's a brand new EGR, we tested it when it was up in Austin. I think the EGR tube is pulling the valve away from the intake, not by much but it may be enough.

I'll try adding the copper sealant when I drop in the new gaskets. The EGR valve seal is what's got me perplexed.

Thanks @410Fortune , it's just a matter of time until this all gets fixed. I ain't stoppin' now!

 

[MrQ]

Took some time after work to install the driver's side exhaust manifold gasket and fix my oil leak. Exhaust gasket was not too bad, it looks like the bolt behind the collector nearest the firewall was not completely tight and that was causing my leak , but I changed out to the Remflex gasket anyway. (those things are THICK!). I also took the oil filter adapter out. Its the new 99-01 style so no replaceable gasket per se. It has a pressed in gasket at the bolt head (which was trashed) and one where it mounts to the block. I also got a clearer look at the oil pressure sensor (which was changed) and it looked like it was leaking so I tightened it up, re-installed the adapter after I burnt out the pressed in gasket for the bolt head and re-sealed with RTV.

During this process I also changed the oil...

I'm torn between "ooo, shinyy!" and "Oh ****". I believe this is just part of the break in, but still

Today I need to finish installing the steering shaft and move to the passenger side exhaust manifold. While that's off, I'll try to figure out a solution to the EGR issue.

Question, at idle (700-800 rpm) I seem to be running between 18-19° spark advance. Not sure if this is good or bad. I seem to be running out of timing around 2500 rpm. Thoughts?