I used to own a 1996 OHV 4.0 Explorer, that was unfortunately taken from me due to unaffordable insurance after an accident that I was wrongly blamed for. Many years later, I decided I wanted to buy another Explorer, as I always had plans for my original one, but it was taken from me too soon.
In 2010, I found the perfect project Explorer, after several weeks of searching Autotrader and Kijiji (it's like Canadian Craigslist). The truck was located in Montreal, Quebec, and I went to pick it up over the weekend of my 27th birthday. I got it for $7000 cash, with only 77,500 original KMs on the odometer. It was black, which I wanted, Limited, which I wanted, 4x4, which I wanted, and had the 4.0 SOHC V6 engine. I was looking for the V8, bust most of them in Limited trim were available only in AWD. I figured that since this truck hit on every other point, especially the low mileage and color, I bought it after a quick test drive to confirm everything was working well. This is a picture taken once I got it home from the trip.
I always told myself when I did take on this project truck, I would postpone any appearance mods until later in the build. My reasoning for this was twofold; first I kind of liked the idea of a sleeper that looked like an old school SUV, and second, I wanted to avoid the all-too-common "all show and no go" modified vehicle stigma. For these reasons my first mods to the truck were a K&N after market intake system coupled to a 75mm MAF sensor, and a Cortex Tuner from Superchips. I swapped out the oiled K&N filter with the dry media replacement filter from Amsoil, to prevent gumming up the MAF sensor with oil residue. I also installed a YellowTop battery from Optima. The only thing I had done appearance wise when I got it was to remove the gold pin stripes and give it a good wax and polish.
I remember how much it felt like a different truck after these few mods. The difference in throttle response, acceleration, and overall power was pleasing, and my low-mileage truck took quite favorably to the modifications. Knowing I'd be producing more power than stock, I had also flushed all the fluids and replaced them with premium brands; Amsoil 5w30 for the motor with a premium filter, royal purple severe gear in both axles, and synthetic tranny and transfer case fluids as well.
Now I was hooked on power adding bolt-on parts. With a cross-country move from my home province of New Brunswick to Alberta for work, I installed the Gibson cat-back exhaust system before the 5000km cross country road trip, hoping the initial expense would be offset by increased efficiency of the engine. Since I had also now added some performance to the truck, I also ordered a set of smoked black chrome taillights from eBay to enhance the look a little.
After having lived in Alberta for a little while, and with my new job allowing access to a shop with a lift and endless amounts of tools for my borrowing pleasure, I installed an upper and lower billet grille to enhance the front end appearance. To those performing this mod, the lower grille was a total PITA to install. Be forewarned.
In 2010, I found the perfect project Explorer, after several weeks of searching Autotrader and Kijiji (it's like Canadian Craigslist). The truck was located in Montreal, Quebec, and I went to pick it up over the weekend of my 27th birthday. I got it for $7000 cash, with only 77,500 original KMs on the odometer. It was black, which I wanted, Limited, which I wanted, 4x4, which I wanted, and had the 4.0 SOHC V6 engine. I was looking for the V8, bust most of them in Limited trim were available only in AWD. I figured that since this truck hit on every other point, especially the low mileage and color, I bought it after a quick test drive to confirm everything was working well. This is a picture taken once I got it home from the trip.
I always told myself when I did take on this project truck, I would postpone any appearance mods until later in the build. My reasoning for this was twofold; first I kind of liked the idea of a sleeper that looked like an old school SUV, and second, I wanted to avoid the all-too-common "all show and no go" modified vehicle stigma. For these reasons my first mods to the truck were a K&N after market intake system coupled to a 75mm MAF sensor, and a Cortex Tuner from Superchips. I swapped out the oiled K&N filter with the dry media replacement filter from Amsoil, to prevent gumming up the MAF sensor with oil residue. I also installed a YellowTop battery from Optima. The only thing I had done appearance wise when I got it was to remove the gold pin stripes and give it a good wax and polish.
I remember how much it felt like a different truck after these few mods. The difference in throttle response, acceleration, and overall power was pleasing, and my low-mileage truck took quite favorably to the modifications. Knowing I'd be producing more power than stock, I had also flushed all the fluids and replaced them with premium brands; Amsoil 5w30 for the motor with a premium filter, royal purple severe gear in both axles, and synthetic tranny and transfer case fluids as well.
Now I was hooked on power adding bolt-on parts. With a cross-country move from my home province of New Brunswick to Alberta for work, I installed the Gibson cat-back exhaust system before the 5000km cross country road trip, hoping the initial expense would be offset by increased efficiency of the engine. Since I had also now added some performance to the truck, I also ordered a set of smoked black chrome taillights from eBay to enhance the look a little.
After having lived in Alberta for a little while, and with my new job allowing access to a shop with a lift and endless amounts of tools for my borrowing pleasure, I installed an upper and lower billet grille to enhance the front end appearance. To those performing this mod, the lower grille was a total PITA to install. Be forewarned.
